Cover Story

A Soil for Every Cart

Jennifer Polanz

Strategies for making sure customers have the right tools for success

Features

A Rewarding Experience

Jennifer Polanz

Stauffers of Kissel Hill rolled out a customized app with the help of Sunrise Marketing and have signed up more than 18,000 members in eight months. Here’s how they did it and why they love it.

Features

AI: Gaining Back Time

Clint Albin & Carl Hildebrandt

AI’s role in streamlining operations and reshaping logistics.

Features

Fitting In

Andrew Bunting

Plants, trees and shrubs that can thrive even in the smallest of gardens.

Features

More For Your Store

Chris Beytes, Bill Calkins & Jennifer Zurko

Plants for inside the house, outside on the patio, as a thoughtful gift, as a finishing touch in a combo and everything in between, there’s plenty to keep your garden center full during multiple seasons.

Features

On The Road: Plants as Far as the Eye Can See

Denise Schreiber

What was once a dairy farm is now Black Creek Greenhouse, a thriving independent garden center and growing operation in East Earl, Pennsylvania.

First

Marginal Gains

Jennifer Polanz

I’ve always believed that sports can teach us a lot about ourselves and life, and running is no different.

Friel World

What’s That Buzzing Sound?

John Friel

Writing catalogs and researching nomenclature left me more comfortable with etymology than with entomology.

Front Lines

A Standout Mix

Jennifer Polanz

This combination, Orange Flare, from Ball Horticultural Company, offers up a low-maintenance mix of colors for Halloween and into November.

Front Lines

Griffin’s New Digs

Jennifer Polanz

Griffin is relocating that West Coast operation to a new, state-of-the-art facility in Reno, Nevada.

Front Lines

Happy Birthday, buZZ!

Jennifer Polanz

August marked the 20th birthday of our retail e-newsletter buZZ!, coming to your inbox weekly from the lovely and talented Senior Editor-at-Large Ellen Wells.

Front Lines

Houseplant Heaven

Ellen C. Wells

Dümmen Orange recently released the 2026 catalog for its Welcome to the Jungle indoor succulent and foliage houseplant program.

Front Lines

Not as Online as You’d Think

Ellen C. Wells

A new study by YouGov has found that younger consumers are not as “forever online” as you’d think—especially when it comes to shopping.

Front Lines

Pets on the Payroll

Jennifer Polanz

We’ll keep running ’em as long as you keep sending ’em in!

Front Lines

Preparing for 2026

Ellen C. Wells

The Perennial Plant Association’s National Symposium (PPA) is always right on the heels of Cultivate and every year it’s where the organization announces its upcoming Perennial Plant of the Year. For 2026, the honor goes to Andropogon gerardii Blackhawks, also known as Blackhawks big bluestem.

Front Lines

Video First

Ellen C. Wells

A recent Think With Google piece discussed a Kantar study finding Gen Z is more of a video-first demographic.

Front Lines

When Markets and FIFA Collide

Ellen C. Wells

Planning on attending the June 2026 Dallas markets? If so, Dallas Market Center wants you to make your hotel reservations sooner than you think you’d need to.

Kiss My Aster

Learning From the Best: Beyoncé

Amanda Thomsen

I would argue that Beyoncé has a lot to teach us.

Profit

Re-merchandise ... or Don’t?

Bill McCurry

The best garden centers create an ambiance that encourages customers to slow down, wander and enjoy just being in among the plants.

Tech Connection

They Say It’s Your Birthday!

Katie Elzer-Peters

So many times, potential new customers are incentivized to sign up for marketing emails, but existing customers don’t get the same great one-time deal. The easiest way to fix that? Send a “birthday card.”

TRENDING NOW

Black Bear Indoor & Outdoor Potting Mix

Sun Gro Horticulture

TRENDING NOW

Bleume Liquid Plant Food

Bleume Inc.

TRENDING NOW

Canetti Colorful Bouquet Vase

Canetti Design Group

TRENDING NOW

Disco Magnetic Planter

NPW Group

TRENDING NOW

Egg Planter Porto Lite

Anamese Garden & Home

TRENDING NOW

Let ’Em Bloom

Daylily Nursery Inc.

TRENDING NOW

Moon Phase Airplant Holders

Keystone Inspired Co.

TRENDING NOW

Organic Potting Mix

The Espoma Company

TRENDING NOW

Rovero Roll-Air Greenhouse

Rovero Greenhouses

TRENDING NOW

Sign Holders

Colmet LLC

TRENDING NOW

Soil Moist Transplant and Transplant Plus

JRM Chemical Inc.