For any of you who receive my Tropical Topics newsletter, you know that I walked my aisles, saw lots of great products and plants, and enjoyed my time at the Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE) last week. It’s always an upbeat show accompanied by nice weather (yes, Floridians, 50F and drizzle is still nice compared to 10F and snow). I gave a brief rundown of the show in Tropical Topics earlier this week and you can give that a quick read HERE.

Today’s buZZ! will focus exclusively on the Cool Product Awards. These awards are given out by The Garden Center Group and are judged by garden retailers—your peers—who volunteer to walk the show and peek into the corners of every booth for items they’d sell at their own stores. They chose 15 items this year, so let’s get into ‘em:

Vanilla planifolia Sunshine State from Agri-Starts: Grow your own vanilla bean! It’s an orchid plant, after all, and would grow as an orchid would indoors or even outside if you’re in a subtropical climate. Sunshine State is a self-pollinating vine and doesn’t need soil to grow—just attach to an orchid board and you’re good to go. Blooms begin at two to three years of age.

Pachira glabra variegata (Variegated Money Tree) from Aroid Greenhouses: This variegated sport of a common Money Tree is pretty unique. Aroid’s dynamic sibling duo Paula and Melanie Amezquita said the variegation has a range of white to cream. These have been grafted onto a standard from the common green variety.

The Drain Drawer Pot from Drain Drawer Pots: This pot is a genius idea and I called it a winner before I had a chance to look over the Cool Product award list. Couple Kris Kalkowski and Rickie Ritchie developed this pot to solve their own in-home plant watering issues. The drawer pulls out so you can empty the water that collects after over-watering. Push the drawer in a bit, the drain holes close and the pot can then hold water so the soil and slowly absorb it. It’s available in seven colors and two sizes. Genius!

Glass purses, slippers and wine bottle terrariums from Flori-Design: Gail was awarded her 11^th Cool Product Award this year. That’s a record! This is another item I knew would be a winner. When Gail saw the glass purses, she knew she had to create terrariums in them. She has two sizes available. She's also created planters out of glass slippers. Both are excellent ideas for Mother’s Day gifts. I believe the wine bottles have won an award previously.

Gail had another item that would be perfect for Mother’s Day, but I'll hold off on that until next week, as it didn’t receive the award.

Tradescantia zebrina Pink Paradise from ForemostCo: Never have I ever seen a tradescantia as vibrantly purply pink as this one! It’s super fast in production and is awesome for baskets. It’s from Lundager Plants in Denmark. Available as unrooted cuttings.

Androlepis Party Dress from Grant’s Farm: A sport from A. skinneri, this is a stunning large-format variegated bromeliad with green and white leaves and pink tips that grows up to 5-ft. tall and wide. Aside from its beauty, the story behind it is touching, too. Bred by Stephen Grant, his daughter accepted the award for this plant, as it was the last plant Stephen bred—he passed away just days before the show. Party Dress will be available in 2026.

Medinilla Royal Glow from Living Colors Nursery: If you read Tropical Topics earlier this week you’ll recognize that this also won the show’s Favorite New Flowering Plant Award. It’s from the Philippines and is a fast grower. This one, for instance, is 10 months old from cuttings. It blooms for eight weeks and does so twice a year. A red one is coming soon.

Everlasting Preserved Rose with Necklace from Mossify: Something new and different from the folks at Mossify, this is a 100% real rose that's been preserved to last for years, Available in two colors (red and pink), the rose comes in a small box with a drawer that containers a heart-shaped necklace. A ball on that necklace has “I Love You” written in 100 different languages. Wow!

Diffenbachia Big Ben from Northland Floral: Big is an understatement! This variegated diffenbachia grows to be 6-ft. tall or more. They're available in 8- to 14-in. pots and are focusing on the 8-in. pots. It’ll be available in April or May.

Philodendron Red Congo Variegated from Penang Nursery: This plant will also be familiar to Tropical Topics readers, as it won TPIE’s Favorite New Foliage Plant award. If I’m not mistaken, this is a sport of Congo Rojo. Its beautiful red leaves eventually turn to dark green.

We’ve got two winners from the folks at leafjoy/The Plant Company. The first is Peperomia Crème Brulee Less Orange. Found in a plant collector’s stash, the leaves have some incredible color variations.

