Garden Center magazine revamps website

Valley View, Ohio – Garden Center magazine is pleased to announce a completely redesigned and updated version of its website, which has been optimized for easier navigation, especially for one of the fastest-growing user segments: mobile users. This month, Google announced that mobile searches surpassed desktop searches for the first time, according to TechCrunch. The end result is a website featuring improved graphics, enhanced news coverage and easier navigation. Highlights include:

• Mobile-friendly design. All articles, multimedia files (videos, podcasts, etc.) and other resources have been standardized in a format that is easy to access and will function properly on most mobile devices.
• Enhanced news coverage. Garden Center has long been the go-to source for the most comprehensive, up-to-date news coverage on issues impacting the industry. The new website features expanded news coverage accompanied by bigger and higher-quality photos and graphics.
• Improved search engine. The latest version of Garden Center’s website features enhanced search functionality aimed at simplifying the process for users while providing a rapid response to all reader inquiries. Garden center retailers can now access past news articles, issues, product releases, feature stories, podcasts, videos and other valuable content quickly and easily, with an “endless scrolling” feature designed to enhance the user experience.
• Videos/podcasts. The Garden Center staff conducts video interviews with retailers, suppliers, breeders, growers, researchers and other industry experts at trade shows, trial gardens, garden center visits and more. Additionally, we record industry-specific podcasts, which are available on our website and also can be downloaded on most mobile devices.
• More social media integration. In response to the growing popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the redesigned Garden Center site will allow our users to more easily share content across these platforms. Make sure to follow or like us on these platforms to receive the latest green industry and retail news.

We hope you like the new look and enhancements to Garden Center and we welcome your feedback. Please email Michelle Simakis, editor, at msimakis@gie.net with comments or questions.

IGC East has new location, name

PHILADELPHIA – On Oct. 20, Jeff Morey, IGC Show co-founder, announced details about the new home and new name of the former IGC East Show in Baltimore, Md.

“After carefully considering the post-show surveys from our 2015 Baltimore IGC Show this past summer, we determined there was a sufficient level of concern among both attendees and exhibitors about the location,” Morey had said in a press release, noting potential safety issues.

Originally, the hub of the show — now called the Eastern Show for IGCs — was going to be at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa. But Morey announced Nov. 2 that plans had changed again. The Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, Pa., will host the event instead.

“Valley Forge Casino Resort combines the amenities of a top-notch gaming resort with exhibit space, plus ballrooms and classrooms for EIGC’s three keynotes and 30 hours of educational sessions,” the latest press release noted.

The dates will remain the same — Aug. 2 through Aug. 4, 2016.

“We had an amazing opportunity to move from a run-of-the-mill expo center to the Valley Forge Casino Resort, and we jumped on it,” Morey said in the news release.

We caught up with Morey and asked him for more details about the switch.

“Let’s face it, a lot of people are attracted to the whole casino thing. Personally I don’t gamble. I don’t need to because I gamble every day of the year,” Morey said, laughing and noting his role as a publisher and trade show organizer. “We were going to use Valley Forge Casino Resort, which is just down the road from the [Greater Philadelphia] Expo Center, as one of our hotel show blocks, so we were already talking with them.”

Morey joked that he received “an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

“We didn’t really know the casino was available, and we hadn’t really considered it,” he said. “They gave us very attractive pricing on it. During the middle of the week, they’re dead, so come to find out they really are looking for business in the middle of summer, so it was a good match. We have a three-year deal with them with options to continue on after that.”

The IGC Show in Chicago celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and will take place Aug. 16-18, 2016 at Navy Pier.

“I like a good project, and we’re going to work hard on making East work. Once we get that fully established, the West Coast show is very much on my agenda. I want to do it before it’s all over with,” Morey said, adding that the goal would be to host it in San Diego. “That would probably be in February of some year. I can’t name the year. It all depends on the timeline and on when East establishes itself.”

For more, visit igcshow.com

OHP and Bayer ES change marketing relationship

OHP Inc. and Bayer CropScience announced Oct. 13 that they would alter their long-standing marketing agreement effective Oct. 31, 2016. OHP Inc. has been the exclusive marketer of Bayer products in the U.S. ornamental nursery and greenhouse market for more than 26 years.

“Bayer and OHP have had a mutually rewarding relationship for the past 26 years, and OHP has done an excellent job of building and servicing Bayer products” says Gilles Galliou, president of Bayer Environmental Science North America. “While we value our partnership with OHP, Bayer Environmental Science has made a strategic decision to fully service the turf and ornamental markets utilizing our internal resources.”

OHP will continue to service the full line of Bayer products through Oct. 31, 2016. After that date, OHP will continue to market Marathon G, Marathon 60 and Marathon II Insecticides, Discus Insecticide, Decathlon Insecticide and OHP Chipco 26019 N/G Fungicide sourced from Bayer.

“Our partnership with Bayer has been an important part of the OHP business over the years, and we look forward to working together with them going forward on selected products,” says Ron Soldo, president and CEO of OHP.

OHP and Bayer will continue to work closely together over the next year to ensure that all customer needs are met through the transition period.

