Yazied Hassan
The Veteran
“When I was 15 years old, the craze was orchids. Special wild orchids, Tillandsia air plants and Platycherium ferns. Then in 2018, it was all about Aroids. These days, it’s about Monstera and even specific variegation and rare colourations. I’ve been a plant nerd for more than 20 years, even since I first laid my eyes on the orchids at the KL Botanical Gardens. I remember slowly saving my pocket money to buy my first Phalaenopsis orchid back in the day. I guess I started early and that’s why my collection is so large and varied in general, before the prices went sky high and crazy.”
Ahead of the game? Yazied Hassan does not think he is part of the game at all, having cultivated a lifelong hobby of surrounding himself with plants of all types. “I am a general planter”, he says, “I don’t have a specific species and group that I collect. I collect because the plants are pretty. But then that also does drive me to want to collect all the species in that family….”
Enthusiastic and insightful, Yazied has managed to find lifelong solace in his vast collection of plants, arranged in an organic riot of colours, shapes and sizes – Caladiums with their rosy pink hearts in a bouquet of pots, Philodendrons and Anthuriums with their dramatic veins in a luxuriant cascade. It is, he says, a journey. One of many lessons learnt.
For example, Yazied confesses that he once acquired some uncommon plants – including the revered Monstera Borsigiana Albo – and proceeded to sap the life from them because he did not know how to take care of them. “Every plant is different and every bad experience is an opportunity to learn.”
With such a wealth of experience, does Yazied have any advice for would-be plant collectors? Yes. “Know your plant. Know what potting medium they like. Know your environment – is there good lighting? Good ventilation? Good humidity? Speak to local planters, since they will know what adjustments need to be made in care for our equatorial climate, rather than rely on general knowledge that is not terrain specific. And go easy. Build your collection slowly and tailor it to your likes and your space. Remember, that this is not a race. A plant is for life.”
In the broader spectrum of things, Yazied sees plant collecting in Malaysia as still nascent. “In many ways, we are still behind some of our neighbours in terms of the richness of the hobby. They have more ability and technology to produce interesting and rare hybrids, which is slowly filtering into our shores. I think that as more plant parents make their mark in the community and more plant-fluencers become influential, the hobby in Malaysia is just going to grow and become more fertile.”