The second is Anthurium Dark & Handsome, which comes from breeding work done by Dr. Jeff Block. Anthuriums aren’t usually known for their foliage, but this one has striking dark foliage with red veins. Availability is currently limited—but they're working on it!

Biodegradable Moisture Meter from PlantDoc: This item is another interesting story. The inventors actually own a plant shop and they created this product that indicates the level of moisture in the plant pot’s soil. They got the idea from a bath-time book they read to their son that changes colors when wet (his diapers that change color when they’ve been soiled was also an inspiration!). Each moisture meter stick lasts about one to two months and will fully decompose at the end of its use. They currently come in packs of five.

Philodendron florida Ghost from R&D Nurseries: This philodendron’s foliage emerges a creamy white color, and over time, turns green. But what’s amazing is the contrast between the entirely white leaves and the older, green leaves. The great news is they have availability in sizes from 4 in. to 10 in.

Leaf-shaped plant saucers and extendable trellises from Treleaf: I love the plant saucers called Sausr (great name!) because it’s designed to have the pot sit on top of it, allowing water to drain into it. Baffles help to prevent water from sloshing when you carry it away. Plus the shapes are so cool. These come in three sizes and three colors—and the founder Zebra Parkar 3D prints them in her basement! She also created new stakes that come in the shape of unfurling fiddleheads.

Those are great products, huh? And the show had a bunch more great products, too. I’ll share the ones that caught my eye over the coming weeks.

I can’t forget to mention Ball Publishing’s booth neighbor at TPIE, Organic Mechanics Soil. This was their second year exhibiting at the show (the first next to us) and they had two new products to share—well, one was super new and the other debuted last year and I’m not so sure I’ve mentioned it before.

Let’s do the new-new item first. It’s called 2^nd Sand and it's crushed, tumbled, sand gain-sized glass from reclaimed glass bottles. Use it to jazz up a potted houseplant, create a “walkway” in a miniature terrarium or make designs in those fun bottled sand art creations. (I used to love those, why don’t I make those art projects anymore ...?) 2^nd Sand is available in 1-lb. bags in three colors—Cobalt Blue, Emerald Green and Clear White.

The second is a product called 110 Blend. It’s a biochar-enhanced potting soil for outdoor containers, greenhouse production and cannabis cultivation. It’s an upgrade of the standard 70:30 coco and perlite blend that enhances nutrient absorption, boosts soil microbe activity and promotes root development. From what I understand about it, the biochar helps to enhance plant characteristics such as taste; i.e. your basil will be basily-er, your tomatoes tomatoey-er, etc. Plants will grow noticeably faster and stronger, too, and you’ll have bigger yields on your veg crops. Your customers should know that it doesn’t have a lasting fertilizer charge to it, but that's an opportunity for you to cross-merchandise the 110 Blend with other plant foods. Head over HERE for pricing and to get in touch with them.

Monrovia was also a TPIE exhibitor and had a couple of tropical-appropriate plants, BUT I need to tell you about their Bee a Winner pollinator plant giveaway program for garden centers. Monrovia has expanded this program with regional registration deadlines (hence why I need to inform you about it now) and a grand prize giveaway.

Monrovia is again partnering with garden centers nationwide to promote the importance and necessity of pollinator-attracting plants, which offers garden center customers a chance to win a free plant. This year Monrovia has two giveaway periods to better fit regional timing and key shopping days—either February 28 or March 14.

Garden centers must first register for the program that best suits your region (check your region HERE) and then place a $2,000 minimum order of Monrovia’s pollinator-friendly plants. Doing so will get you 10 free additional plants to use as customer prizes. Your order will come with posters and easy-to-use QR codes that link to a customer entry form. Other marketing tools are also provided. Customers will scan the QR code for giveaway entry and while there they have the option to join your garden center’s email list. Hey, that’s a great way to strengthen your customer relationships! Monrovia even manages the entries and chooses local winners.

But, wait, there’s more! Your customers have the chance to win a nationwide grand prize. To be eligible for a $500 shopping spree at their Bee a Winner location (i.e. your store), shoppers are asked to take a picture of their local garden center’s in-store display or a Monrovia plant, then tag the garden center’s location or social media handle on Instagram. That photo will then be shared on Monrovia’s Instagram stories, giving participating garden centers even more recognition.

