HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027
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A STRONGER HOUSEPLANT DEPARTMENT RARELY COMES FROM ONE SOURCE ALONE. Independent garden centers need dependable foliage, specialty finds, flexible ordering, retail-ready options, statement plants, small-pot refreshes, and category depth in cactus, succulents, ferns, palms, and tropicals. The challenge is knowing which Florida vendors fit which needs — and how to combine them without making sourcing more complicated than the category needs to be. That is where EHR becomes the advantage. EHR gives buyers access to a curated network of Florida houseplant sources, each with different strengths in product mix, container sizes, shipping options, order flexibility, and retail presentation. Some vendors are best as foundation foliage sources. Some are category specialists. Some are ideal for unique tropicals. Some help fill gaps. Some make ordering simpler. The right program may use one vendor, two vendors, or a carefully planned mix. The goal is not just more houseplants. The goal is a houseplant department that is easier to source, more exciting to shop, and more profitable to manage.
CO N T E N T S
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Houseplant Buyer Priority Guide
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Andersen Farms
08
Bernecker’s
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Central Florida Ferns & Foliage
16
Excelsa Gardens
20
Fantasy Foliage
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Florida Cactus Inc.
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Florida Tuxedo
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Hanging Tree Nursery
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Heart of Florida Greenhouses
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Quick Compare Grid
Tricia Toomey
EHR Florida Foliage Manager HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027 | 1
Build Your Florida Houseplant Source Mix Houseplant buying is not one-size-fits-all.
A garden center with a high-volume foliage table may need a different source mix than a boutique plant shop looking for unusual tropicals. A retailer building a cactus and succulent destination needs different support than one filling seasonal fern baskets, porch palms, or retail-ready 6” foliage. Some buyers need UPC and polished presentation. Others need small-order flexibility. Most need more than one thing at the same time.
Use this guide to think about vendors by role — not just by plant list.
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Buyer Priority Guide
Vendor Options to Consider
Everyday foliage basics
Andersen Farms, Bernecker’s, Fantasy Foliage, Heart of Florida, Florida Tuxedo
Retail-ready UPC foliage
Bernecker’s, Andersen Farms, Fantasy Foliage, Florida Tuxedo, Central Florida Ferns & Foliage
Fern-heavy programs
Andersen Farms, Central Florida Ferns & Foliage, Bernecker’s, Heart of Florida
Small-order flexibility
Central Florida Ferns & Foliage, Florida Cactus, Heart of Florida, Hanging Tree Nursery
Collector / unusual tropicals
Excelsa Gardens, Florida Tuxedo, Heart of Florida, Bernecker’s
Cactus & succulent depth
Florida Cactus, Fantasy Foliage, Bernecker’s, Heart of Florida
Statement pieces
Florida Tuxedo, Andersen Farms, Bernecker’s, Excelsa Gardens
One-stop fill-in sourcing
Hanging Tree Nursery, Bernecker’s, Fantasy Foliage
Why It Matters Keeps the core houseplant bench full, dependable, and easy to refresh. Supports cleaner receiving, easier POS setup, and more polished presentation. Helps buyers source both volume ferns and smaller specialty fern refreshes. Useful for independents testing categories or filling gaps without overcommitting. Adds discovery, destination appeal, and premium-ticket opportunities. Builds a real category instead of a small side table. Creates visual impact with palms, totems, ficus, bird of paradise, hibiscus, and larger tropicals. Helps buyers solve mixed needs through fewer sourcing conversations.
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Andersen Farms
Volume-capable Florida foliage, fern, palm, and croton source. Andersen Farms gives garden center buyers a strong foundation for the houseplant and tropical foliage bench. Based in Homestead, Florida, the operation is built around volume-capable production in the crops that still do real work at retail: ferns, Majesty palms, crotons, and interior foliage in core sizes.
