February 2026
Houseplant Hits By Teresa McPherson

These houseplants were recently recognized with accolades from industry associations.

Houseplants continue to have a hold on home gardeners. Here, we share several houseplant varieties that have received industry awards.

Streptocarpus ‘Lady Slippers Blue Vein’

Green Fuse Botanicals

(Top photo) Recipient of the National Garden Bureau (NGB) 2026 Professional’s Choice Green Thumb Award, this is the first commercialized double-flower primrose. This easy-care houseplant brings fresh blooms every day of the year with little to no direct light required.

The delicate-looking plants are also very resilient and ship well on racks or boxed. This allows for sales any time of year, whether as spring color or to be positioned as a pot crop for interior sales. They can be grown in 4- to 12-inch pots for weekly sales or for spring production, combination baskets or patio containers.

Pothos ‘Yellow Sunrise’

Costa Farms

The 2026 People’s Choice Green Thumb Award winner, pothos ‘Yellow Sunrise’ features dark green leaves that are splashed and streaked with golden yellow tones. As it matures, the leaves develop slits and holes akin to a monstera, creating a stunning houseplant. ‘Yellow Sunrise’ thrives in bright light, but can tolerate low light levels well, albeit with slower growth and less variegation.

The Year of the Ficus

Costa Farms Little Fiddle Leaf in Tokyo — Photo courtesy of Costa Farms.

Each year, NGB selects one houseplant as its “Year of the” crop. Plants are chosen because they are popular, easy-to-grow, widely adaptable, genetically diverse, and versatile.

For 2026, NGB chose ficus for its rich and diverse genus of plants that primarily originate from tropical and subtropical regions.

From specimen trees, indoor foliage plants and even vining forms, ficus is suitable for not only interiors but in the landscape as well.

Some common types of ficus include:

Ficus lyrata. Also known as fiddle leaf fig, this ficus was the “It Plant” of the late 2010s with its big, shiny leaves and slower growth. Like many tree-form ficus varieties, it can get more than 8 feet tall over time but can be kept smaller with pruning.
Ficus benjamina. This is the classic ficus houseplant, commonly called weeping fig due to its graceful branching pattern. The shiny, dark green leaves have been a popular houseplant pick for decades. It has a medium growth rate and tops 8 feet or more if not trimmed.
Ficus elastica. Also called rubber tree, this ficus has big, thick leaves a dense, milky sap used in its native range of southeast Asia to produce latex (hence its name). when grown indoors, it can get more than 8 feet tall, but it takes well to pruning and can be trimmed and shaped to fit any space.