Articles
Who Coulda Thunk it?
As I sat down to write this column in mid-November 2020 and thought about the 2021 season before us — with all of the challenges and opportunities that we’ll face — it was impossible not... more »
Winners Circle
It can be difficult to select which varieties to add to and remove from your product offering each season. Consumer needs change, and new trends emerge. There are hundreds of thousands of beautiful plants to... more »
Trends in Outdoor Living
Tom Partipilo, outdoor living buyer at Lurvey Garden Center in Des Plaines, Illinois, says IGC customers want to buy products that will bring warmth to an area for family and friends to gather around —... more »
The Four C’s of Christmas Trends
After what we’ve all been through this year, I might be suspicious of someone who honestly believes they KNOW what’s in anyone’s shopping brains for the 2020 holiday season. However, I’m also enough of a... more »
Inside the World of Home Gardening
In this article, I interview Jeff Lowenfels. Jeff holds the distinction of being North America’s longest running garden columnist. He is also the author of the popular home garden book series including the three titles... more »
5 Minutes With … Bob Berbee
Could you share a little about your background? I was born in the Netherlands and moved to the U.S. as a baby. My first job was counting flower bulbs in our wholesale warehouse (Leo Berbee... more »
Experiences on So Many Levels…
Over the past two years, I’ve talked a lot about the critical importance of providing positive “experiences” to the customers in your stores — experiences that touch all of their senses and emotions that will... more »
What Consumers See in Their Gardens of the Future
Just like fashion, trends in gardening come and go — and sometimes come back again. Some shifts in gardening were inspired by necessity, like the Victory Gardens when consumers grew their own food during the... more »Moving Forward
As I write this in mid-October I’m just starting to put my garden to bed. While the tomatoes have long since peaked, I’m struggling to keep my admittedly very late-blooming zucchini and squash alive and... more »Playing Favorites
No parent will admit to having a favorite child — and it turns out that very few plant people will own up to a favorite flower, either! But no one can argue that there are... more »
How Clear Is Your Crystal Ball for 2021?
Spring 2020 could have been a total disaster for locally owned garden centers; all the external forces were lined up against us — and then what worked against almost every other independent retailer saved the day... more »
Why the Global Pandemic May Have a “Green Lining”
The defining moment is now. Well before the term “plant blindness” was coined in 1998 by botanists James Wandersee and Elisabeth Schussler, the majority of people in the U.S. had lost their collective ability to... more »
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