That makes Andersen especially useful for buyers who need more than a handful of novelty plants. They need dependable crops that can support seasonal traffic, fill benches with confidence, and anchor the tropical program when customers are shopping for porch, patio, and indoor greenery. For EHR customers, Andersen fits best as a foundation source: the kind of vendor that helps keep the everyday foliage program strong while still offering seasonal opportunities with ferns, palms, and crotons. 4 | HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027
Buyer Snapshot Best For: Core foliage, fern programs, palms, crotons, seasonal volume Strongest Role: Foundation source Useful For: Spring fern baskets, patio palms, fall crotons, everyday foliage tables Retail Value: Keeps high-demand tropical categories full and credible Pairs Well With: Excelsa for unusual tropicals, Florida Cactus for succulents/cactus, Central Florida Ferns for smaller specialty fern refreshes
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Palms, ferns, foliage / houseplants UPC: Available Pot Sizes: 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” Order Minimum: 400 shipping units during peak season to ride on an EHR truck; off-season minimums based on economical freight options Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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Core Crops with Category Power Boston Ferns & Kimberly Queen Ferns These are not background plants in the spring program. Ferns drive porch, patio, shade, hanging basket, and giftable greenery sales. Andersen’s fern volume makes them a logical source for garden centers that need the category to look full when traffic peaks. Majesty Palms Majesty palms remain one of the most understandable tropicals at retail: big, green, vertical, and instantly useful for patios and indoor spaces. They give garden centers a clean way to add height and value to the tropical foliage department. Crotons for Fall Crotons bring warm color into a category that can otherwise lean heavily green. For fall retail, they bridge indoor foliage, porch décor, tropical color, and seasonal merchandising. Interior Foliage Basics The year-round foliage list gives buyers a practical way to keep the houseplant bench stocked with familiar, shoppable choices. The assortment will shift through the year, which is an advantage for stores that need refresh without completely reinventing the category. Dieffenbachia ‛Panther’ 6 | HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027
Calathea ‛Argentea’
Croton Petra
Ficus Lyrata Column
Cordyline ‛Red Sensation’
Majesty Palm
Boston Fern
Braided Money Tree
Croton ‛Petra’
Dracaena ‛Golden Heart’
Bernecker’s
Retail-ready, broad-assortment foliage source with Trending Tropicals reach and independent garden center experience. Bernecker’s brings together two things garden center buyers do not always get in the same source: broad Florida foliage access and a retail-ready service mindset. With more than five decades of customer history and a significant year-round availability, Bernecker’s is well positioned for buyers who want dependable interior foliage, palms, dracaenas, specialty items, and seasonal blooming tropicals with the option for a more finished presentation. Their retail-ready program — including leaf shine, care tags, and UPC labels — makes the vendor especially useful for stores that need clean receiving, easier POS setup, and a better-looking bench from the start. For EHR customers, Bernecker’s is a strong fit when the houseplant program needs both breadth and polish.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: Retail-ready foliage, broad houseplant programs, UPC support, palms, blooming tropicals Strongest Role: Retail-ready foundation source Useful For: 4”–24” foliage programs, seasonal hibiscus, mandevilla, palms, dracaena, specialty foliage Retail Value: Helps buyers build a professional-looking houseplant department with less in-store cleanup Pairs Well With: Florida Cactus for deeper succulent/ cactus programs, Excelsa for unusual tropicals, Central Florida Ferns for fern-specific refreshes
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Hibiscus, dipladenia / mandevilla, palms, ferns, foliage / houseplants, succulents UPC: Available Pot Sizes: 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14”–24” Order Minimum: 400 shipping units during peak season to ride on an EHR truck; off-season minimums based on economical freight options Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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When the Houseplant Bench Needs to Look Ready Retail-Ready Foliage Leaf shine, care tags, and UPC labels give buyers a cleaner path from truck to sales floor. This is especially valuable for IGCs that want professional presentation without adding more labor at receiving. 6” Trending / Specialty Foliage Bernecker’s access to a broad foliage pipeline gives buyers a way to keep the 6” bench current — a key size for houseplant shoppers who want something more substantial than a starter plant but still easy to carry home.
