Centris Weekend Plant Market

THE PLANT WEEKEND MARKET AT THE CENTRIS GROUNDS

I was like a child with a leaping heart when I finally sought my long-time wish of going to Centris at the Quezon Avenue MRT Station in Quezon City. The plants for sale didn't fail me and proved that my effort was worth it!

11 December, 2011, a Sunday, I sailed early for Centris knowing very well that weekend markets do not last till the afternoon. A wish I call it? People will only laugh at me because the place is so accessible that most are non-chalant of it. Yet, I always consider my ventures (and my middle name is Ventura-Spanish for journey or venture!) outdoor learning experiences-learning about the area's people, the transportation, the important landmarks, and the wares that are good to buy.

Centris was not just the familiar SM Centris which for me was so small to make me happy, growing accustomed to big ones we have in Mandaluyong City (albeit Quezon City has more chains of big malls) and I wonder why it wasn't made larger when the space it occupies is a large area. That Sunday, I discovered the answer..

Finding my way to the weekend plant market, I was able to see the spacious back portion with their quaint stores, shops, and booths. The architect of the place is a sure outer-space lover since he/she designed the place with spaceship-like towers and some planet-evoking structures that seem to make the place look bizarre but ultra-modern.

The weekend market was neatly divided into sections. There was the local organically produced products and herbal supplements, handicrafts from the various regions and provinces. Going further is the apparel, cd's, books, and native handcrafted containers. At the end of this section is the food section to the left where various sumptuous local and foreign foods are offered and turning right is the Plant Section-eureka!!

At the entrance, cute canines were for sale. The Plant Section is bigger, brighter, and better than at the Lung Centre of the Philippines' Weekend market then. From a vantage point of view, the shape of the booths would form a fork or trident. The base of the trident is made up of booths around 25 sq.m. or so and the very first booth you'll see belong to my Sensei Danilo A. Tiu- scientist and co-author of the Philippine orchid bible- Orchidiana Philippiniana!The right prong of the trident/fork is made up of mostly native plant vendors and fruit-bearing tree vendors. The left prong is tidier and they sell mostly hybrid and vogue plants there. The middle prong of the trident mostly sells plants with flowers set in arrays, and big and gigantic ornamental or landscaping plants.

I noticed that hybrid temperate big-flowered Cymbidiums are the 'in' thing in the plant world of the Philippines today as many stalls have them for sale but of course since it is Christmas time, the Poinsettias won't tolerate their dominance taken over! Also, since the cool or 'winter' season has set in, Phalaenopsis are in their flowering mood. These three plant genera dominate the plant weekend market as I have personally witnessed.

There is now growing awareness among plant sellers whether the plants they sell are rare, endangered, or exotic and will price them accordingly! So the buyers should also be intelligent enough to know what they are buying lest they just "throw" out their bucks away by just killing the plant they bought out of ignorance how to take good care of it. Most sellers are very good in putting the price tags but not in guiding their customers how to perpetuate their plants. It is better to buy plants a bit more expensive when you purchase it from somebody who knows his/her craft well because by and by they will guide you through out your planting career until you become adept to it.