The Cultivate Show, which happened last week in Columbus, Ohio, had a nice showing of offerings for interiorscapers this year. My favorite session was all about what’s hot as far as tropical plants.

But first, let's start off with a celebration, shall we? The 2018 AmericanHort International Plantscape Awards were announced on the Sunday night of the show. And while I’d love to tell you about each and every winner, with 61 awards given out this year, I just don’t have the space! So, I’ll give you the big two instead.

Cityscapes of Boston, Massachusetts, won the Emerald Award for a living wall located in a Boston Properties building at 888 Boylston Street (not more than 2 miles from me and right where the Boston Marathon bombings happened a few years ago, as it turns out). While the Emerald Award is technically the runner-up award, the wall looks gorgeous, doesn’t it?

The Diamond Award, the IP Awards’ top honor, goes to Ambius St. Louis for their Special Event/Holiday installation at Children’s Hospital. Children who are in Children’s Hospital are often there for a while, so having something surrounding them that is so creative and joyful—gosh, it could literally make them feel better and improve their health.

Kudos to you, Ambius, for taking care of the children at a special time of year.

And we can’t forget to mention that two industry elites were inducted into the Interior Plantscape Hall of Fame: Kathryn O’Donnell, president of Botanicus, and Hollis Malone, the former director of horticulture at the Opryland Hotel.  

Back to that hot and trendy tropical plants talk I mentioned earlier. The talk, “2019 Plant Trends,” was given by Dan Johnston of Tri-State Foliage, a Cincinnati-based wholesale supplier of tropical foliage for the interiorscape industry. I mentioned in my last Buzz enewsletter which ones I thought would be good for retailers. Here I’ll mention the plants that I think would wow as interiorscaping plants. Here’s what I have for you:

Dracaena Ray of Sunshine. Dan just loves it and how it lights up a space. Plus it retains its leaves in low to mid lighting and doesn’t tip.

Dracaena Giganta. As its name proudly states, it’s gigantic! It’s a big plant and also fast growing. It does tip a bit though, Dan says.

Cinnamon Tree. This is one I also included as a good candidate for retail. It’s a good alternative for ficus and grows 6-8 in. per year. There’s not a lot of production, but there should be, Dan says.

(con't from above)

Vriesea varieties. For texture in a living wall, Dan says he likes something called vriesea. He had several varieties on display, and it turns out a big grower of it—Olive Hill Greenhouses—was in the audience to discuss it a bit. Does it flower? Yes, but it takes a while.

This one is Vriesea Gigantea.

Meanwhile, enjoy the way it adds depth to a wall and how the patterning of the leaves adds another level of texture to the display.

Anthurium Superbum. If you’re going to have a black leaf, it’s got to have some texture. Superbum has it. It’s a slow grower, giving you just three leaves per year. (Plus, I can just hear Bart Simpson saying, “Ha! You said super bum!”)

J. Berry Nursery gave Cultivate attendees a first look at their new line of cannas called Cabana. Cabanas are naturally compact and are from tissue culture, which allows for more consistent growth and less disease issues popping up. They have eight colors available now for pre-book for 2019 production, and more colors are on the way. Vanilla is the most interesting, we're told. Why? Because apparently, it’s difficult to breed white into a canna. Personally, I enjoyed the velvety red Cabana the most.

Did I mention the Cabana breeding comes out of South Africa? That means they can handle the heat. The Cabanas themselves are more local, coming from J. Berry’s new young plant division, which they just started to help get their genetics out to their customers a little more quickly and efficiently. If you're interested, J. Berry can send you some sample material.