Check out what we saw at MANTS 2025

The 2025 Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) welcomed 10,460 attendees, including exhibitors, to a sold-out trade show floor featuring 923 exhibitors at the Baltimore Convention Center from January 8–10, 2025. The GIE Media Horticulture Group staff walked the trade show floors to be your eyes and ears.

Here are a few things that caught our attention at MANTS 2025.

A new boxwood selection from Littleplants

Photos © GIE Media Horticulture Group

Norman Cole III, president of Cole Nurseries and co-founder of Littleplants LLC, introduced a new selection of boxwood called ‘Little Mister.’ It features the same blight resistance as ‘Little Missy’ at a larger size and faster finish time. Cole sees it as a ‘Green Velvet’ replacement, a popular boxwood cultivar that has been plagued by leaf miner and blight problems.

Cole propagated 400,000 Little Misters in 2024 and has sent cuttings to growers this year. He’s expecting the plant to hit the market in 2026.

25 years of Knock Out Roses

Ken Fisher, president and CEO of AmericanHort, and Will Radler, breeder of the original Knock Out rose 

Star Roses and Plants gathered to celebrate 25 years of Knock Out Roses. Mr. Knock Out himself, Will Radler, received an award and letter from AmericanHort for his outstanding breeding and contribution to the horticulture industry.

Also recognized at the gathering were this year’s Legacy Award recipients: Dewar Nurseries, Flowerwood Nursery and Greenleaf Nursery Company. Star Roses and Plants honored these growers for their exceptional contribution to the growth and success of The Knock Out Family of Roses.

A new Encore Azalea

Kip McConnell

Kip McConnell, business development director with Plant Development Services, Inc. (PDSI), is excited to introduce Encore Azalea Autumn Kiss. McConnell explains that it grows similar to other Encore Azaleas, so growers who already grow this series will know how to grow Autumn Kiss and can add it to their operation easily.

“Autumn Kiss grows in between Autumn Bonfire and Autumn Fire,” he says. “Bonfire is a faster grower. Fire is a little bit slower but more compact, so this one is in between, which is the best of both, I think.”

This newest addition to the Encore collection features semi-double blooms with deep pink edges that fade into a soft pastel pink, almost white, toward the center. This heavy bloomer reblooms in spring, summer and fall. Autumn Kiss thrives in full sun and is hardy in USDA Zones 6 to 10, reaching 3 to 4 feet high and wide when mature.

Autumn Kiss liners are available to wholesale growers now and will hit independent garden centers in 2026.

A new line of Phytophthora-resistant hardy rhododendrons

Also at MANTS, Briggs Nursery introduced a new line of Phytophthora-resistant hardy rhododendrons. The five cultivars all maintain a compact habit, 3 to 4 feet tall and wide, and are hardy to Zone 5.

According to Bill Moyer, Briggs Nursery’s sales manager, the program’s goal was to develop a series of rhododendron that was resistant to the soil pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi.

The selection and trial process took place at Ohio’s Holden Arboretum, which is why all five colors bear the Holden name: Holden’s Fuchsia, Holden’s Pink Flare, Holden’s Peach, Holden’s Red and Holden’s Pink.

New sustainable packaging for American Beauties Native Plants

Jack Sellew

Jack Sellew, co-owner of Prides Corner Farms, shared the new sustainable packaging for the American Beauties Native Plants line. The Eco Container is a paper-based product that is easily recyclable anywhere cardboard milk cartons are accepted. Sellew said the Eco Container also creates a healthier, highly branched system.

A virtual nursery tour 

Dave Braun was tired of people passing by his booth and not stopping. With all the resources spent to exhibit at a trade show, he realized he needed to find a way to make more people stop and start conversations. At MANTS, his vision was realized: a few pairs of virtual reality headsets to allow visitors to virtually tour his tree nursery from a trade show booth 500 miles away.

The Braun group has three companies: Braun Tree Nursery, Braun Wire Baskets and Braun Garden Products. The nursery is 1,100 acres of large caliper trees in Southern Ontario.

The idea originally came about when Braun had a potential customer who wanted to see his nursery, but the customer was in the U.S. and didn’t have a passport. The VR headset allows a person to virtually explore the nursery. But the experience evolved to include more interactivity and highlight the guarantee Braun offers with all its trees.

“If it doesn’t measure up, it’s free,” Braun says. “That’s why we’re emphasizing the guarantee. If you order a 3 inch tree and it’s 2 and 7/8, it’s free.

The second component to the trade show booth experience is a small handheld controller. This controller is used to measure the caliper of a tree on Braun’s nursery.

Braun says the VR project has led to many more booth conversations.

“The value of getting a new customer is so high for us, it’s an easy investment to justify.”

New sustainable packaging for Proven Winners ColorChoice

Spring Meadow Nursery and Proven Winners ColorChoice are offering a sustainable packaging option for growers. The new package is made of woven plastic and includes handles for easy transport, a wide base for stability and root expansion and drainage holes at the base and sides.

Stay tuned for more MANTS coverage.