NGB announces houseplant category for “Year of the” program

National Garden Bureau, the non-profit organization promoting gardening in North America on behalf of the horticulture industry and its members, has officially announced the addition of one more category to the “Year of the” program.

The new category is: HOUSEPLANTS!

Houseplant sales were booming before the COVID pandemic and they are in even greater demand now. More home offices equal the need for more houseplants! With National Garden Bureau’s expanding member base and more members offering houseplants, it’s natural to add this category to the long-established “Year of” program.

The other five categories are: Bulbs, Annuals, Edibles, Perennials and Flowering Shrubs.

For 2022, the houseplant class will be Peperomia.

In order to aid breeders, growers and retailers in their crop planning, NGB is announcing the other classes for 2022 at this time as well. They are:

Annual: Verbena                                                       

Bulb: Gladiolus

Edible: Salad Greens

Flowering Shrub: Lilac

Perennial: Phlox

The “Year of the” program chooses crops specifically for the North American market that are easy to grow, genetically diverse, and with a lot of new breeding to showcase. Breeders, brokers, seed companies, growers and garden centers throughout the U.S. and Canada are urged to use this program as part of their marketing efforts.  

How popular is this program? The “Year of” pages on the NGB website are consistently in the top 10 visited pages by thousands of site visitors every month.

NGB members and non-members alike are encouraged to take advantage of the publicity this program generates by using the photos, facts sheet, social media graphics and logos in their 2022 catalogs, websites, advertisements, presentations, trade show booths, event exhibits and other marketing materials.

This fall photos (provided by NGB Members) of numerous varieties of all six crops will be posted on the NGB website. NGB also provides PDFs of fact sheets, flyers, handouts, signage, poster, PowerPoint presentations, etc. After Nov. 1, all of the above can be downloaded at no charge from the NGB website. To get the logos prior to Nov. 1, simply contact NGB via email. These tools will help the North American home garden industry promote the crops to consumers and encourage gardening with these specific crop classes. 

For more information about this program and/or membership in National Garden Bureau, please contact Diane Blazek.