13/09/2026
Did you know that we have been growing ornamental plants for more than 45years? In this post we narrate the beginnings and evolution of our homegarden and how our passion for plants kept us going and growing through the seasons of the ornamental plant trade. _________________________________________
EVOLVING THROUGH THE DECADES
Natividad family matriarch - Sweny, started backyard gardening in their home at Los Banos, Laguna in the late ’70s. This hobby was supported by the patriarch - Warlito, who was a lawyer/forester at the Forest Research Institute or FoRI (now Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau - ERDB). Sweny started with only 10 pots of Anthurium ‘Kaumana Red’ and single-handedly grew thousands of anthuriums in less than two years. What started as a hobby turned into a full-fledged business when anthurium flowers became popular amongst plant enthusiasts. With the success of the anthurium garden, the family decided to invest more in the business and decided to purchase land in Victoria, Laguna. The land was intended to be the new home of the growing Natividad family aside from the increasing anthurium plants that have become too many for the backyard in Los Banos.
But sometimes things don’t always go according to plan. When the family moved to Victoria, Laguna, the anthuriums that thrived at the higher elevation of Los Banos, did very poorly in the low-lying elevation of their new home. The anthuriums didn’t flower as much and their overall growth somewhat stunted at the new location. And as the Natividad family was just learning about the ornamental plant trade, was that plant popularity and demand waxes and wanes. The demand and popularity of flowering anthuriums started to decline towards the ’90s. When flowering anthuriums took a backseat after several seasons of fame in the plant trade, orchids emerged as the new plant favorite. At the encouragement of fellow plant grower - Remy Rudis (of Paradise Orchids), Sweny invested in several community pots of orchids and began the transition of the homegarden from growing anthuriums to orchids. Then leading expert on orchids and considered the mother of Philippine Orchidology - Dr. Helen Valmayor, conducted Orchid Culture training courses which Sweny eagerly attended, to learn more about orchid growing and its trade. As fate would have it, the new location was also the perfect place to grow the semi-terete vanda orchids and soon thrived well in direct, bright sun. In another few years, the family’s backyard garden has orchid flowers blooming everywhere again
Encouragement from her mentor - Dr. Valmayor, prompted Sweny to join the Biannual Flower and Garden Show at the University of the Philippines - Los Banos. She didn’t want to join initially and took her time to just grow and nurture the orchids in the nursery until she felt ready. In these exhibitions, her plant propagations primarily orchids, garnered numerous awards and accolades. Sweny Orchids Farm became a household name for growing semi-terete vandas and phalenopsis in the ornamental plant community.
Aside from the orchid garden and nursery, the rustic-themed family home also became venue and shot location to several movies and telenovelas. Movies - ‘Sana Dalawa and Puso ko’ (starring Alice Dixson, Dina Bonnevie, and Rustom Padilla) and ‘Nang Iniwan mo Ako’ (starring Sharon Cuneta, Albert Martinez, and Matthew Mendoza) are just a few classic Filipino movies filmed in Natividad family’s rustic homegarden.
Like plants evolving in the wild, Sweny Orchids Farm has evolved steadfast through the decades to become Rustic Homegarden today. The homegarden has come a long way from the startup pots of Anthuriums, and the community pots of orchids that taught us to adapt and be resilient to the seasons of the ornamental plant industry. For a time, the homegarden was also nursery to palms and bamboos and will continue to evolve otherwise. Our vision is steadfast in caring and nurturing more plants in the coming years, maybe decades more ahead as the younger generation of the Natividad family takes on the challenge to continue the tradition of being steward of plants in our little Rustic Homegarden.
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