National Garden Bureau announces 2025 Green Thumb Award winners

The National Garden Bureau has announced the 2025 Green Thumb Award winners.

The Green Thumb Award is an annual competition recognizing outstanding and innovative new plants and garden products.

Winners are selected through two categories: the People’s Choice Award, voted on by the public, and the Professional Choice Award, determined by a panel of expert horticulturists from the National Garden Bureau.

National Garden Bureau 2025 Professional's Choice Green Thumb Award Winners

ANNUAL: Cosmos Sea Shell Red

Sea Shells Red (Cosmos bipinnatus) from SAHIN Home Garden - Takii Europe is a charming and unique flower that brings a delightful touch to any garden. Known for its distinctive, tubular petals that resemble seashells, this variety showcases a beautiful palette of soft pinks and whites, adding a romantic flair to flower beds and arrangements. The flowers also make excellent cut flowers, offering a long vase life of 7 to 10 days, which means you can enjoy their beauty indoors as well.

EDIBLE: Basil Everleaf Lemon

The Everleaf collection from PanAmerican Seed features basil plants that are tall, upright and highly branched for plenty of harvest potential. They are also very late to flower — up to 8 weeks later than standard basil — for season-long enjoyment of tasty leaves. Everleaf Lemon (Ocimum basilicum) is the first lemon basil bred for this collection. It has a bright lemon flavor perfect for adding to dressings, marinades and fresh salads. The plants are versatile and perform well in-ground and in patio containers.

GARDEN PRODUCT: Crescent Too Circular Positive Planter Collection

Crescent Too Circular Positive planters are revolutionary. They are made with UBQ, a climate-positive material upcycled from landfill waste. With TruDrop Flex Self-Watering Containers and Emma Planters, these products promote a circular economy, promoting sustainable consumption while minimizing waste and resources.

HOUSEPLANT: Philodendron Prismacolor Orange you Gorgeous

This tropical houseplant from leafjoy Houseplants is a philodendron hybrid that's a living kaleidoscope of citrus-inspired colors, with elongated, spade-shaped leaves emerging a mottled bright orange color, then slowly fading to a marbled tapestry of gold and green. Leaf petioles, midribs and margins have a warm, orangey glow, reminiscent of a sunrise over a tropical grove.

PERENNIAL: Hellebore JWLS Endless

JWLS Endless Hellebore (Helleborus x hybrida) from Monrovia Nursery is a stunning, compact, upward-facing hellebore with an extended bloom season. Selected for its abundant and long-lasting blooms, Endless Hellebore features glossy, dark green foliage topped with upward facing flowers that start out green and transition to a beautiful white. Hellebore is a must-have plant in the "garden of nostalgia and romance," a standout design trend for 2025. A HilverdaFlorist variety hardy in Zones 5 to 9.

SHRUB: Euonymus Fire Ball Seedless

Fire Ball Seedless euonymus from Spring Meadow Nursery/Proven Winners ColorChoice is the only seedless, sterile, non-invasive burning bush (Euonymus alatus) on the market. Tom Ranney and his crew at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in North Carolina developed this truly innovative, game-changing plant. It has all the durability and inferno-red color you expect from burning bush but no risk of spreading into wild areas like conventional burning bush. Hardy to Zones 4 to 8.

National Garden Bureau 2025 People's Choice Green Thumb Award Winners

ANNUAL: Calibrachoa Lia Abstract Lemon Cherry

The Lia Abstract Lemon Cherry Calibrachoa (Calibrachoa Calibrachoa Hybrida), the new addition to the Lia series, from Danziger dazzles with vibrant golden-yellow blooms accented by a bold cherry-red splash, making it an irresistible choice for any garden. Designed with a controlled, semi-trailing growth habit, this variety is perfectly suited for hanging baskets and combinations. Tested for pH sensitivity and blooms in a 10-hour day.

EDIBLE: Broccoli Purple Magic F1

AAS winner Purple Magic (Brassica oleracea) from Sakata Seed America is the first purple stem, purple-headed broccoli in the world. The large, dome-shaped heads weigh in at about 1 pound each. Purple Magic is very high in anthocyanin (a plant-based chemical called a flavonoid) and nutritious. The plants grow well in all regions of the U.S. and harvest about 90 days from transplant.

GARDEN PRODUCT: Crescent Too Circular Positive Planter Collection

Crescent Too Circular Positive planters are revolutionary. They are made with UBQ, a climate-positive material upcycled from landfill waste. With TruDrop Flex Self-Watering Containers and Emma Planters, these products promote a circular economy, promoting sustainable consumption while minimizing waste and resources.

HOUSEPLANT: Philodendron Prismacolor Orange you Gorgeous

This tropical houseplant from leafjoy Houseplants is a philodendron hybrid that's a living kaleidoscope of citrus-inspired colors, with elongated, spade-shaped leaves emerging a mottled bright orange color, then slowly fading to a marbled tapestry of gold and green. Leaf petioles, midribs and margins have a warm, orangey glow, reminiscent of a sunrise over a tropical grove.

PERENNIAL: Butterfly Bush Little Rockstars Red

Buddleia Little Rockstars Red (Buddleia davidii) from Dümmen Orange is part of a new compact series of buddleia. It has beautiful, large, cone-shaped inflorescences. Perfect for small pot production, it has a complete color assortment and all-season flowering. Hardy in Zones 5 to 9.

SHRUB: Hydrangea FlowerFull Smooth

FlowerFull Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) from First Editions Shrubs & Trees/Bailey Nurseries stands out with bold blooms and sturdy upright stems that won’t flop in the wind and rain. With two to three times more blooms per season than other smooth hydrangeas, FlowerFull makes an outstanding focal point plant. Disease-resistant, low-maintenance and maturing at 3 to 4 feet tall, it’s the perfect choice for small and big landscapes alike. Hardy in Zones 3 to 9.