I'm not your typical gardener.

Not only do I seek out the weird, unusual, or strange looking plants or mutations in some plant specimens, for some plants I like to create my own hybrids or cultivars.

When it comes to selling my unusual plants, I sell very few. At first I thought the quality of my plants wasn't good, but when I tried one year to grow garden variety plants, my plants sold out in a day!

So I ask, why are the unusual or rare plants so avoided by gardeners? Why be afraid to take a chance and grow something new? Are people just habituated to seek the familiar and common, or copy what others have?

How can I get people to take a chance on my creations?

Common is comfortable I imagine. I'm not one to buy something exotic (I have q bad track record with interesting plants ), but especially if it costs more.

How do you define an unusual plant? What may be common to me may be unusual to you...
Perhaps you can share some examples, even better some pictures.

And, of course the other reason - it just 'aint right. If god wanted us to grow unusual plants he wouldn't have given us lettuce seeds.

I think you have to define gardener to answer that. Many people are not willing to risk the financial loss now days to try to grow the exotic or unusual, as a true 'gardener' i.e. out in the yard, as opposed to a collector who grows in a greenhouse (like me) or someone who grows houseplants. For many people its a zonal issue. They may want a tropical yard, and have visions of lots of broad leaved tropicals like heliconias, aroids palms and gingers and wonderful flowering trees, but can;t have it in zone 6.

I am a plant collector, not a gardener as such. I live in Florida, so am lucky enough to be able to grow many many things outdoors that people in other parts of the country cannot. I hybridize my own anthuriums, and grow a ton of unusual, exotic and rare stuff in a greenhouse.

Most people who are actually planting stuff in their yard tend to go with what is reliable and available in their area that they can be at least a little assured that it will survive, once established

@Gina1960

By Gardener I mean someone who grows food plants for themselves (ex tomato), and plants flowers or trees/shrubs to make the property look nice. But also people like you that grow other plants for fun as as a hobby. I'm sure people collect plants too.

This is for people in my area, so all plants I offer grow fine in anyone's yard, zoning isn't the issue.

I wish I could grow food crops. But we live on 5 wooded acres, surrounded by other homes on between 2-15+ acres, dense woods mostly and a huge State Wildlife Preserve abuts our property. We have so much wildlife here, they have eaten every food crop I have ever tried to have. We finally gave up.

Most of the nurseries carry "bread and butter" plants, which is what the majority of people will start out with and stick with, additionally most do not know the variety of plants that are available but now, you can find on line.
I have grown Brugmansia (not bread and butter for MN) and other out of the zone plants, but after a few years they are a pita to maintain and overwinter. I have been fortunate to grow in zones 4/7/9/10, so I have seen a wide variety of different plants, most just want a plant that grows well and looks nice, they see it as a piece of furniture or ornamentation.

Would need examples. I like unusual plants but they still have to have a certain appeal to them. I would think that selling unusual plants would need to be done online to find enough people that would want them.

When you're talking about crossing and developing new plants, you're getting a little bit out of the realm of gardeners trying new plants.
Gardeners do try new plants…… rather they try new varieties of garden favorites that are sold by big box stores….. think of all the new coleus varieties that are introduced every year.
When you're talking about private gardeners developing new varieties, well, that's another thing.
Many now famous hybridizers of plants such as roses, day lilies, etc did get their start in their own gardens, and some worked for years before their creations were recognized by their respective plant societies.
The best way for a private gardener to get into the world of creating and selling new plants is to start slow and local. Sell the plants to the gardeners in your area. Then, as Bob says, go on the net, through Etsy, Amazon and the like. Build a good reputation there.
Unusual plants can be a fad thing, a trend, as evidenced by the now huge prices for variegated philodendrons, hoyas and the like. And a lot of vendors selling these plants are getting on this bandwagon, and selling these plants as cuttings that have no chance of survival, as evidenced by the large posts on ask a question and also on the philodendron thread, so if this is the intent to develop unusual plants and then sell them online, one has to consider what's hot and what's not, plus make sure that what one is selling is guaranteed to grow.
Otherwise, just develop new and unusual new plants for your own enjoyment. What you're really trying to do determines what direction you take.

What is the venue where you are selling? Do you have any pics of these unusual plants?

every season I try to get something new. penstemon one year. meh. this year Porterweed. it's on it's way-I should get it next week I've tried verbascum which they don't sell around here. I plan on getting more next year. tried Showy Solidago-did well but despite the tag info to not over water this plant can't get enough water. it loves a good soaking. go figure. sea holly tanked but my globe thistles are almost 5ft tall. this year also tried Lythrum. it's starting to flower now. Ironweed and Valerian were newbies a few years ago. both doing well. not the red st johnswort but white Valerian. one year I grew{or tried to} alot of different stuff from seed. that was a huge disaster. live and learn.

purpleinopp said:What is the venue where you are selling? Do you have any pics of these unusual plants?

I sell mine through Local Facebook groups in my area and Facebook Marketplace. I also made my own plant buy/sell/trade group on Facebook but very few people are interested in what I grow.

I did connect with a new small scale farm that opened up and they were highly impressed with what I grow and asked me to volunteer, however they can't buy my plants either. I'm not sure what else to do?

I can't afford to sell on Etsy or Ebay, I'm unemployed so shipping would make me lose more money than I could gain

Are you putting clear, closeup pics of the plants? Using the most popular possible common name, but also including a botanical name? So many people ask for ID's for newly purchased plants, so it seems more people buy by sight, vs. by name.

You may already be, but some ideas... Define any botanical terminology in the ad so anyone can understand. Offer some kind of discount for purchasing multiple plants. Do people have to join your group to view your ads? I haven't been on FB for a few years so things may not work the same. Include the word "plant" or "flower" if applicable. Don't say "rare" or "new" or use other gimmicky words that could make your ads sound sketchy. The general public doesn't know a new or rare plant, having never seen most plants or paid much attention to what they are - and like you suspect, the idea of a new plant could be unnecessarily intimidating, and the average person doesn't care, they just want to buy the plants they think are pretty at the time, whether other people have them or not. People can see if it's one they recognize.

If shipping, it should be a separate expense above the price of the plant.

If you are able to add some pics here, they might inspire other feedback.

If the same old , same old is doing well with no more than average care, some may decide to try to add a little spice to the garden.
BUT
If hard time hit and a lot of time is spent just trying to keep the same old, same old going, adding to the frustration by adding new out side the norm to the misery, will turn most people off all but the same old, same old instantly.

I am in an Arid southwest area, so choosing the correct plants is very important if I want a good outcome. I do have a small area of shade and "high water needs plants." I will try but I think I will lose a few. I never have such problems with verified low water Xeroscape plants. (Once they are established,) that is. I find I am always trying something new, but I do look specifically at tags, and I also look at reviews and videos about the plant and plant type. Why? I guess the same reason you would read a review on a car or computer you wanted to buy. I want to think of my plants as multi-year "investments" in the landscape. I want plants that will spread but are not invasive, will take the heat, sun, dry status of the soil, and I want them to be interesting and pretty as well. This year I bought a martagon bulb-- I haven't seen it yet, so maybe it is dead. I guess I just dislike wasting money? On the other hand, I got some lambs ear-- A plant I have been thinking about for a long time. I happened upon a few that were overwintered from 2020 at a nursery and they sold them 1/2 price. Soon, they doubled in size and now they are triple in size. They are an ideal plant. I love them. But I do not think I would have bought them at full price because I did not know anything about them.

How are things going, Keith?

What are you selling? What's being offered and what makes it better than the next person's? These are the answers you need to supply to people if you expect them to buy them over proven products. But I am interested, so whatcha got?