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.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is landscape designer, Susan Cohan.

Susan is the principal and design director of Susan Cohan Gardens, a full-service landscape design studio located in the New York/ New Jersey metro area. Her and her team have created landscape designs for discerning regional and international clients for over fifteen years, and they have won many awards for their work.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is the Director of Continuing Education at Longwood Gardens, Matthew Ross!

Matthew is a leader in nonprofit education, landscaping, public speaking, management, and event planning. He is a strong education professional with a master’s degree focused in Horticultural Science from Michigan State University.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie LIVE is author, speaker and garden designer, Sue Goetz!

Sue has a garden design business, Creative Gardener, where she works with clients, personalizing garden spaces from the seasonal tasks to the design of large projects.

We've unveiled our twentieth Garden Trends Report, available for download now.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie LIVE is landscape designer, Nick McCullough!

Nick grew up in Ohio and Iowa, watching his dad and uncles working in agriculture, which gave him his love of being outdoors. He knew from a young age that he was going to be a landscape designer.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is author and “Epicurean homesteader”, Tasha Greer.

Tasha is a writer, focused on simple, sustainable living. She gardens on about 1.5 acres of land and grows a variety of annual and perennial edibles, medicinal, and ecosystem support plants.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Patricia Buzo, creator of Doodle Bird Terrariums.

A terrarium is usually a sealable glass container that holds soil and plants, and can be opened for maintenance to access the plants inside. However, terraria can also be open to the atmosphere rather than being sealed. Terraria are often kept as decorative or ornamental items.

On today's episode of Grow! with Katie, we got to chat and hang out with the one and only J Schwanke!

Schwanke is the host, creator and producer of J Schwanke’s Life in Bloom, seen on PBS and Create TV stations nationwide. He is also the CEO of uBloom.com, the first online community for flower fans, created for both professionals and enthusiasts. J is host and producer of the web broadcast flower design show, Fun with Flowers and J, seen online at uBloom.com.

Today’s guest on Grow! with Katie is Megan Cain, founder of the Zen Succulent.

The Zen Succulent started as an Etsy shop, which is still running, and now has two store fronts and their own website where you can order kits!