‘Tomato Girl’ summer
An email newsletter arrived in my inbox recently that just might change how I feel about TikTok.
The newsletter was promoting “Tomato Girl Summer,” which it defined as a TikTok trend that’s “a celebration of the simple pleasures of the season: outdoor lunches, patio gardens, breezy dresses, glowing skin and food fresh from your garden.”
Admittedly, for me, Tomato Girl Summer usually involves me walking the dogs while carrying a couple pints of tomatoes from my garden, eager to hand them over to the first unsuspecting victims — I mean, neighbors — I see.
But this TikTok trend (which, upon further digging, has been trending on Instagram and Facebook over the last couple years) celebrates more than just an overabundance of tomatoes, but also the process of planting, pruning and caring for everything you grow, and growing it with intention and purpose.
The newsletter came from Gardenuity — an online B2C seller of garden kits — but the message applies to brick-and-mortar garden retailers as well, as there’s been much talk lately about gardening as an important facet of the overall health and wellness movement.
At last year’s Garden Center Group Fall Event, a number of speakers mentioned “horticultural therapy” during their presentations. Katie Tamony, CMO and trendspotter for Monrovia, discussed how their research found that “more than half of the homeowners surveyed strongly agree that gardening is good for their mental health and well-being. … Those who say gardening helps them feel hopeful and positive has also increased 4% since last year.”
Garden centers have been providing horticultural therapy for years. Remember during COVID when people would come into the greenhouse or garden center just to be surrounded by the serenity of the plants? Garden retailers can provide this connection to nature and relaxation by promoting plants with double duty: think lavender as both a perennial and a fragrant herb, or pollinator-attracting varieties that also bloom nonstop. Or a tomato plant potted up with some easy-to-grow herbs could draw customers into the Tomato Girl Summer trend while also helping them to find the positive vibes that gardening can produce.
How does your garden center promote wellness to its customers? Drop me a line at tmcpherson@greatamericanpublish.com.
Videos
