Just when I thought I’d completed our IGC Show coverage, I learned of the awards that were bestowed on a bunch of plants and products. There were four items that were voted Best of 2018 by you, the very people walking the show floor and looking for stuff for your stores.

These “latest and greatest” items were gathered together in the New Product and New Plant Zones. And the winners are:

New Product Zone Winners

1^st Place—TrashCan Fertilizer. The “trash” is actually food waste—30% of it is food waste, in fact. The food waste is blended with micronutrients and other organic materials to produce this 4-4-4 organic fertilizer appropriate for veggies, flowers and a whole bunch of other green things folks grow. From TrashCan LLC.

2nd Place—Grass Flip Flops. Exactly as it’s called, flip flops with a grass foot bed. It’s synthetic grass, of course. I do recall seeing these at the show last year, but the item new to their line comes in a camo/green combination, which joins white/pink and black/green. From GFF.

New Plant Zone Winners

1^st Place—Hollywood Hibiscus Collection from J. Berry Nursery. We’ve seen these beautiful hibiscus at other shows and they are too cool. What’s new this year is their production moving to locations that bring them a bit further north for better summer growing and also closer to local sales markets for fresh and frequent summer and fall sales. That move also helps lower transportation costs.

2^nd Place—Endless Summer Hydrangeas Summer Crush from Bailey Nurseries. Again, we’ve seen this at other shows—Spring Trials and such. It’s nice to see that when presented to a largely IGC-type crowd that they are being well-received.

I just got word that next summer’s GCA Summer Tour is headed to Nashville, Tennessee. Yee-haw, that’s gonna be a great tour! The tour, set for June 23-29, is still in its infancy, planning-wise, but GCA Executive Director Jeff Morey told me the hotel (still TBD) will be right downtown in the music district.

More formally, (i.e., in a press release) Jeff says that Nashville comes up frequently as a suggested destination by previous tour attendees. “The soaring housing market in the city and its surrounding areas has made Nashville a vital center of IGC innovation, especially as it relates to younger consumers,” he wrote. With younger consumers poised to become a big influence on how IGCs develop in the next few years, it’ll be good for folks to get on that bus and see that change happening at garden retail in person.

Way more information about the tour, its visits and hotel will be coming in the next few months. Stay tuned! 

Colleague Allison Westbrook repped the Ball Publishing editorial staff at the Farwest Show out in Portland in August. While its focus is more on the nursery side than retail, Allison did find some items that would pique your interest. Here’s what she found.

I spotted some pots that certainly stood out with bright colors and patterns. These were from The Pottery Patch. The pots pictured are from the 2019 Spanish Collection, and the patterns are available in a variety of sizes, including window box, wall sconce, basket and v-shaped. The white pots with green leaves certainly fit in with the tropical houseplant trend!

They also showcased a collection of fountains encased in glazed pots. Several had LED lights incorporated into them.

Farwest also offered a Retail Tour, led by retail expert Anne Obarski. This tour of Portland’s leading retail garden centers included Portland Nursery (the Division St. and Stark St. locations) and Al’s Garden & Home (Sherwood and Wilsonville locations). These retailers operate multiple locations under the same ownership, but create their own unique stores. Attendees explored how these IGCs created brand recognition between locations and differentiated themselves in order to fit into their neighborhood’s values and buying preferences.  

Continued from above…

The Farwest Show also included a New Varieties Showcase where judges and attendees voted on their favorites. For 2018, Hibiscus Summerific Cherry Choco Latte (Walters Gardens) was chosen as the Best in Show winner for the New Varieties Showcase. It’s a new long-blooming hibiscus with a smaller size, suitable for tight spaces. It has large, 8 to 9 in. flowers that are white with pink veining and a large red eye. Olive green foliage has bronze highlights and forms a compact plant, with flowers covering the entire plant later in the season. As it is deer-resistant, attractive to hummingbirds, great for landscapes and a native hybrid, it sounds like a perfect retail item!

Summerific Cherry Choco Latte Hibiscus

Judges and voters also gave Awards of Merit to other standout new varieties. I walked through the new varieties area and based on all the great plants I saw, I'm sure it was a hard decision!

