Potted Plants for Beauty and Theurapetic Benefits

In villages throughout the country one will find ornamental plants around houses. They serve as boundaries for houses, are planted for beautification, or they are reservoirs of materials to be used for traditional regalia, traditional medicine, gatherings, feasts and dances.

Although the art of cultivating ornamental plants in and around houses has become part of our culture since the white men brought western civilization to our shores in the late 1800s, we have not adequately harnessed it for therapeutic and money making purposes.

Moreover, scientific studies have proven that ornamental plants provide intangible therapeutic services that are beneficial for human health and happiness. Therefore, having ornamental plants in offices or at home provides relieve for stress, anxiety, high blood pressure and other lifestyle issues.

More and more Papua New Guineans are now living and working in urban areas and living lifestyles their parents and forefathers never experienced in the past. They are working longer hours, and living lavish and stressful lifestyles. Therefore, there is a need for ornamental plants to be present in the environments in which these people work, reside or hang out – the ornamental plants will have some soothing effect on their lives.

The demand and desire to decorate homes and offices in cities like Lae and Port Moresby with ornamental plants for beautification and therapeutic purposes is booming.

Realising that there is demand for ornamental plants at homes and offices in Lae city, Madang and the seven highlands provinces, one will find stalls along the Lae - Nadzab road in Morobe Province where people are selling pot plants of orchids, epiphytes, dwarf fig trees, wild palms and many other ornamental plants.

One woman who has tapped into the business of selling pots plants along the Lae - Nadzab road is Naomi Jessy of Nasuapum village. She sells her pot plants along the roadside atBomangkrung hamlet, and although sales are erratic she still makes a reasonable amount of money per week because it is not a full time activity.

 Besides selling fresh food at the Lae market to sustain her family’s living, Naomi sells pot plants and bundles of dry coconuts at her roadside stall to supplement her cash income. If a vehicle stops at her road-side stall she expects passengers to buy her pot plants or bundles of dry coconuts. She makes about K200 – K300 per week from selling her potted plants.

Naomi has learned the art of pot plants the hard way and says she finds joy in what she does. She looks for wild palms, orchids and epiphytes from the nearby forest to do her pot plants.

Nasuapum village is known as the hub of floriculture in Morobe Province, with cut flowers being the main business. But Naomi believes pot plants is just catching on and will soon rival cut flowers as a horticultural business in the village.

Naomi’s clients have predominantly been working class citizens of Lae City and owners of guest houses and lodges, who wanted pot plants for beautification. Lately, however, she has received enquiries from people seeking some plants with medicinal properties that they say would cure certain diseases.

The government is now promoting small to medium enterprises, and the business of pot planting is a potential that can be developed by peoples living on the periphery of major urban centers like Lae and Port Moresby to supplement their cash income.

 Pot plants for health and beautification does not need some highly specialized knowledge to do it. All it requires is some basic knowledge and training in the art of pot plants and where to market them.

 With the onset of Wafi - Golpu mine and booming of business activities within and around Lae city, Naomi is optimistic her pot plants can be used for health and beautification of homes and offices in Lae city.