– At one point I was up to 300 plants. Inside Irene Obrestad’s, shelves, windowsills and all available nooks and crannies are filled with hundreds of plants. The plants all come from the same family; coleus or splendour. But they are not bought in an ordinary flower shop. – The ones you buy in the shop are what I call the “regular” variety, but there are endless varieties to get your hands on. You can get Coleus in many different varieties. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news In stores in Norway you mostly only get hold of 10-20 different varieties, but there are hundreds of them. – I discovered that there was a Facebook group for buying and selling these. I should never have done that, says Irene with a laugh. In the group, she got hold of many different splendors from other keen collectors. Then it took off completely. But she is not the only one who has been hooked. Irene Obrestad has been collecting magnificence for three years. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news Easy to propagate The Facebook group “Praktspragle, Coleus – Norway” has 21,000 members. There are many people who actively send off cuttings and seeds from their private collection. In the group, people also share experiences, questions and pictures of their plants. Often it is about plants they themselves, or others in the group have “made”. Coleus under plant lights to help them grow. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news – Praktspragle is a plant that is very easy to take cuttings from, says Gry Skjeseth. She is a horticulturist and senior engineer at the Department of Plant Science at the Norwegian University of Environmental and Life Sciences. – Everyone can grow it, or easily make their own plants, either from seeds or cuttings. If you want to make your own, you can, for example, cross-pollinate different coeluses you already have, she elaborates. It is probably also part of the reason why there are so many varieties of the coleus, she thinks. Not least one contributing factor to its becoming popular again. – The magnolia was a common plant many years ago, but is now back in full force. But with Master Grønn, the hall of splendor has not gone up. – But it may very well be because people propagate the plants privately, says purchasing manager Gunn Pettersen at Mester Grønn. PLANT BABY: Irene Obrestad shows off some of the unique splendiferous plants she has at home in Nærbø in Rogaland. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news In good company In the Facebook group with 21,000 members, there are many who know the same plant joy as Irene Obrestad at Nærbø. news conducted an unofficial survey of the group to find out why the joy of gathering is so great, how many plants people have, and how much time they spend on their plants. Someone says that they have had up to 600 plants. Others have just started collecting, and perhaps have “only” 6. All describe the magnificence as a beautiful, versatile plant that is easy to grow. The questions I asked were: 1. Why do you collect coleus in particular?, 2. How many plants do you have?, and 3. Approximately how much time do you spend on your plants during a week? Here is a small selection of the answers I received: Little money to collect Today, Irene Obrestad also runs a sale of seeds and plants, in addition to giving away a lot. – I sell off the “small ones” when they grow because I have no conscience to throw them away, she says. So far, she has not gotten rich selling coleus cuttings and seeds, but that is not the goal either. Selling cuttings and seeds is a time-consuming job, and as a rule you get paid somewhere between NOK 50 and 100 per cutting or seed packet. But even though it is time-consuming, she has not regretted her choice of hobby for a second. – I don’t know what I would do without it, so to speak. When I need peace and quiet, I go into my plant room, she says. Irene Obrestad collects coleus seeds. Photo: Hanne Christin Våge / news
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Many people want to exchange, get free or buy cuttings of colues and magnolia – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