These varieties were as follows:

• Hibiscus Summerific Holy Grail from Walters Gardens
• Maple Urban Sunset from J. Frank Schmidt & Son
• Ninebark Summer Wine Black from Spring Meadow Nursery and Proven Winners
• Heuchera Dolce Wildberry from Walters Gardens
• Artemisia Makana Silver from Terra Nova Nurseries

See all of the New Varieties Showcase selections HERE.

Thanks, Allison! We’ll have a more complete rundown of winners in the October issue of Green Profit.   

Part of my job as editor of Buzz is curation: reading through the latest (and sometimes obscure) newsletters on small business, retail topics and trends, and synopsizing the ones I think matter to you. Hopefully these articles give you something to think about.

Like this article titled, “If You Want Your Family Business to Last Several Generations.” The author interviewed nearly 100 family businesses in 20 countries to determine how they’ve leapt the three main hurdles that stop a business from continuing beyond a second generation of family leadership: a poorly prepared next generation, family conflict and an inability to develop and innovate.

Considering I grew up in a family business, this topic hits close to home. What struck me about this piece? This quote, for one: “We refer to these successful, long-term family enterprises as ‘generative families’ because they create continuous value across generations.” And the value the author is talking about isn’t just financial, but also the value in the abilities and commitment of the next generation.

Another point is that the shareholders have a personal relationship, giving them the ability to plan long term, make quick decisions and implement shared values in the business.

It’s a GOOD READ. If you’re part of a family business or are planning on starting one, you’ll be especially interested in the “best practices” section.  

Speaking of curated pieces, here’s one that would be perfect for the marketing wonk in your company. This one comes to you from the folks at Business News Daily and explains the finer points of establishing a brand ambassador program.

A what? Essentially, it’s a strategy that enlists influencers (usually social media heavyweights) to spread your brand’s message. Think Laura LeBoutillier and Proven Winners, for example.

Reading through the article, these points rise to the surface:

• BAs create content utilizing your brand in positive and fun ways—and it can be used in multiple ways again and again.
• “Your brand ambassadors don't need to have legions of followers; instead, they can have smaller audiences that they regularly engage with.”
• Search for potential BAs in your own social media following and find someone passionate about your business. They should be outgoing, personable, creative and genuine. In fact, it could even be a member of your own staff.

READ ON for more BA tips.  

Another honor of being your Buzz editor is to help folks find out the information they need to advance in the business—and at school, too. I have two announcements for you regarding school stuff, so pay attention, kids!

HRI Endowment Funds. There’s nearly $20,000 up for grabs for students for the 2018-2019 school year. If you’re planning for a lifelong career in horticulture, the Horticultural Research Institute has seven scholarships available.

• The Timothy S. and Palmer W. Bigelow, Jr. Scholarship
• The Usrey Family Scholarship
• The Bryan A. Champion Memorial Scholarship
• The Susie & Bruce Usrey Scholarship
• The Spring Meadow Scholarship
• The "Muggets" Scholarship
• The Carville M. Akehurst Memorial Scholarship

But you'd better get on it! The application submission deadline is September 14. You’ll find out more about each scholarship HERE.

American Floral Endowment. AFE has 10 to 12 week paid business internships available for students in a range of business fields like management, IT, accounting, marketing/communications, graphic design and bunches of others. If you’re a junior, senior or graduate student, these internships will provide a ton of real-world experience that will help you get a leg up when applying for jobs. Bonus: If you apply for an internship, you become eligible for a scholarship. Sweet!

Now the press release about this says “these” internships, but not specifically how many. Find out for yourself how many there are and how to apply HERE. Submission deadline is October 1. And don’t worry if you don’t have time for a 10 to 12 week internship now. Internships can be performed at any time within a 12-month period from the date of acceptance. 

Scratching your head about how to create this year’s Halloween display or entire department? All it takes is a little magic, Harry Potter-style.

Roger’s Gardens turned to The Boy Who Lived and his prestidigitator pals for a little inspiration. Check out this VIDEO of what they’ve conjured up for Halloween.

I’m not much of a holiday decorator, but this compilation inspires me to give it a try.