1 Ficus Iyrata
Palms & Dracaenas These are foundational categories for interior foliage, offices, patios, and larger indoor spaces. Bernecker’s gives buyers a dependable lane for the architectural plants that create height and structure. Seasonal Blooming Tropicals Hibiscus and mandevilla expand the vendor’s usefulness beyond green foliage, giving garden centers warm-season color and patio appeal from the same source mix. Succulents & Supporting Categories While not the primary cactus/succulent specialist, Bernecker’s can help round out a broader houseplant order with supporting categories that make the bench feel complete.
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2 1 Agleonema ‛Golden Fluorite’ 2 Boston Ferns
Dracaena ‛Janet Craig Compacta’
Dracaena ‛Lisa’
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4 3 Majesty Palm 4 Monstera ‛Thai Constellation’ 5 Spathiphyllum
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6 6 Lucky Bamboo
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Central Florida Ferns & Foliage Fern and small-pot foliage specialist with strong flexibility for independents.
Central Florida Ferns & Foliage gives independent garden centers a different kind of houseplant advantage: depth in ferns and small-format foliage without forcing every order into a large-volume commitment. The program is especially useful for buyers who want to refresh the bench with 2”, 4”, and 6” material, build terrarium or miniature garden displays, support shadeloving foliage sales, or add unique fern texture that larger foliage programs may not prioritize. With monthly availability and FedEx-friendly shipping options, Central Florida Ferns & Foliage can function as a practical flex source for stores that need variety, not just volume. For EHR customers, this vendor is a strong fit when the goal is to make the houseplant department feel more detailed, collectible, and regularly refreshed.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: Ferns, small pots, terrariums, miniature gardens, flexible refreshes Strongest Role: Fern specialist / flex source Useful For: 2”, 4”, and 6” foliage, Pixie Plant-style programs, boxed orders, smaller fill-ins Retail Value: Adds texture, scale variation, and discovery without requiring a full truckload approach Pairs Well With: Andersen for volume ferns/palms, Bernecker’s for retail-ready foliage, Florida Cactus for small-pot succulent/cactus programs
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Ferns, foliage / houseplants UPC: Available Pot Sizes: 2”, 4”, 6”, 8”, 10” Order Minimum: 1 case Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, and FedEx Freight
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The Details That Make the Bench Feel Curated Ferns in Multiple Sizes Ferns bring softness, texture, and shade-friendly messaging to a houseplant department. Central Florida Ferns & Foliage is especially useful for buyers who want more than one fern option and more than one pot size. Pixie Plant / Miniature Garden Assortments Small-format foliage gives retailers a strong story for terrariums, dish gardens, fairy gardens, and add-on sales. These are plants that encourage projects, not just purchases. 4” Foliage Refreshes A strong 4” program helps stores keep the bench lively between larger shipments. It is also a useful size for entry-level customers and impulse buying.
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FedEx-Friendly Fill-Ins The ability to ship smaller orders makes this vendor valuable for independents that want to test new items, fill holes, or avoid waiting for a larger truck program. Unique Fern Texture From bird’s nest styles to finer-textured ferns, this is where buyers can add visual contrast and build displays that feel more intentional.
