It’s been pretty darn chilly over the last week or so. Bossman Chris Beytes wrote about the cold that descended deep into Florida in his latest Acres Online. If you want a good review of what happened to some foliage and bedding plant nurseries during the cold wave, I suggest you READ IT HERE.

As promised, this week I am bringing you the winners of TPIE’s Favorites categories, focusing on the plants (I included the Favorite Trending Products in last week’s buZZ!). These are chosen by show attendees from the items on display in the Exhibitor Showcase. And gosh, were there a lot of them! And who can choose just one, right? That’s why each category has three winners.

Without further ado, the winners are:

Favorite Trending Foliage category

Monstera deliciosa Golden Compact from Costa Farms. What a fabulous color!

Aeonium Crested Hybrid from Penang Nursery. Looks like coral to me; so cool!

Nepenthes gaya from Deroose Plants. Carnivorous plants are totally in.

Favorite Trending Flowering Plant category

Hibiscus HibisQs Flora from Costa Farms. Yes, the bloom is wider than my pen. I’m told the blooms last three to four days and each plant has about six to eight blooms.

Medinilla magnifica Royal Intenz from Living Colors Nursery. Living Colors received the same award last year for another Medinilla called Royal Glow.

Confetti Orchid Garden from Silver Vase. Wish I could grow mine like that!

I have a bonus award winner for you, as well. Costa’s Pothos Yellow Sunrise won National Garden Bureau’s 2026 Green Thumb People’s Choice Award in the houseplant category. Seeing this in person, I can totally understand why it was chosen. Just look at it!

I did not spot the winner of the Green Thumb Professional’s Choice houseplant winner, but I’ll tell you it’s Streptocarpus Lady Slippers Blue Vein from GreenFuse Botanicals.

Thanks for the photo, NGB!

Over the next few weeks I’ll continue to sprinkle plants and products I spotted at TPIE within Tropical Topics and buZZ! Stay tuned.

Speaking of TPIE, I got word from Oglesby Plants International that they’ve hired Shane Pangle as the company’s Sales and Marketing Director. Shane has more than 20 years of sales and management experience in the horticulture industry and will be packing that in his bag as he joins Oglesby. Most recently, Shane was Vice President/Owner Partner at Futch’s Landscaping in Palatka, Florida, and before that he was Sales Manager and then Director of Sales at Cherrylake, Inc. in Groveland, Florida.

Shane is filling the position left by the retirement of long-time Oglesby employee Ginger Goff. Ginger has been at Oglesby for 15 years starting as a sales rep and then becoming the Oglesby sales team leader.

“This is a bittersweet moment for us,” said Gary Hennen, President of Oglesby Plants International, in a press release on the topic. “Ginger has contributed so much to the success of Oglesby over the years. We’ll miss her and wish her all the best in this new chapter of her life. At the same time, we’re excited that Shane is picking up where Ginger leaves off. His expertise in sales and marketing and a commitment to grower service and support is a winning combination for Oglesby and present and future customers.”

Staying within the state of Florida for a moment, have you signed up for the Vanilla Symposium? The second annual one-of-a-kind conference celebrating all things vanilla will take place March 14 at Blossom & Brie Farmside Dining in Ft. Meyer. This day-long conference is open to and appropriate for everyone, whether you’re a commercial vanilla grower, orchid fanatic, researcher or deep into the culinary aspect of this pretty amazing plant. Speaking of which, guests will get to experience a chef-curated vanilla farm-to-table culinary experience. Looking for grants and funding? You’ll learn how to find what monies are available and how best to ensure you receive them.

It’s an up-and-coming crop! Oh, and if you can’t physically make it to the event, there’s an online registration option, as well. Get your tickets HERE.

And p.s., on an episode of Samin Nosrat’s podcast, “Home Cooking,” she answers a listener’s question about vanilla:

“I just got to the part [of your book] about vanilla beans and how hard they are to grow. And so, I was just wondering how that became such a common flavor for desserts since they're so difficult to grow. And how it became normal to just say something is like plain vanilla. Thank you!”

Listen to Samin’s answer HERE. And one of you vanilla growers should definitely fill Samin in on the growing process.

And if you’re into orchids in general, not just the vanilla orchid, you might be interested in hopping a flight to the West Coast for the 78^th Santa Barbara International Orchid Show.

Taking place at the Earl Warren Showgrounds March 20-22, this is the most prestigious orchid show in the United States, and features magnificently created orchid displays, orchid art exhibits, photography, floral arrangements, workshops, demonstrations and special events. And they’ll have orchids for sale, as well. Something for everyone!

Find out what is in store and purchase tickets HERE.

While a Super Bowl-victorious team is preparing to parade through its city streets, I’m throwing it back to January and the Rose Parade. Denise Godfrey of Olive Hill Greenhouses wrote in about the parade and how Cal Poly “hit it out of the park” with their float, so much so that it won the top award of the parade!

“It was absolutely loaded with tropicals,” Denise wrote. “I loved the design with the huge monstera leaves and all the foliage on the float. They ask local growers to donate to the float, and it is really neat to see our plants in action.” This float was designed by Roger Dennis of Western Kentucky University, who Denise says is a fabulous flower designer.

Denise’s favorite animal on the float was the frog. It had Crotons on the arms, Anthurium leaves on the back, and it was sitting on batches of Swiss Cheese monstera. Denise took the above photos while she was volunteering a few days before the float was finished.

Click HERE to see the final float. These floats and all the work they put into them are truly amazing. Great work, Cal Poly!