What is Lianthurium.com?
What’s going on here then?
If you know anything about me, you probably know that I kinda like Anthurium. It’s a perfectly healthy obsession. The idea of a blog has been rolling round in my brain for a while and earlier this year, when I couldn’t sleep at about 2 a.m., I bought the domain for lianthurium.com. Then I tried to forget about it. But clearly couldn’t. So a few months later, here we are! It’s up and running and I’m really proud of what it is so far. I’ve got some other ideas planned but this is the start.
Who am I?
I’m Lianne! You might have met me on planty Facebook groups or on Instagram. I might have bought plants from you or sold some to you. Or you may have had my business card forced upon you by my amazingly supportive family and friends. I live with my geriatric cat, Radish, in the North West of the UK. I worked for a bank for a long time (latterly as a project manager but with a few roles before that). Then I went a little loopy and decided to try something else. Something different to the corporate speak and the crazy long work weeks. Plants have always been part of my life, but it was after I went loopy that they became part of me. There is nothing quite like nurturing a seed from nothing and growing it into something. Whether that something is a Daucus carota subsp. sativus (yes, a carrot) or a magnificently dark and velvety Anthurium papillilaminum, it’s the same thrill. And yes, I do still taste my produce despite anthurium berries being toxic (it’s really not recommended), but that’s a story for another day. What you need to know about me is that I’m passionate about plants and I’m passionate about sharing my passion for plants.
Carrots vs. papillilaminum
My goals for lianthurium.com
Knowledge
There seems to be a need for a bank of information that is more tailored to the phenomenon that is Anthurium. We all speak another language and I know when I first fell through the rabbit hole, I was completely intimidated by it (I still am, to be honest). I’d like to make it just a little less cryptic to make beginners feel more welcome. I’ve started with an incomplete glossary and a blog; there’s more to come. I don’t pretend to have even a fraction of the knowledge that's out there but I’m happy to do a bit of digging, rope friends into sharing their far bigger knowledge bases and I’ll warble on for as long as anyone is reading (and probably even if you’re not).
Shop
I have a pretty large collection and many are starting to flower. At this point I either have to chop the flowers off; let them do their thing and hope they don’t pollinate themselves; pollinate them and grow them out myself and become buried under an all-consuming flood of Anthurium seedlings (tempting to be sure) or sell the little buggers. For the sake of sanity, I’ve chosen the latter. I’ve started with some basic crosses and have a few more interesting ones in the works.
Some of my mother plants
Sharing
One thing I am most excited to do with this site is give you more information about where your seeds, seedlings and plants come from. You now know a bit more about me, but I also want to link you to growers from all over the world who are creating some outstanding Anthurium hybrids. It always feels a shame to me that breeders don’t always get the credit they deserve, and buyers often don't know who created their plants. So this is my idea to try to fix that in my own small way. I can give you information and breeders get recognition and thanks for some of the outstanding Anthurium we now have available. You can find details of the first few on the brands page. There are more to come!
Where you come in
Truly the best thing about the ‘plant community’ is that it’s a place to welcome and be welcomed. I want this site to have a community feel so I’d love your input. If you have an idea for a blog post or would like to guest author one, please do get in touch. If you want to add to the glossary there’s a link on the page to submit suggestions. If you want to disagree with anything I say in a blog post, drop a comment on the post or contact me privately. I’d really appreciate any contribution you want to make.
Finally, I want to thank my tribe of friends and family who’ve supported me with this project. They’ve listened to me dither over decisions, given me endless ideas, proofread for me and generally kept me going (up to and including supplying Oreos, chocolate and pizza). Any mistakes are mine, but we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them and I’m so grateful.
I hope you agree that the branding and design work for the site is absolutely first class. That's all down to the disgustingly talented Beth Wasley of Bethan Designs. I only hope I can live up to it.
Thank you for reading my introductory warble!
