If you operate a farmers market as part of your retail garden shop, the spotlight should be on your business next week, August 6-12, during National Farmers Market Week. The USDA, among other organizations, will help spread the news and celebrate all the good things that come from the farmers markets of all types. Like what? You are a pillar of local and regional food systems. You contribute to the local economy. You make a more resilient food supply chain. You bring fresh food and nutrition to food deserts.

The Farmers Market Coalition has created a National Farmers Market Week Toolkit for 2023 that offers ideas for planning and participating in the weeklong celebration. You can gain access for free to ideas for fun events, programs, activities and contests to help boost your market attendance and visibility. You’ve got a lot going on at your market and store, and not a lot of time to prep some marketing campaigns on your own. That’s why they’ve created this toolkit, which you can download HERE.

Back to a few more items that colleague Jennifer Polanz and I spotted at Cultivate’23 last month. M&M Wintergreens’ Evergreen Toppers is something we were both struck by as an important bit of information to spread to retailers. The company is warning of a shortage of spruce tops once again this season—and apparently illegally harvested spruce tops is a big deal (beware the peddler offering you spruce tops from their trunks!). M&M Wintergreens wants you to know that they have created a spruce top alternative using pine, cedar or a blending of two, which are ideal “thrillers” for larger winter pots. The container pictured is an extraordinary example of what can be done with cedar and pine tops and some holiday-inspired creativity.

They also celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the original porch pot kits by highlighting four kits available for either retailer use in creating custom pots or to sell to customers for them to build their own. Depending on how cold a customer’s winter is, those porch pots could last well into February. Why not give them the option of changing out their pot’s decorative items?

This one is from Jen Polanz

I could not walk by and ignore the gorgeous wreaths made of magnolia leaves displayed at The Magnolia Company booth. It was the first time the Barberville, Florida, company owned by Matt and Julie Roth exhibited at Cultivate (though they have been at TPIE for many years). They offer bulk bunches, along with bright, lacquer-painted wreaths in the Luxe line, and natural looks like the new Serenity Oasis (pictured below some from the Luxe line) and Woodland Wonder wreaths.

All are real magnolia leaves that have been harvested and dried (apparently harvesting really ramps up in October and peaks in November). Matt modeled the box each wreath is packaged in for a high-end retail item.

Both JP and I were impressed by this next product. The H2O Minis line of small houseplants in water was such a big hit for leafjoy, Proven Winners’ houseplant brand, that they are ramping up the line with a new, larger fishbowl-looking product called the Venti Bowl and featuring full-size plants. They will come in an assortment of plants that were successful in the minis line, like calatheas, pothos and philodendron (pictured), among others, said Ben Wright of The Plant Company, which grows the lineup. They are still nailing down the shipping method but it at the moment it will be shipped from The Plant Company to the garden centers on pallets, four to six units per case. Ben said they’ve determined the plants will be able to survive without water for up to a week, so these items will be shipped without water.

Ben also said the houseplant products in general have been so popular it’s prompted them to add another 4.5 acres onto their already 5-acre growing operation in Stuarts Draft, Virginia.

And another from JP.

Here’s a product so new the packaging wasn’t even available for the show yet. The popular retail brand Coast of Maine introduced its Organic and Natural Indoor Houseplant Mix at the show, which includes a blend of coco coir, aged pine, peat moss and organic fertilizer. It will be available in 8 qt. and 16 qt. options and should be available for ordering at all the distributor shows.

Fun fact: Coast of Maine has two manufacturing facilities, one in Maine and the other in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The houseplant mix will be made in PA.

If you couldn’t knock off your list all the educational sessions you wanted to attend at Cultivate’23, or if you couldn’t make it to Columbus in the first place, AmericanHort has a solution: the Cultivate’23 On-Demand Education Pass. This pass provides access to more than 35 sessions that were recorded live at the show. And as we’ve all discovered in the last few years, on-demand online education is valuable for its ability to be accessed at the user’s convenience. And the bonus is, this platform allows you to get your whole team on board to learn from the same sessions.

Some of the sessions you might find of interest, among others, include:

• The 2023 Garden Trends Report from Garden Media Group’s Katie Dubow
• Team Communication
• Reading Labels & Knowing What Product to Suggest
• Day-to-Day Marketing for Small Businesses

All On-Demand Education Pass holders will have access to all recorded sessions for six months after purchase. Visit THIS PAGE to learn more about it. 

AmericanHort has also made the Cultivate’23 State of the Industry Keynote presentation available for no charge. Not only will you have access to the video of the slate’s presenters, but you can also download the session slides and supporting materials. Speakers include AmericanHort’s CEO Ken Fisher, Executive VP Advocacy, Research & Industry Relations Craig Regelbrugge and AmericanHort’s Chief Economist and Texas A&M professor Dr. Charlie Hall—possibly the best three-person lineup in the business. Download the session video and materials HERE.

If you’re headed to The Garden Center Show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 8-10, bring the whole team with you. Why? Because they just announced that their customized education tracks and conference sessions will be offered for free with a code.

The educational sessions cover a good range of topics—everything from how to keep your pandemic customers and how to create success in different seasons to merchandising displays that sell and much more.

You’ve got to register for the Garden Center Show first. You can REGISTER HERE and use the code FREECON.

I mentioned ThinkPlants last week because I found their booth backdrop to be super cool and creative. This week I mention ThinkPlants because they just released their 2023-24 New Varieties Catalog.

First, who or what is ThinkPlants? ThinkPlants is a cooperation of 16 plant breeders and allied horticultural experts with the aim of bringing plants to market together under one umbrella in a seamlessly connected supply chain and marketing effort. And I should also mention this group has a specialization in perennials. And this new catalog of theirs has more than 40 new introductions.

Some of the new perennial introductions for 2023-24 include:

Agastache Pink Pearl from Terra Nova Nurseries, available as URCs out of Danziger’s Guatemala facilities.

Echinacea Prairie Blaze from Syngenta Flowers, the first OP seed echinacea available in novelty colors. And aren’t they so pretty?

Bigleaf Hydrangea My Beautiful Diva in both blue and pink! These are available as pre-finished liners from Creekside Greenhouses in Canada.

Phygelius Colorburst Series from Monrovia has four colors, a compact habit and come to you as URCs out of Danziger’s Guatemala facilities.

Salvia Pink Nebula from Danziger, a companion to their recent big-bloomed Dark Matter introduction, is available as URCs out of Danziger’s Guatemala facilities.

There are a bunch more to ogle over in the CATALOG. Learn more about ThinkPlants HERE.

Continuing with our “what is looking great in our gardens” conversation that Jen Polanz started a few weeks ago, we both are enjoying the Granvia strawflowers from Suntory Flowers. The Suntory website calls them “supersized,” and that surely is true. One of these mornings I am going to actually see them open with the growing sunlight. We both love the colors we received—Harvest Orange, Peachy Keen and Pink. The photo below is from Jen’s garden. She planted hers with a “filler” around them, and that technique in a container or having them in a full garden with other plants around them is the way to go.

The Soiree Double Catharanthus are looking groovy, too. The Suntory Soirees are much different from your typical bedding plant vinca with their wavy, somewhat curled petals. These Doubles have two layers of petals, but in a restrained way as you can see in this photo. The two colors here are Pink and Orchid.