2 1 Ficus ‛Burgundy’ 2 Bird’s Nest Fern ‛Victoria’
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4 3 Heart Fern 4 Ficus ‛Tineke’
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6 5 2.5” Pixie Plant Assortment 6 Philodendron gloriosum
7 7 Peperomia ‛Red Ripple’
8 8 4” Foliage Assortment HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027 | 15
Excelsa Gardens
Unusual tropical, collectorforward, and statement plant source. Excelsa Gardens brings the kind of plant material that makes a houseplant department feel discovered, not simply stocked. Located on 30 acres in Loxahatchee, Florida, Excelsa has built its identity around unusual tropicals, rare exotics, and the kinds of plants that create instant curiosity at retail. For independent garden centers, that matters. A strong houseplant program needs dependable basics, but it also needs moments of discovery — the plant that stops a customer mid-aisle, starts a conversation, and supports a higher-ticket sale. Excelsa is best used as a specialty source within the EHR houseplant mix: not necessarily the place to build the entire everyday foliage table, but one of the best ways to add destination energy, collector appeal, and tropical drama.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: Unusual tropicals, collector plants, dramatic foliage, carnivorous plants, hanging baskets, statement crops Strongest Role: Specialty source Useful For: Premium houseplant tables, collector sections, tropical features, destination displays Retail Value: Adds “what is that?” energy and supports higher perceived value Pairs Well With: Bernecker’s or Fantasy Foliage for core foliage, Florida Cactus for collector succulent/ cactus depth, Andersen for volume staples
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Palms, ferns, foliage / houseplants, succulents UPC: Available Pot Sizes: 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14”–24” Order Minimum: $1,000 Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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The Plants That Make a Houseplant Department Feel Alive Nepenthes Carnivorous plants bring instant curiosity, especially for shoppers looking for something beyond typical foliage. Nepenthes can anchor a collector table or create a strong impulse story when merchandised with care information. Medinilla Hanging Baskets Medinilla gives buyers a dramatic, giftable, tropical hanging basket with premium visual impact. It is a strong option when the houseplant department needs color, scale, and novelty. Alocasia & Colocasia Big leaves, strong silhouettes, and collector energy make these crops ideal for destination displays. They give retailers a way to sell foliage as design, not just greenery.
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Bananas & Tropical Statement Plants Bananas and other bold tropicals create the “indoor jungle” feel that shoppers often want but may not know how to assemble on their own. Tree Ferns & Unusual Ferns These give the fern category a more premium, collector-forward lane. They pair especially well with shade/tropical storytelling and larger-format displays. Collector Philodendrons / Monsteras / Specialty Vines These are the crops that help stores compete with online plant discovery while still offering the advantage of in-person selection.
1 Alocasia odora ‛Variegata' 2 Heliconia wagneriana 18 | HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027
3 Alpinia purpurata 4 Medinilla magnifica
5 Clerodendrum thomsoniae 6 Musa ‛Zebrina’
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8 7 Cyrtostachys renda 8 Nepenthes
9 9 Tacca chantrieri HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027 | 19
Fantasy Foliage
Broad, practical foliage source with competitive pricing and custom planter opportunities. Fantasy Foliage is a strong fit for garden centers that need a practical, broad houseplant source without giving up promotional flexibility. Based in Homestead, Florida, the nursery grows houseplants, succulents, cacti, garden plants, and interiorscape material, with the added advantage of new and popular varieties for year-round sales and holiday promotions. That combination makes Fantasy Foliage especially useful for buyers who need dependable everyday product, but also want retail moments that feel more finished, giftable, or event-driven. For EHR customers, Fantasy Foliage can play the role of a broad-assortment source with a value-conscious, promotion-friendly edge.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: Broad foliage, competitive pricing, succulents, cacti, promotional programs Strongest Role: Practical broad-assortment source Useful For: Everyday houseplant tables, holiday planters, gift programs, interiorscape basics Retail Value: Helps buyers create both bench fill and ready-made promotional displays Pairs Well With: Excelsa for unusual tropicals, Florida Cactus for deeper cactus/succulent selection, Central Florida Ferns for small-pot fern programs
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Palms, ferns, foliage / houseplants, succulents UPC: Available Pot Sizes: 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12” Order Minimum: 400 shipping units during peak season to ride on an EHR truck; off-season minimums based on economical freight options Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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Everyday Foliage with Promotional Upside Core Interior Foliage Fantasy Foliage can support the everyday houseplant bench with familiar, shoppable crops that help keep the department full and approachable. Succulents & Echeverias Succulents remain one of the easiest categories for impulse, gift, and low-care messaging. Fantasy’s succulent lane gives buyers a way to add texture and small-format interest.
