Are houseplants on your Mother’s Day menu? This product category, popular among all demographics, often creates loyal customers who return to grow their collection or buy for friends and family. Here’s how a few florists attract these shoppers for Mother’s Day, set them up for success and encourage repeat business.

“I think the biggest advantage of selling plants at a holiday is that it fulfills the lower price point that some people are looking for, which frees up your design staff to make larger and more profitable arrangements,” says Kaitlin Radebaugh, AAF, the fourth-generation owner and president of Radebaugh Florist & Greenhouses in Towson, Maryland.

While Radebaugh is in a unique situation because her company has its own greenhouses, she recommends traditional retailers bring in a small variety of plants — but in large enough numbers that they can be sold online. “As we know, that is the fastest growing sales channel,” she says.

Looking for guidance on what to buy? You can find that advice and more in the Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Study, produced by the Floral Marketing Research Fund, managed by the American Floral Endowment. The study highlights emerging trends in the plant market, explores motivations for plant purchases and identifies where people buy plants.

Consumers Love Color and Tropical Vibes 

The top three plant categories consumers love are flowering plants, broad-leaf foliage (pothos, monstera, spathiphyllum) and succulents. “The gravitation to color and flowering plants is actually a subconscious response that occurs as part of the visual sensory part of the brain,” says Hayk Khachatryan, Ph.D., of Mid-Florida Research and Education Center at the University of Florida, and a researcher on the study. “Regardless of your willingness to look at flowers, this is a physiological response.”

The greatest consumer spending, however, was on bromeliads and indoor palms — plants with higher price points.

At Lafayette Florist, Gift Shop & Garden Center in Lafayette, Colorado, “the majority of plants we sell will be bloomers — hydrangeas kalanchoe, azaleas, and cyclamen,” says garden center manager Tanner Wheat. “Some customers gravitate toward a lifelong green plant for mom. In this case, it’s important to have easy care foliage plants with unique and artsy pottery displayed near it.”

Containers Matter

One way to differentiate yourself from big box stores is by packaging plants in pretty pots. “We found that 37 percent of consumers do see the plant and the container as equally important,” reports Melinda Knuth, Ph.D., of North Carolina State University, another researcher with the study.

Those results came as little surprise to Nicole Palazzo, AAF, of City Line Florist in Trumbull, Connecticut, who credits distinctive containers for giving her shop a competitive edge. Instead of run-of-the-mill plastic pots, the shop uses ceramic options that speak to the plants’ aesthetic. “You want people to be able to envision it in their home,” she says. City Line’s selection runs the gamut from timeless to trendy, but every container has one thing in common: holes. “People always want to get a fancy container, but the biggest mistake is not having drainage for the water,” she says.

Make Shopping Simple 

For in-person and phone interactions with customers, train your staff to ask if the plant would be in a sunny or covered area. “Sun exposure is your key to know what to sell,” says Radebaugh.

At Lafayette Florist, employees are encouraged to be plant parents themselves, so they have personal knowledge to share. “We have a good discount program available, which makes everyone excited about plant ownership,” Wheat says. Additionally, he created laminated care and handling sheets for each plant for a typical Colorado home. “Most of the sales team can retain information for high volume varieties, like peace lilies and snake plants, but for less common plants, the signage can be a real savior.”

Like Radebaugh, he emphasizes the importance of knowing where the plant will be. “Don’t be surprised if a customer isn’t sure which way a window faces in their home,” he says. “Being patient and informative is key, but you also want to be honest about watering and deadheading needs. Some plants can be high maintenance and not everyone wants that.”

For e-commerce plant sales (which the study found to be a growing trend), organize your website to help customers make a smart choice. Lafayette Florist presents plants by category with succinct writeups of their characteristics. These categories include floor plants, tabletop plants, succulents and cacti, plants with patterns, plants with textures, variegated plants and orchids and bonsai.

For every plant that leaves the shop, Lafayette is sure to give the customer a detailed care and handling card that includes the shop’s contact information and plenty of blank space. Customers who keep their houseplant alive are much more apt to come back again and again.

Market Plants’ Healing Properties

 Study respondents reported that having houseplants around during the pandemic cheered them up and that they were optimistic about the future, even though they experienced the impact of COVID-19 in their personal and professional lives.

“This study shows with empirical evidence that houseplants make people happier,” Knuth says.

In your marketing, highlight the uses and benefits of plants, such as air purification, improving mood, reducing fatigue, lowering stress and helping with focus and concentration.

For much more detail on plant care, sourcing and marketing, check out the Society of American Florists’ Great Big Plant Event on demand.

Katie Vincent is the senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.