One promising trend is the nature-on-demand market, where several startups have emerged. Subscriptions have worked neatly for products like wine or jewelry, and they’re also suited for plants, because you can help customers develop their green thumbs. Horti’s first shipment is always a rugged, hard-to-kill plant—mine was a peperomia, with thick, almost rubbery leaves. Maybe soon I’ll be tending a hoya tricolor. And the surprise—what am I getting next month?—is part of the joy.

Millennials are fans: Cool-looking plants are Instagram gold and give a generation living in precarity something to nourish. “Someone said if pets are the new kids, plants are the new pets,” jokes Justin Mast, founder of Bloomscape, a startup that has mastered tricks to keep delicate life-forms thriving while being shipped across the country. (#Planthack: In winter, the company puts hand-warmers near the base of the greenery.) But he’s learned not to overtechnologize the experience. Bloomscape’s customers don’t want internet-of-things remote plant monitoring to tell them when to water. “They want to stick their finger in the soil,” he says.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.wired.com