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Cactus Support While Florida Cactus should own the deepest cactus lane, Fantasy Foliage can help round out the category within a broader foliage order.
Alocasia ‛Amazonica’
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Calathea ‛Triostar’
2 1 Chlorophytum ‛Lemon’ 2 Ficus triangularis
Grafted Cactus
4 Sansevieria Braids
Philodendron ‛Prince of Orange’
3 3 Hoya Heart Variegated
5 4 Hypoestes assorted 5 Syngonium ‛Silver Pearl’ HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027 | 23
Florida Cactus Inc. Cactus and succulent category specialist.
Florida Cactus Inc. gives EHR customers a clear specialty lane: cactus and succulents from a longestablished Florida source focused on the category. That focus matters. Cactus and succulent programs can easily become generic if they rely only on basic assortments. Florida Cactus gives buyers a way to build depth — small pots, larger specimens, grafted color, agave, aloe, haworthia, gasteria, euphorbia, echeveria, holiday cactus, succulent gardens, cactus gardens, and novelty forms that create real shopping interest. For independent garden centers, this is a strong category specialist to pair with a broader foliage source. The result is a cactus and succulent department that feels intentional, not incidental.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: Cactus, succulents, novelty, collectors, low-care retail, giftable displays Strongest Role: Category specialist Useful For: Succulent tables, cactus displays, small-pot impulse, larger specimen cactus, holiday cactus, dish gardens Retail Value: Builds depth and credibility in a category shoppers already understand as low-care and collectible Pairs Well With: Fantasy Foliage for broad foliage, Bernecker’s for retail-ready foliage, Central Florida Ferns for small-pot refreshes
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Succulents, cacti Pot Sizes: 3”, 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” Order Minimum: $150 / 5 cases Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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Build the Table People Actually Stop For Holiday Cactus Christmas cactus expands the vendor’s usefulness into seasonal color and giftable houseplant sales. Small-Pot Assortments Small cactus and succulent assortments are built for impulse. They are easy to shop, easy to carry, and easy to merchandise as gifts, desk plants, dorm plants, or low-care starter plants.
Christmas Cactus
Grafted Color Cactus Bright grafted cactus brings instant visual impact and strong gift appeal. It is one of the easiest ways to make a cactus table visible from across the department. Haworthia, Gasteria & Aloe These plants support the collector and low-care sides of the succulent story. Their texture, shape, and durability make them useful for both beginners and enthusiasts. Agave & Larger Specimens Larger agave and specimen cactus create premium impact and give the category a higher-ticket lane. Succulent Gardens & Cactus Gardens Planted combinations help retailers sell a finished look instead of individual plants only. These are especially useful for gift tables and seasonal promotions.
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Assorted Succulents
Grafted Cactus
Hanging Baskets Mixed Bowls
Aloe Vera
Jade HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027 | 27
Florida Tuxedo
Statement tropical, totem, hibiscus, palm, and larger-format foliage source. Florida Tuxedo gives garden center buyers the plants that change the shape of a department. With year-round foliage, unique varieties, palms, hibiscus, and totems in multiple sizes, Florida Tuxedo is especially useful when a houseplant or tropical program needs vertical interest, premium scale, and visual anchors. This is the vendor to consider when the bench needs more than 4” and 6” foliage — when it needs height, structure, color, and destination impact. For EHR customers, Florida Tuxedo works well as a statement source within the houseplant mix: a way to add premium pieces that help the department feel larger, more designed, and more profitable. 28 | HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027
Buyer Snapshot Best For: Totems, palms, hibiscus, larger foliage, statement tropicals, unique varieties Strongest Role: Statement source Useful For: Premium houseplant anchors, patio tropicals, vertical displays, larger retail pieces Retail Value: Adds height, drama, and higher-ticket opportunities Pairs Well With: Bernecker’s or Fantasy Foliage for core foliage, Florida Cactus for cactus/succulent depth, Excelsa for unusual collector tropicals
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Hibiscus, dipladenia / mandevilla, palms, ferns, foliage / houseplants UPC: Available Pot Sizes: 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14”–24” Order Minimum: 350 10” pots; varies Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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The Plants That Give the Department a Skyline Totems in Multiple Sizes Totems give retailers premium vertical interest and make foliage feel more architectural. They are ideal for displays that need height without relying only on palms. Hibiscus Hibiscus adds color, patio appeal, and warm-weather energy. It helps connect the houseplant/tropical bench to outdoor living and seasonal traffic.
