$649 Bunnings plant stuns Aussie gardening enthusiast: 'Never seen that before'
Micka, a plant enthusiast from the NSW Central Coast, popped into the hardware giant's Tuggerah store to add a few more plants to his collection when one in particular caught his eye — an espalier camellia.
The business owner thought the large plant, grown onto a trellis, would make the perfect backdrop for videos he makes to share online. That is until he saw the $649 price tag.
"That's the most expensive plant I've ever seen," he told Yahoo News.
For the past five years, Micka, who runs a popular online community about Bunnings plants, has dedicated his "whole life" to his love of gardening. He's even started a business selling rare varieties of house plants and care products among his community of nearly 180,000 followers.
"I go to Bunnings pretty regularly," he said. "I was looking for a background [for my videos] and thought [the espalier camellia's] looked sick. But it was $600 and I thought 'I can't afford that'."
Before spotting this plant, the most expensive plants he'd seen at the hardware store were Thai constellation monsteras, a highly sought-after variegated form of the Monstera deliciosa house plant.
Sharing the price discovery online, many were quick to explain to Micka that it takes a long time to grow and train the plants, hence the price tag. Espalier refers to the artistic way the plants are pruned and trained to grow up a trellis or flat wall. Camellias are popular espaliers due to their masses of flowers and evergreen foliage.
"I've never seen anything like that before in Bunnings," he said, admitting that he is still thinking about the plant.
Espalier camellias take up to eight years to be trained and grow on the trellis using hundreds of small clips. They are pruned up to four times yearly, as well as fertilised regularly and re-potted at least three times before they are listed for sale. They're also considerably heavy, which adds to transport costs.
Smaller camellias can be bought at the store for as cheap as $4.93 for the 70mm size.
Micka admitted that his plant obsession costs him around $1,000 a month at Bunnings.
"It's not just on plants, but plant stuff," he explained. "Every time you go into Bunnings, you walk out with stuff you don't go there for. It's an outing for me. I get the sausage sizzle and go for a wander."
The single dad has over 200 house plants, and admits "it's my whole life".
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