The headlines seem to be everywhere – skyrocketing plant sales, seed shortages, and a cut flower frenzy. On the heels of the pandemic, 2021 has seen a fervor for plants and garden goods that our industry hasn’t experienced in years.

As industry struggles to meet the demands of the massive “plantdemic” gardening trend, many are acutely aware of how limited supplies are this spring.

And this has led to an important question: how much of the “sold out blues” are consumers feeling? 

This spring, many gardeners (including first-timers) arrived at the garden center ready to shop, only to be met with empty shelves and in some cases, unfulfilled wishes. In our visions of worst-case scenarios, we imagine them getting frustrated and giving up – even abandoning the hobby.

Luckily, social media is giving us insight into consumers’ thoughts and feelings…

Read more to find out what they’re posting - it isn’t what you might expect!

Sunny days, big smiles, and messy hands… If that’s what springtime means to your child, then it’s time to get outside and get growing! April is national Kids Garden Month, an initiative spearheaded by the youth-focused nonprofit KidsGardening to inspire and encourage kids to get into gardening.

Gardening benefits children in countless ways. From hands-on learning about science and biology to physical fitness and creative play with colors and textures, home gardening helps children steward our natural world while learning – plus it’s a “screen-free” activity!

If you’re stumped on how to get started, never fear! We’ve got three tips for getting your kids excited and inspired to garden!

Read on for the four surprising finds of the 2020 holiday season.

If the sight of Christmas decorations next to Halloween candy on store shelves makes you raise an eyebrow, you may want to get used to it – because a trend has arrived that garden retailers can’t afford to ignore.

In recent years, 43% of holiday shoppers planned to start shopping in November. But signs are indicating a major shift this year, and retailers need brace themselves: holiday shoppers are shopping EARLY in 2020, and their preferences have changed.

Read more to learn 3 must-have tips for positioning your brands this holiday season.

With gardens and houseplants shifting from white-hot trend in 2019 to full-blown national obsession in 2020, the faces at the front of the new wave are social media influencers with legions of followers and backyards that make us—yes—green with envy.

Why should businesses in the horticulture industry pay attention to garden influencers, who range from tattooed and pierced ‘plant dads’ to proud grandmothers with enviable backyards? Because they have a direct line to the eyes, ears and wallets of millions of consumers. And the numbers tell us that these customers trust and take their buying queues from social influencers.

Smart companies are asking two questions:
• What are garden influencers doing right?
• And how can we work with them?

Read more to learn the 1-2-3’s of influencer marketing to green industry businesses.