If you receive Bossman Beytes’ Acres Online, you may have read colleague Marvin Miller’s assessment of the recently released Floriculture Crops: 2025 Summary from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA/NASS). The foliage segment is included in those numbers and in Marvin’s assessment.

The news for foliage plants is good! According to Marvin, reported sales of foliage plants were $974.9 million in 2025, up 6.1% from 2024’s $918.5 million. Potted flowering plant sales were up, too: $1.407 billion in 2025, up 12.1% from the 2024 figure of $1.255 billion.

I don’t want to leave out our cut greens growers, which is predominantly in Florida not far from the foliage and tropical growers. Sales of cut greens were $122.0 million in 2025, up 61.4% from 2024’s $75.6 million and following three years of declines (which were mostly due to hurricanes and bad weather).

I asked Marvin if he had any further insights into the foliage segment beyond just the numbers.

“Yes,” he wrote back. “The foliage segment of the market had increased sales of 6.1%, as I said, but the share of the entire finished floriculture market dropped from 2024’s 14.1% share of the pie to 13.0% share. This is primarily due to the huge increase in bedding plant annuals. The new respondents were obviously heavy into bedding plant annuals, as all segments increased in sales, except for cut flowers, and yet all other segment’s share of the pie declined.”

By “new respondents,” Marvin means the 466 additional survey respondents over the number that responded to the 2024 survey. That’s a lot of growers! And it appears many of them are growing bedding annuals, if we were to analyze the numbers as Marvin does.

Horticulture is more than just foliage, and for you to have a better understanding of the entire industry and how you fit in it, read up on that USDA Floriculture Crops Survey and Marvin’s assessment of it HERE. He also said more of his astute data analysis is coming, so stay tuned.

The Plant Company, the licensed grower of Proven Winners leafjoy houseplants, has named EHR (formerly Eason Horticultural Resources) as its horticultural brokerage partner in North America. This agreement gives EHR the right to sell and distribute leafjoy to independent garden centers throughout its service network, creating a new route to market for the branded houseplant program.

Through EHR, IGCs can build assortments in 9-, 12- and 17-cm premium foliage, leafjoy littles, H2O hydroponic designs, Terraform terrariums, Canopy hanging baskets, and Boutique and Collector’s Edition selections. Retailers can choose six ready-built trending bundles—Essentials, Traditional, Deco, Climb-itt, H2O Expanded and Glass Only—or customize an à la carte mix.

Plants arrive display-ready with variety-specific labels, care guidance, QR-linked consumer content and Proven Winners marketing support. Atrium, Cocoon, WorkLife and SpaScene collections organize plants around the spaces and conditions in which shoppers will use them, helping retail teams replace guesswork with confidence.

“EHR understands how independent garden centers buy and what it takes to turn a strong product line into a successful retail program,” said Dave Thorne, senior vice president of sales and marketing for The Plant Company. “Their sales team and transportation network can help retailers build and ship the right leafjoy mix for their markets while we deliver the innovation, quality and consistency behind the brand. This is an important step in taking leafjoy to its next level of growth.”

“We’re thrilled to offer a program that provides independent garden centers such a distinctive collection of houseplants with a program that is easy to buy, merchandise and support,” said Chris Berg, director of marketing for EHR. “leafjoy brings together exclusive genetics, retail-ready presentation, consumer education and the power of Proven Winners. EHR adds the local relationships to make that program practical store by store, giving independents a stronger way to compete in houseplants.”

Independent garden centers interested in availability, booking and program options can contact their local EHR sales representative or visit EHR’s WEBSITE.

I have two bits of news for you from Ball Horticultural Company (the parent company of this fine publication).

First, Ball FloraPlant has acquired the complete Tradewinds Hibiscus genetics portfolio from Aris Horticulture. The transfer includes all commercial varieties, breeding stock, future introductions and the Tradewinds trademark. And just like that, Ball has strengthened its position in the tropicals category with some of the best hibiscus genetics out there.

“Expanding our tropical portfolio helps Ball meet the needs of the evolving market,” said Allan Davidson, President of Ball Horticultural Company. “We welcome these exciting additions to the Ball family. This transition combines industry-leading genetics, production expertise, and customer support to deliver even greater value to our customers and partners.”

At the same time, Ball Seed will acquire the commercial business responsibilities for Aris’ tropical liner, prefinished and finished programs. This includes hibiscus, mandevilla and tropical fern classes, along with select (and non-tropical) Igloo Mums and Green Leaf Plants Florida perennials (aka Transferred Products). Aris will continue to produce and finish the Transferred Products but will turn over all direct sales and distribution to Ball Seed. The Transferred Products will also have availability and be sold through Star Roses and Plants.

“Ball has a compelling vision for leveraging Tradewinds and expanding its tropical plants portfolio, and Aris has the production and growing experience to make it happen,” said Scott Schaefer, President & CEO of Aris Horticulture Inc. “This strategic partnership allows each company to focus on core strengths and ensures the continuing supply of the premium products our customers have come to rely on.”

It sounds as though it’s a win-win all around. 

This one came from Cultivate. The news is that Ball Seed now has curcumas. The new ThaiSpice series, available in Red, Pink and Lavender, are from a university breeding program in Thailand and are an exclusive to Ball Seed. These really do scream tropical to me, don’t you think?

According to the sell sheet, ThaiSpice is a strong performer in summer heat. You can also make the color last by cutting back fading blooms—this encourages more flowering.

The three ThaiSpice varieties are available as TC liners from December through March and are shippable as a finished product from May through July. This corresponds to not just production timing for this long-day plant, but also to when these plants are in high-demand for tropical combos and color programs for the summer season.

This news comes from colleague Jen Polanz.

In a mashup made in heaven, respected houseplant author and stylist Hilton Carter (who has nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram) has partnered with Rosy Soil to create his own limited-edition blend. I asked Founder Chad Massura how the collaboration came about.

“It came together fairly naturally—Hilton has been a friend and a fan of the blends for years now, and started mixing a few of our blends together to make his own custom mix,” Chad said. “From there, we spent about six months honing the custom blend, putting it through its paces in some of his projects and installs, and finally get to share it with the world!”

The organic product is called Hilton Carter’s Signature Blend, and features biochar and worm castings in a peat-free soil to provide the drainage, aeration and moisture balance Hilton needs for his own plants. It’s available in a 4-qt. bag. Check out his Instagram announcement HERE.

Thanks, JP! That’s a major get for Rosy.