Air fare

One of the blessings/curses of playing roving reporter for the past decade and then some involves that “roving” word. I can’t think of a world “peopled” any better than the horticulture community. I believe it’s safe to say that most of us revel in the opportunity to reunite with industry friends at trade shows and conferences—even if we do it only a few times a year.

Of course, travel has its drawbacks, too. In January, I saw airports, hotels and convention halls in the likes of St. Louis, Atlanta, Cleveland, Louisville, and Seattle—and even got to wave to my wife at least twice in transit. Sometimes I feel like the rock singer who shouts to the screaming throng, “Hello, Dallas!” only to be told by the lead guitarist that we are, in fact, in Miami.

Not that I'm griping.
I wouldn’t trade this job for all of China’s tea or for two first-round draft choices, because, by choice, I am a reporter that roves, looking for—and then sharing—information our readers want and need to succeed.

That quest has convinced me that most travel actually leads to the same place, the one called “Trends.” This “Trends” place must be very important, because almost everyone I talk to asks me to share everything I know about it.

So, here’s everything I know about it: This Trend land is quite a nebulous place. In New York, it might be dark, but in Albuquerque, it’s bright and colorful. In Florida it’s all tropical and foliage-y, but in Arizona it’s generally pretty prickly. We once had a decorative chicken statue in our products section draw a whopping 500-plus reader service leads—400-plus of which came from Arkansas. California requests? Zilch.
 

All that noted…
I do have one trend I want to share with the entire populace of the aforementioned hort world. It focuses on the person who just walked in your door—the younger one. You really need to get to know her yourself, but I’ll give you a Cliff Notes rundown. She is holding a Smartphone that houses better technology than we used to put a man on the moon, so she is used to finding what she wants—quickly. She would like a garden, even if she wouldn’t like to garden, so you’d better have some ensembles in the plant yard that can be easily translated in her yard. Oh, and don’t make them high-maintenance.

She has kids, and you’re much more likely to keep her business if you cater to them, as well as to her. She speaks fluent social media and probably won’t tolerate businesses that don’t. Her senses have been super-stimulated from birth, so she probably won’t “settle down” much, and you’ll be challenged to keep up with her changing tastes.

Oh, and she likely is the key to whether you’ll be successful five years from now. I learned that in St. Louis.

Or was it Louisville? 

yyoungblood@gie.net