You know fall is in the air when the announcement that registration for the next Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE) is open. The 2027 version of the show is set for January 20-22 in lovely Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the absolute best time of year to visit the Sunshine State. With palm trees and tropical breezes—and that absolutely stellar new Omni Hotel—could there be a better place to check out the latest offerings in the tropical foliage and indoor plant segment of horticulture? No.

Other than the weather, why else should you find yourself looking at plants in Ft. Lauderdale the third week in January? Because the No. 1 reason buyers attend is to find unique plants and products. And you’ll see oodles of them. You’ll get plant and product suggestions via the New Plant & Product Showcase, as well as the winners of the Cool Product Awards. Not to mention the answers from friends and colleagues who answer your “Hey, what caught your eye today?” question.

What I don’t have for you today is the lineup for the education component of the show, including the tours. So stay tuned here—I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

I asked Kate Clary, FNGLA’s Director of Strategy, Marketing & Communications, what other information about the show might be important to share with readers at this time.

“You could mention to be sure to book your hotel accommodations sooner rather than later, while availability is TPIE’s official hotel block is still high,” she said.

Good point! Don’t delay. Get the room with the view while it’s still unbooked. Use the same registration link as you would to purchase your trade show badge when booking your hotel.

The 2027 version of the Insecticide, Miticide & Fungicide Guide from the good folks here at Ball Publishing is ready to go to work for you. You have a few options:

1. You can download it HERE.
2. There’s a print copy that came with your September issue of GrowerTalks—if you haven’t unwrapped that issue yet, you’ll find it there.

It’s not just a list of chemistries, either. You’ll find a case study of how Willoway Nurseries' growing and plant health teams collaborate to blend targeted chemistries with biologicals—and if you’ve been wondering how to do that yourself, you’ll benefit from reading what Willoway does.

There’s also crop management considerations, the heads up on emerging pest challenges and, of course, practical resources.

Your tropicals and foliage crops will appreciate you reading the IMF Guide.

Unless you’re a bot scraping the Internet, if you're reading this then you've made yourself a career in the green industry. You may have been inspired by someone or something or some place. Wouldn’t you want folks still in career consideration mode to have that same sort of inspiration? Yes, you would!

You can help provide that inspiration during Seed Your Future’s fall Green Career Week, which takes place next week, October 5-9. This national initiative is aimed at increasing awareness of green industry careers among school-aged folks—and, maybe even more importantly, among the nation’s teachers who are so influential when it comes to kids and career opportunities.

How will you provide this inspiration yourself? Great question. You can sign up HERE to receive Green Career Week resources and ideas for how you and your company can share your green industry experience. Share with the younger generation how you found your career, what you do, what inspires you and what the future holds for them in our field.

You can also view and share the videos of Seed Your Future testimonials in the series "Seed Your Future Powered By You." These testimonials—just a few minutes long—highlight how these folks (some well-known people in the biz) found their way into the green industry. There are a bunch of these testimonials, but a few for your consideration are:

• Mari Carrasquillo, VP of Marketing at Costa Farms
• Anna Ball, CEO of Ball Horticultural Company
• Julie Caulfield, Director of Business Operations at BioWorks
• Mark Broxon, CEO of Proven Winners
• Dr. Leonardo Lombardini, Head of the Horticulture Department at UGA
• Jake Scott, General Manager of Piedmont Feed & Garden Center

For a longer-form audio experience highlighting how people find themselves involved with the green industry, my podcast “I Dig Your Story” is like a “Good Hang”/“How I Built This” mashup of why and how people pursue all sorts of careers and volunteerism in the green industry.

Get involved, share your joy and welcome new folks into a flourishing career by participating in SYF’s Green Career Week!

Speaking of getting younger folks interested in green careers, let’s talk about getting young kids interested in plants in the first place. My interest in plants came from two directions: 1) I was raised and worked on our family’s farm; and 2) my mom had a green thumb for houseplants and cut flowers. I remember visiting some old-school garden centers with mom and walking through the houseplant department, poking the little 2-in. plants with my finger (gently, of course). And what do you know—one actually reacted! How cool was that? My mom bought me my first houseplant, which was a Mimosa pudica (I can’t even recall what common name it went by back then).

Well, that plant is making a comeback and is now being called the TickleMe Plant by Larry Chipkin of the TickleMe Plant Company. Like me, Larry was fascinated by this mimosa species as a kid for its ability to quickly close up its branches and droop when touched—and then reopen minutes later (and for that reason he’s also marketing this plant as the Zombie Plant).

The TickleMe Plant Company is offering seeds of this plant in consumer-friendly packets, as well as in growing kits and in other classroom products.

“One of our biggest goals with the TickleMe Plant and Zombie Plant is to get kids, and everyone young at heart, more excited about plants, science and nature,” Larry told me. “We hope that growing and interacting with a real plant can spark curiosity, create a memorable hands-on experience and maybe even encourage a little less screen time along the way.”

And maybe get them interested in pursuing a green career, too? I mean, take Larry as an example.

“I first grew it as a child with my older brother and never forgot the experience of seeing a plant move and I called it a TickleMe Plant! My brother went on to become a science teacher and would grow it in his class to get kids more interested in plants, science and nature.”

This is also a reminder that maybe we don’t need to rely on new varieties all the time. We have a wealth of plants already in our toolbox that are fascinating. Break out the ones that do something and present them as educational opportunities for kids. That’s how we’ll grow plant interest and the plant industry.