National Garden Bureau announces crops of the year

National Garden Bureau (NGB) recently announced the four plant classes that will be featured in the 2016 “Year of the” program. There are now four different classes instead of three. National Garden Bureau has expanded to include a bulb crop into the “Year of” program.

• For the bulb crop, 2016 will be the Year of the Allium.
• For annuals, 2016 will be the Year of the Begonia.
• For vegetables/edibles, 2016 will be the Year of the Carrot.
• For perennials, 2016 will be the Year of the Delphinium.

NGB’s “Year of” program also includes a video about the edible class, produced by and starring cook, author and storyteller Jonathan Bardzik. That video can be viewed on YouTube and shared by any person or company who wishes to promote gardening and cooking with carrots.

ALLUIM, CARROT AND DELPHINIUM PHOTOS: MORGUE FILE / BEGONIA: COURTESY OF NGB

NGB urges breeders, brokers, seed companies, growers and garden centers to consider highlighting these flowers and plants when planning marketing for the 2016 season as the publicity generated from this program is substantial. To view the publicity generated from past programs, visit the National Garden Bureau online press room at bit.ly/1OxAfCm.

Both members and non-members are encouraged to take advantage of the publicity this program generates by using the redesigned logos, pictured here, in their 2016 catalogs, websites, advertisements and other marketing materials.

By mid-November of this year, NGB will have photos of numerous varieties of all four crops posted on its website. NGB also provides PDFs of fact sheets, flyers, handouts, signage etc. After Nov. 15, all of the above can be downloaded at no charge from the NGB website.

Spotted!

Notable products and ideas from garden centers and businesses across the country

MICHELLE SIMAKIS

Décor company Eangee Home Design took the idea of bringing the outdoors inside to a new level with its line of eye-catching dried-leaf lampshades at IGC Show 2015 in August. Though the show floor at Navy Pier in Chicago was packed with hundreds of vendors showing off their products, Eangee made a special impression with these shades, which use real dried plant matter to twist light in creative new ways.

According to Eangee’s website, the company’s goal is to provide eco-friendly goods built and sold through fair-trade practices. The dried-leaf lampshades are made by naturally drying leaves, coloring them with food-based dyes and assembling them into shade panels with renewable or recycled materials. The leaf-shade lamps by Eangee come in a variety of shapes, colors and patterns.

U.S. appeals court blocks EPA water rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A Cincinnati federal appeals court on Oct. 9 halted the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing a regulation that critics feared would give the federal government oversight over “almost every conceivable water body in the country” under the Clean Water Act, according to an article on Cleveland.com.

Eighteen states sued the federal government this summer, alleging the new rule would define “waters of the United States” to give the federal government jurisdiction over small tributaries “and even adjacent dry land and dry creek beds, with little limit on federal jurisdiction.”

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine argued the rule violates the language and spirit of the decades-old Clean Water Act, which “recognizes the rights of states to serve as trustees of their natural resources.” He expressed fear the federal government would use the broad definition to improperly penalize landowners.

, visit Cleveland.com at http://bit.ly/1MshI4c .

Difference Makers: National Garden Bureau’s Growing for Futures Grant

By Conner Howard

Spending time outside can be beneficial physically, mentally and emotionally. The National Garden Bureau understands this well and is seeking deserving therapeutic and vocational gardening programs throughout North America to provide grant funding to.

In 2014, the NGB set out to raise money for a vocational therapy garden in the Chicago area called Growing Solutions Farm, which used horticulture education to teach practical skills and provide an outlet for young people with autism spectrum disorder. NGB collected more than $43,000 in cash, products and services, according to Diane Blazek, executive director of NGB. This led to the development of the national Growing for Futures grant program.

COURTESY OF NATIONAL GARDEN BUREAU

“Despite the success in 2014, we decided it would be difficult to conduct a fundraiser in other parts of the country, and since we are a national organization, we adapted our program to have a broader reach,” Blazek says. “Thus, the creation of our grant program for 2015.”

Three gardening organizations are in the running for the 2015 Growing for Futures grant, with $5,000 going to the winner and $3,000 and $2,000 going to the second and third place winners, respectively. Candidates for the grant include Cape Fear Botanical Garden in Fayetteville, N.C., Green Chimneys Children’s Garden in Brewster, N.Y., and The Riverwood Conservancy Enabling Garden in Mississauga, Ontario.

Blazek says that to be eligible, the competing organizations must have defined programs that use the garden to further goals such as horticultural, occupational, physical, vocational or rehabilitation therapy or the creation of positive social and community relationships. They must also offer a specific experience to the population served, provide job training for at-risk youth, veterans and/or the elderly and meet a minimum threshold of visitor, volunteer and gardener participation.

“Our goal as an organization is to not only increase the amount of gardening that the public is involved in but to also get non-gardeners to be inspired to try their hand at gardening,” Blazek says. “That means any kind of gardening: community gardens, patio gardens, cut flower gardens, edible gardens and ornamental gardens ... you name it and we’ll encourage it. So the goal of the grant program is to support the therapeutic gardens by providing additional resources and visibility that will enable them to continue with their mission.”

Voting results were not available at the time of publication. To review results, visit NGB.org and keep checking our website for updates.