“Our research shows that interest in attracting pollinators continues to expand,” said Monrovia’s Chief Marketing Officer Katie Tamony. “Gardeners are searching for beautiful, climate-appropriate plants that create diversity in the landscape and draw pollinators in.”

Sign up on Monrovia’s website by your region’s deadline or contact your Monrovia sales representative for more information.

I received an announcement that Tennessee Pollinators, a nonprofit that helps to preserve and promote healthy ecosystems for pollinators in the state, has launched a statewide Milkweed Initiative. This program is designed to educate folks in communities and businesses about the critical role milkweed plays in pollinator populations—especially when it comes to monarch butterflies. 

To get the word out, Tennessee Pollinators is calling on volunteers, gardeners and concerned citizen to plant more milkweed—and for garden retailers like yourselves to encourage sales of the plant, too.

“The milkweed plant is a lifesaver for pollinators—especially monarch butterflies,” said Mike McClanahan, Program Director at Tennessee Pollinators, in a press release on the topic. “By cultivating milkweed in our backyards, parks, farms and community gardens, we’re ensuring that future generations of Tennesseans can enjoy the awe-inspiring beauty and ecological benefits of these remarkable creatures.”

The initiative includes several ways you can get involved as a citizen and as a retailer:

Milkweed starter kits: Tennessee Pollinators has partnered with local nurseries—perhaps your own—and community organizations to offer native milkweed seedlings at discounted rates.

Online resources and workshops: Visit THEIR SITE for practical tips and step-by-step instructions on creating a monarch-friendly habitat.

Community grants: Small grants are available for schools, municipalities and community groups committed to establishing pollinator gardens or enhancing existing green spaces with milkweed.

Head over to HERE for more information and how you can get involved.

Before we close out January (where’d the month go?) let’s hear from my colleague Jen Zurko who attended MANTS in Baltimore, Maryland, in the first half of the month. She found some really cool items for you folks!

Although the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) leans toward the wholesale nursery and landscape folks, there are a good number of products that IGCs would take interest in. Here are a couple of things I thought would be ideal for retail:

Grays (dark and light) continue to be popular in pottery and containers, although I’m starting to see more color and unique patterns. Debbie Johnson from Pottery Pots said that they’ve noticed younger customers lean toward more neutral colors. And different textures are definitely in—which, as a touchy-feely person, I appreciate.

Neutrals and textures from Pottery Pots

I love the designs of the pots in the Buds & Blooms collection from Mick’s Picks.

Speaking of unique patterns and textures, River Art Stone made their MANTS debut this year with their eye-catching containers. Every pot is hand-made in Turkey with crack-proof and frost-proof reinforced glass fiber concrete, and can be shipped anywhere in the world.  They have a bunch of different sizes, with a light-weight option for the large containers. I asked what they’ve noticed with regards to trends and they said they base their designs on what their customers want—they can provide any size and texture in an “endless color palette.” And each design is named after historical places in the Middle East.

Continued from above ...

De Vroomen, a hardgoods and bulb distributor, is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and one of their new programs is a line of gardening products for kids featuring characters from “Sesame Street.” There are little kits with pots and seeds, plus confetti imbedded with seeds you can actually plant in the ground. That would be perfect if you have a kid with a spring birthday—hold the party in the garden and there’s no cleanup! 

It may have been only the third year Woodland Country Creations has been at MANTS, but Joseph King has been designing and creating wooden garden décor since he was 14 years old. He and his Uncle Amos (who was with Joseph in his booth for moral support) started with a few designs and a couple of handsaws. Now, Joseph has a two-story shop in his Amish community in Pennsylvania with a staff of friends and family who help make his products that he ships all over the country.

The mushrooms are new for Woodland Country Creations.

The birdhouses really show off the use of wood and metal.

Each piece is hand-made of wood and metal for IGCs, gift shops and online re-wholesalers. Being Amish, Joseph isn’t online himself, but he has a mailing list where he sends his catalogs three times a year and does send email blasts (with the help of a tech-savvy friend). The best way to get on the list to see everything that Woodland Country Creations offers is by calling (717) 529-4010.

The sheep, horse and goat on the right are all new for this year.

These chickens are new, too.

Thanks for the MANTS recap, JZ!