Cover Story

The Ultimate Inspiration

Jennifer Polanz

I headed to the City of Brotherly Love to take in the Philadelphia Flower Show for the first time and explore how our industry can translate that inspiration into sales.

Features

5 Unique Shrubs & Trees

Matthew Olson

Dive deeper into ways to wow customers with unusual flowering shrubs and trees.

Features

A Bicolor Beauty

Jennifer Polanz

One of the latest additions to the Encore Azalea lineup, Autumn Kiss provides gorgeous blooms in multiple flushes throughout the seaso

Features

Connect to “Why”

Megan Taylor Morrison

How a shared, inspiring vision supports founders and teams.

Features

Fall is Prime Perennial Season

Andrew Bunting

Often we just think of mums in the fall, but here are some additional options that can be sold to put on that autumn color show year after year.

Features

Fertilizer = Healthy Plants

Ellen C. Wells

Communicating to your garden center customers the importance of feeding plants.

Features

Global Garden Retail Lessons

John Stanley, Sid Raisch & Dries Jansen

When a garden center struggles to meet expectations, the cause is rarely singular.

First

“What a Treat!”

Jennifer Polanz

People were having fun with flowers.

Friel World

Natives, Nativars & Nativists

John Friel

I believe the popularization of natives—including nativars bred for improved habit, new colors and more flowers—has had a beneficial effect on America’s gardens and gardeners.

Front Lines

A New Veggie Collection

Ellen C. Wells

Proven Winners is partnering with Pure Line Seeds to offer an exclusive collection of vegetables under the “Proven Harvest by Proven Winners” brand name.

Front Lines

Cool Plant Alert

Jennifer Polanz

Bailey Marketing & Communications Manager Ryan McEnaney talked about a cool tree that’s new-ish to the First Editions Shrubs & Trees lineup.

Front Lines

Pets on the Payroll

Jennifer Polanz

This is Lily, beloved manager at R-P Nurseries in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

Front Lines

Powell Gardens Buys Colonial Gardens

Ellen C. Wells

Colonial Gardens will become Powell’s “second site,” operating under the new name Powell Gardens Colonial Farms.

Front Lines

Rosy Soil Adds Herb Mix

Jennifer Polanz

Rosy Soil, a soil company that specializes in peat-free options, added a new Herb Mix to its lineup of houseplant and specialty mixes.

Front Lines

Round-Up at the Register

Ellen C. Wells

Launched in 2025, the “Round-Up at the Register” campaign to benefit Seed Your Future invites customers to round up their purchase total or donate a set dollar amount while they’re at the garden center checkout.

Front Lines

The Floral Marketing Fund Research on Gen Z

Lindsay Daschner

Researchers at Colorado State University recently surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. consumers between the ages of 18 and 28 (Gen Z) to better understand what motivates their floral purchases and preferences.

Front Lines

Year Of … Sedum

Jennifer Polanz

In this space, we’ll highlight each of the National Garden Bureau’s (NGB) Year Of … plants.

Kiss My Aster

Adulting

Amanda Thomsen

I set out to hire a grownup for the shop because if I’m being honest, it isn’t always me. I’ve been bogged down at my desk to a scary degree. I’m also a little bit lonely and I need someone to lean on while we’re growing like Houttuynia cordata in a wet spot.

Profit

AI in Our Retailing World

Bill McCurry

AI rewrote and reorganized her employee manual, mirroring the business’ personality.

Tech Connection

AI Slop vs. AI Support

Katie Elzer-Peters

It’s April.