Green Profit

July 2026 Issue

Vol. 90 No. 3

See the Digital Edition

Meet Your Makers

by Katie Elzer-Peters

NEWSLETTERS

Read and subscribe to a variety of Newsletters tailored to your industry interests.

COVER STORY

Inspiring Beautification

Jennifer Polanz

Strategies for helping your local communities strengthen their beautification efforts.

FEATURES

Bring in the Birds

Andrew Bunting

Here are some suggestions for ideal plants to attract our feathered friends to the yard.

Bringing Joy Back Into the Business

Megan Taylor Morrison

The six components of a happy workplace.

Independent Thinking

Chris Beytes, Bill Calkins & Jennifer Zurko

While most any introduction at the California Spring Trials can be sold through most any outlet, we think these new varieties are especially suited to the attention and care they’ll get at IGCs.

Meet Your Makers

Katie Elzer-Peters

Providing a place for customers to be creative with flowers helps to create a deeper connection and sell more plants.

Solution for the Silver Tsunami

Bill McCurry

Garden Outfitters is a new company full of familiar faces, providing potential alternatives to traditional garden center ownership.

The Evolution of Garden Center Food Service

John Stanley, Sid Raisch & Dries Jansen

Garden centers have always been seasonal businesses, with clear peak periods in spring and during Christmas.

COLUMNS

First

The Power of Beauty

Jennifer Polanz

This year, 2026, has not been a banner year so far, personally

Profit

We’re Still in Good Hands

Bill McCurry

“We don’t want people to buy and leave. We want them to hang around, experience the greenhouse joy and think of us as someplace to go for a fun family time.”—Maria Harford, Young Retailer Award finalist

Kiss My Aster

Dancing With Myself

Amanda Thomsen

It’s public humiliation o’ clock and I want to invite you to play along at home.

Friel World

Brand New, Brand Old

John Friel

Logos dominate the retail space in boxes and indies alike.

Tech Connection

DIY Tech Troubleshooting

Katie Elzer-Peters

You might have an IT person or a “web guy,” (I’m the “web guy” for a lot of businesses) that can help you when your email stops working or your website goes down, but maybe you don’t.

FRONT LINES

A Dramm Retirement

A New Greenhouse Consulting Firm

An Industry Collab for Porch Pots

Cut Flower Trial Dates

It’s Magic

Pets on the Payroll

They Don’t Look a Day Over …

Tops at Chelsea

Wirecutter’s Top Garden Too

WorryFree: An IGC-Exclusive Brand

CONSUMER BUZZ

The Latest Retail Trends Going on Outside the Industry
for July, 2026

PLANT POP

Plants in popular culture
for July, 2026

COLUMNISTS

Jen Polanz

John Friel

Bill McCurry

Amanda Thomsen

VIDEOS

Watch More

High-Tech (and Pretty Plants) from Cultivate'26!

4 Questions for Kate, a Garden Center Owner

Darwin Perennials Day 2026

Trending Now: Aspidistra Tokyo Skies from Plant Development Services Inc.

The Summer of Soiree Kawaii ft. Suntory’s Lorentina Fielding

4 Questions for Jose, a Sales & Business Manager

Finishing SuperCal Crops for Fall with Sakata’s Michael Wiebe

4 Questions for Jamie, a Technical Lead

4 Questions for Samuel, a Grower, Retailer & Social Media Manager

4 Questions for Susie, a Greenhouse VP

4 Questions for Leslie, a Green Industry Consultant, Author, Educator (and more …)

New Proven Winners Landscape Plants for 2027 and Beyond!

New Proven Winners Annuals for 2027 and Beyond

4 Questions for Kelly, a North American Head of Technical Services

2026 California Spring Trials Debrief ft. Chris Beytes & Jen Zurko

4 Questions for Mason, a VP Of Business Development

California Spring Trials 2026: Bloopers

4 Questions for Lorentina, a North American Sales & Product Representative

4 Questions for Tanya, a Territory Manager (AND BLOOM DIVA!)

Trending Now: Encore's New Autumn Kiss Azalea!

California Spring Trials 2026: ThinkPlants

California Spring Trials 2026: Syngenta

California Spring Trials 2026: Danziger

California Spring Trials 2026: Takii

California Spring Trials 2026: Kientzler

California Spring Trials 2026: Sakata

California Spring Trials 2026: Dümmen Orange

California Spring Trials 2026: HilverdaFlorist

California Spring Trials 2026: Pacific Plug & Liner

California Spring Trials 2026: PDSI

California Spring Trials 2026: Walters Gardens

California Spring Trials 2026: Suntory

California Spring Trials 2026: PlantHaven

California Spring Trials 2026: Israeli Companies

California Spring Trials 2026: Green Fuse

California Spring Trials 2026: Glow-in-the-Dark Petunias

California Spring Trials 2026: Hem Genetics

California Spring Trials 2026: Westhoff

California Spring Trials 2026: Beekenkamp

California Spring Trials 2026: Benary

California Spring Trials 2026: Darwin Perennials

California Spring Trials 2026: Selecta One

California Spring Trials 2026: Morel

California Spring Trials 2026: PanAmerican Seed

California Spring Trials 2026: Ball FloraPlant

Trending Now: PanAmerican Seed Grower Insights On Select 2027 Varieties

At the 2025 Hoffmann Heimos Poinsettia Trials With GrowerTalks Magazine

Trending Now: Ball Mums

TRENDING NOW

Briley & Baxter Publications LLC
Nelsons Garden and the Free Little Flower Stand

Bumper Crop Texas LLC
BountiPODS

The Tick Patrol
Tick Patrol Tick Remover

Dr Killigan’s
Doom & Bloom

Ball FloraPlant
Angelonia Guardian Angel

Magic Gardener
Magic Gardener

PROPAGATION DIARIES
Iridescent Acrylic Arka Trellis

Dr. Allan Armitage
The Common-Sense Gardener

Plantflix
Grow a Fairy Garden Seed Kit

Steel Heart Ltd.
Steel Heart’s Balancing Birds

Hello Tomorrow LLC
Plant Petz 4-in. plant pot

Plant Development Services Inc.
Tokyo Skies Aspidistra

Schwer Gloves
Gauntlet Thorn-Proof Gardening Gloves

Briarwood Lane
Briarwood Lane’s Solar Balloon Lanterns

Handker Bandanas
100% Cotton Bandana

Darwin Perennials
Sombrero Series

Spring Meadow Nursery Inc.
Limelight Prime

Nominate a Young Retailer Today!

Congrats to the 2026 Green Profit/The Garden Center Group Young Retailer Award winner:
Tyler Cerbo from Cerbo’s Parsippany Greenhouse & Garden Center, Parsippany, New Jersey!

Do you know of an excellent, hard-working professional under the age of 35? You should nominate them for the 2027 Green Profit/The Garden Center Group Young Retailer Award! For the last 21 years, we’ve recognized young garden center pros for standing out from the crowd in this tough business, who—for whatever noble reasons—have chosen to have a career in this industry.

After three finalists are chosen, each is asked to write guest editorials for the June issue of Green Profit, gets a free trip to Cultivate’27 and, while they’re in Columbus, attend a special dinner with industry luminaries. The winner is announced at the Unplugged event during Cultivate’27 will be the subject of our September issue cover story and serve as one of our judges for next year’s award.

An extra special thanks goes to The Garden Center Group and AmericanHort for sponsoring this year’s award!

Partners for Success of The Garden Center Group

This Month ...

Meet Your Makers