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Ficus Standards & Topiaries Standards and topiaries bring a more designed, polished look to the tropical program. They are useful for shoppers looking for structure, not just foliage. Palms Adonidia, Chinese fan, areca, Phoenix roebelenii, and other palms give retailers scale and instant tropical identity. White Bird of Paradise A strong statement plant with recognizable interior design appeal. White bird of paradise helps elevate the houseplant department with bold foliage and premium size. Crotons & Color Foliage Crotons give the vendor a warm, seasonal color story, especially for fall and patio displays. 30 | HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027
1 8-Foot Totems 2 Monstera ‛Thai Constellation’
3 Epipremnum ‛Marble Queen’ 4 Rhapis excelsa
5 Philodendron micans 6 Philodendron peltatum
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7 Musa ‛Florida Variegated’ 8 Hoya pubicalyx
9 Aspidistra elatior ‛Variegata’ 10 Epipremnum ‛Albo-Variegata’
11 Cissus discolor 13 Philodendron burle-marxii ‛Variegata’ 12 Philodendron ‛Green Congo Nuclear’ 14 Strelitzia nicolai
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Hanging Tree Nursery Buyers who want breadth, sourcing help, mixed needs, larger pot ranges, and simplified access to tropical foliage through one relationship. As a consolidated network specializing in florist-grade indoor tropical foliage, Hanging Tree gives garden centers access to a wide pot-size range and a broad product mix through one relationship. That makes it especially useful when a buyer needs to round out an order, source multiple categories, fill gaps, or simplify what could otherwise become a long list of separate Florida calls. For EHR customers, Hanging Tree is best understood as a one-stop flex source: practical, broad, and useful when the houseplant program needs options.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: One-stop shopping, broad tropical foliage, mixed needs, larger pot ranges, fill-ins Strongest Role: Consolidated sourcing solution Useful For: Rounding out programs, mixed foliage orders, special requests, broad size runs Retail Value: Helps buyers simplify sourcing without giving up variety Pairs Well With: Category specialists like Florida Cactus, fern specialists like Central Florida Ferns, and statement sources like Florida Tuxedo
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Hibiscus, dipladenia / mandevilla, palms, ferns, foliage / houseplants, succulents, citrus UPC: Not available Pot Sizes: 4”, 6”, 8”, 10”, 12”, 14”–24” Order Minimum: 400 shipping units during peak season to ride on an EHR truck; off-season minimums based on economical freight options Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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When the Best Product Is the Right Mix Broad Tropical Foliage Hanging Tree’s value is breadth. As a consolidation point for a network of regional growers, Hanging Tree provides a one-stop source for retailers seeking a coordinated solution. 3”–30” Style Range A wide pot-size story allows buyers to think beyond one bench. Smaller foliage, everyday retail sizes, larger statement pieces, and interior foliage needs can all be part of the conversation.
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Florist-Grade Indoor Tropicals This positioning is useful for stores that want polished, giftable, interiorscapefriendly product with strong presentation value. One-Stop Fill-In Sourcing Hanging Tree is especially valuable when the buyer has a complicated list, a partial need, or a category gap.
2 1 Dieffenbachia 2 14” Birds of Paradise
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4 3 Assorted Echeveria 4 Croton
5 5 Shipping of Spathiphyllum
6 6 Spathiphyllum
7 7 Bromeliad
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Heart of Florida Greenhouses For buyers that value communication, real-time crop photos, flexible assortment buying, and occasional unique finds.
