Americans who buy houseplants are shopping less frequently than they did during the pandemic years, but each trip now costs more and fills more shelf space, according to a new national study released by the Floral Marketing Fund.
The Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Report 2025 is the third installment in a research series tracking household plant habits in 2019, 2021 and now 2025, spanning the period before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The newly released Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Report 2025 is the third installment of a multi-year research initiative examining consumer purchasing habits before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on studies conducted in 2019 and 2021, the latest research offers valuable insights into how consumer preferences have changed, which trends have continued, and where opportunities exist for growers, retailers, and other floral industry businesses.
Fewer trips, bigger baskets
Researchers set out to determine whether consumers are still buying houseplants like they were during the pandemic. They found that while consumers may be purchasing less frequently, they are owning more plants and spending more across comparable houseplant categories.
Compared to 2019 and 2021, houseplant purchasers surveyed in 2025 owned more plants and reported higher spending across comparable houseplant categories, despite purchasing less frequently.
Consumers also anticipated increasing their spending across all 10 plant categories studied in 2026.
The study was conducted by Dr. Melinda Knuth of North Carolina State University, Dr. Hayk Khachatryan of the University of Florida, and Drs. Charlie Hall and Marco Palma of Texas A&M University, and the national study examines houseplant ownership, purchasing frequency, spending, pricing expectations, retail preferences, social media influence, gifting habits, and consumer perceptions of well-being.
The shift mirrors a broader pattern seen elsewhere in household budgets, where people are not necessarily pulling back on spending altogether but are being more deliberate about where dollars go. That dynamic echoes how seven in 10 Americans cut spending on extras while still protecting the purchases that matter most to them.
Plants as a gift category
One notable change is how buyers now think about houseplants as presents rather than purely decorative purchases, according to trade coverage of the report. Consumers in 2025 were more likely than those in 2019 to see houseplants as fitting gifts for get-well wishes, thank-yous and personal enjoyment.
The research also points to a sizable pool of potential new customers. Today’s non-purchasers could be tomorrow’s customers: Although they are not currently buying houseplants, 77% of surveyed non-purchasers indicated they would or might consider purchasing one in the future.
That hesitation around upkeep lines up with the kind of everyday decision fatigue researchers have documented in other corners of domestic life, including small household routines that shape daily mood more than people tend to expect.
A happiness link that keeps showing up
The report also measured how plant ownership connects to emotional well-being. Nearly all purchasers (96.6%) agreed to some extent that houseplants make them feel happier, including 80.6% who agreed or strongly agreed.
These findings reinforce the connection consumers make between houseplant ownership and their personal well-being , a theme that has emerged across all three waves of the research since 2019.
The finding has been consistent across the research the Floral Marketing Fund has conducted since 2019, suggesting the emotional appeal of indoor plants has outlasted the pandemic-era surge that first drew widespread attention to the category.
What it means for retailers
For garden centers, florists and big-box retailers that sell houseplants, the findings suggest a different sales strategy than the one built around frequent, low-cost impulse buys.
Trade coverage of the report noted that the shift toward fewer but pricier purchases, paired with growing interest in gifting, gives sellers reason to rethink how plants are marketed and displayed. The Floral Marketing Fund’s new Consumer Houseplant Purchasing Report 2025 was released Oct. 15 , according to Florists’ Review, which reported that houseplant shoppers are buying less often but own more plants and spend more, with gifting and social media cited as factors driving sales.
The report covers all 10 houseplant categories tracked since 2019, including flowering plants, succulents and broad-leaf foliage varieties, giving growers and retailers category-by-category detail on where consumer demand is expected to grow through 2026.
