Debbie Arrington discusses gardening trends for 2025 at the Sept. 24 meeting of the River Valley Garden Club. The Calathea Rattlesnake was the most popular houseplant in 2023.

RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - When is the best time to remove your grass? Why are young people so passionate about growing succulents? And why have orchids become so affordable?

Gardening expert Debbie Arrington explored these questions and more while discussing the latest trends for 2025 at the River Valley Garden Club meeting on Sept. 24.

A longtime gardening writer,  Arrington co-created the daily blog Sacramento Digs Gardening. She is a master rosarian, which is similar to a master gardener but with a focus on roses. She also tests plants for hybridizers developing new varieties for the Sacramento area.

“I’ve killed hundreds of plants,” she joked. “But that was the test. They need to know if a plant will grow in Sacramento weather or if it’s just going to die.”

Arrington’s talk followed a short business meeting, which included announcements about upcoming gardening shows and field trips. A highlight of the evening was when Janet Mathews presented fellow garden club member Donna Hansen and her late husband, Phil, with an award for their contributions to the club. The award was a framed Penny Pines certificate, which the club earns by raising $78 to replant an acre of land in the Eldorado National Forest. The club has been participating in this program for many years.

Janet Mathews, left, presents a Penny Pines certificate to Donna Hansen in honor of her and her late husband Phil’s contributions to the garden club.

Low-Water Landscapes

Arrington pointed out that removing lawns has been a major trend over the past decade, and this will continue as thousands of new homes are built.

“When it comes down to watering people or grass, the people are going to get it,” she said.

While lawns have their benefits — being aesthetically pleasing and providing a comforting oasis of green — they aren’t always necessary.

“If you golf, you know you’ve got to have them, and if you have a dog or kids, you need a lawn,” she said. But, she added, “If the only time you walk on your lawn is to mow it, there is something else you can do with that land.”

One alternative is landscaping to support pollinators and birds that have lost much of their natural habitat.

“The amazing thing is that the critters will come even if you are surrounded by suburbia, warehouses or railroads,” she explained.

While there are many ways to create a low-water landscape, Arrington favors a “living tapestry” that incorporates plants of various colors, textures, and heights.

“The great thing about a garden like this is that it is a lot less work than a lawn,” she noted.

Succulents and Houseplants

Succulents remain popular, especially among young gardeners.

“Young gardeners are really attracted to succulents because they are easy to care for. They don’t need much light and actually grow well indoors,” she said.

Another reason for their popularity is rooted in a trait that many young people share: the same drive that once made them collect Star Wars action figures.

“They approach gardening with the same attitude they had toward toys and cards,” she said. “They want one of each, and they want to collect as many as they can.”

Succulents also appeal to young people because they don’t require much space, an important factor since many do not have yards. Additionally, their unique looks have made them social media stars.

Arrington explained that millennials often start their gardening journey with houseplants, with Anthuriums and Aroids being particularly popular.

“The ones that are really taking off are the ones that like to live in the same conditions we do,” she said.

A prime example is the Calathea Rattlesnake, which was named Plant of the Year by America’s Nurserymen last year.

“It’s great for beginners, which means it’s hard to kill,” she explained. “It likes people-like temperatures, grows with very little water, fertilizer and sunlight.”

Orchids

Arrington highlighted the current orchid mania, noting that moth orchids, which once cost $40 to $50 for a small plant, now sell for just $10 at Trader Joe’s. This price drop became possible after laboratories discovered how to clone new plants from stem cells.

“With the cloning method, they can go from a single cell to a blooming plant in less than a year,” she said. “Because they can grow them so quickly, they were able to significantly reduce the price.”

In the past, propagating orchids through cuttings would take three to five years to produce a blooming plant. Now, cloning thousands of new plants from a single orchid has also sped up the creation of new hybrids with striking colors and patterns.

Most orchids are cloned in Taiwan, where extensive botanical research is conducted.

“Then they send the itty-bitty plants that are barely microscopic to growers in different countries,” she explained.

Another benefit, she added, is that “these are inexpensive plants that many farmers can grow as a secondary crop. The plants you’re buying at Trader Joe’s were grown in Salinas.”

Other Topics

Arrington covered several other topics during her talk, including the slow flower movement, which encourages florists to buy locally grown blooms — even from backyard gardens — instead of importing them from South America.

In discussing rose trends, she noted that modern varieties no longer require dangerous pesticides. Dahlias are the second-most popular plant after roses “because of the size of the flowers.” A new showy hydrangea variety has also been developed to better withstand Sacramento’s hot weather.

As for climate, “We are finding out that our weather is getting more extreme,” she told the gardening club. “The hots are getting hotter. The wets are getting wetter. The dries are getting drier, but the cold, not so much. We are losing our chill hours.”

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