Heart of Florida Greenhouses gives houseplant buyers a useful combination of foliage production, service, and current-crop visibility. Their assortment approach is especially interesting for independent garden centers. Buyers may receive unique items that do not always appear on a standard availability list because quantities are limited, but those plants can still make their way into assortments. That creates a valuable retail dynamic: dependable foliage with the occasional surprise that keeps the bench from feeling too predictable. For EHR customers, Heart of Florida works well as a flexible foliage source for stores that value communication, current crop photos, and assortment-driven discovery.
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Buyer Snapshot Best For: Assortment foliage, unique low-number items, current crop visibility, service-oriented sourcing Strongest Role: Flexible foliage / discovery source Useful For: 4”, 6”, 8”, and 10” foliage, assortment orders, special requests, refresh shipments Retail Value: Helps buyers keep the bench fresh with both core foliage and unexpected finds Pairs Well With: Andersen for volume, Florida Cactus for succulents/cactus, Excelsa for unusual tropical features, Central Florida Ferns for fernspecific refreshes
Ordering Snapshot Product Categories: Dipladenia / mandevilla, ferns, foliage / houseplants, succulents UPC: Not available Pot Sizes: 4”, 6”, 8”, 10” Order Minimum: $300 Ship Methods: FTL, LTL, FedEx Freight
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The Assortment Advantage Foliage Assortments Heart of Florida’s assortment approach can help garden centers add variety without forcing the buyer to specify every item individually. This is useful for stores that want a fresher, less predictable bench. Unique Low-Number Items Some of the most interesting plants may not appear on standard availability because there are not enough to list broadly. In assortments, those lownumber items can become retail surprises. Current-Crop Photo Confidence Real-time crop images help buyers understand what is actually ready now. That supports better decisionmaking and fewer surprises when product arrives. 4” and 6” Refresh Programs These sizes are ideal for maintaining movement in the houseplant department. They give retailers accessible price points and regular bench refresh opportunities. 8” and 10” Foliage Larger sizes help stores step customers up from entry-level plants into more substantial houseplant purchases.
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3 1 Aglaonema ‛Siam Aurora’ 2 Alocasia macrorrhizos ‛Lutea’ 3 Alocasia macrorrhizos ‛Regal Shields’
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4 4 Croton ‛Petra’
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6 5 Monstera deliciosa 6 Nephrolepis biserrata
8 7 Philodendron hederaceum ‛Lemon Lime’ 8 Strelitzia nicolai White Bird of Paradise
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Quick-Compare Grid Andersen Farms
Best Role
Pot Sizes UPC
Ship Methods
Best Buyer Use
Andersen Farms
Foundation foliage / ferns / palms
6”–14”
Yes
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Core tropical staples and seasonal volume
Bernecker’s
Retail-ready broad foliage
4”–24”
Yes
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Polished foliage programs with UPC/care tags
Central Florida Ferns & Foliage
Fern / small-pot flex source
2”–10”
Yes
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Fern refreshes, terrariums, smaller orders
Excelsa Gardens
Unusual tropical specialty source
4”–24”
Yes
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Collector tropicals and destination displays
Fantasy Foliage
Broad foliage / promotional planters
4”–12”
Yes
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Everyday foliage and cactus
Florida Cactus Inc.
Cactus / succulent specialist
3”–14”
No
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Cactus and succulent category depth
Florida Tuxedo
Statement tropicals / totems / palms
4”–24”
Yes
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Totems, larger foliage, hibiscus, palms
Hanging Tree Nursery
Broker/grower one-stop source
4”–24”
No
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Mixed needs, fill-ins, broad sourcing
Heart of Florida
Assortment foliage / discovery source
4”–10”
No
FTL, LTL, FedEx
Assortments, current crop visibility, unique finds
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939 Helen Ruth Drive | Ft. Wright, KY 41017 (800) 214-2221 | (859) 578-3535 www.ehrnet.com 42 | HOUSEPLANT PLAYBOOK 2027