Tropical plant expo draws global industry professionals to Fort Lauderdale

Tropical Plant expo in Fort Lauderdale. Image Via FNGLA.

Tropical plant enthusiasts and businesses worldwide descended on Fort Lauderdale last week to participate in some of the industry’s most sophisticated developments.

The 2025 Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE) was held at the Broward County Convention Center as some 7,400 professionals from the nursery and landscape industry converged on the event. The exposition showcased plant cultivation developments, trends and additional products designed to grow tropical plants.

“TPIE is where plant professionals from all over the world converge to make important connections, learn what’s trending, and experience plants and products,” said Tal Coley, chief executive officer of the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA), which organized the event. “This industry trade event is truly an international marketplace.”

The event is considered the largest gathering of the tropical plant industry on the planet. Experts lead discussions and networking opportunities with exhibitions, seminars and booths displaying products. This year’s event covered some 227,000 square feet of exhibit space in the convention center in Fort Lauderdale. There were more than 1,000 exhibits during the expo, and more than 420 companies took part in the event, which lasted most of the last week of January.

This year’s expo also featured a speech by filmmaker Brett Culp, who outlined methods for accelerating business performance and making connections in the tropical plant industry.

The FNGLA also presented honors to participants who had the top exhibits during the event. Those winners included:

— 305 Farms

— Florida Tropiculture Inc.

— CTI Living

— Vina Planters

— The Plant Company/Leafjoy/PW

— Market Botany

— Deroma-Marshall Pottery

— Westbrook Greenhouses

— LiveTrends Design Group

— Penang Nursery

— ForemostCo, Inc.

— The Farmer’s Daughter

A special “Cool Product”  category was established and winners in that category included:

— Grant’s Farm Nursery

— The Plant Company

— Drain Drawer Pots, Inc.

— Mossify

— Flori-Design Nursery

— Treleaf

— Living Colors Nursery, Inc.

— R & D Nurseries, Inc.

— PlantDoc

— ForemostCo, Inc.

The FNGLA represents Florida’s industry, which generates about $31 billion in sales and employs about 266,000 people in the state.