Slicin' AND dicin'

This go-round, we empty our travel bags, fill the collective noggins with some potential opportunities and meet neat folks. Yikes! Emptying, filling and meeting all in one nifty package. The "Sham Wow" guy would have a field day.

Item: The 15th annual National Lawn & Garden Show. The skinny: This year's event in Atlanta matched some 60 buyers with some 100 vendors for some major wheeling and dealing. The format is still brilliant, a decade and a half after show president Bob Mikulas introduced it. The buyers sit in a big room and entertain the vendors during pre-arranged 10-minute appointments. It’s an ultra-efficient way to play pitch and catch with some of the industry's newest products. Trends worth watching: Three prominent product themes at this year's event were pest-deterrents, birding & nature supplies and green products such as composters and rain barrels. Coolest item there: The convertible trailer/storage unit from Tow N Stow (check it out at www.tow-n-stow.com). What's next: The 2010 NLGS is scheduled for June 15-17 in Colorado Springs. Periodically visit www.nlgshow.com for details.

Item: The Garden Centers of America Summer Tour. The skinny: This event featured three days of visiting Oregon (and a few Washington) garden centers. Aside from the fact that these establishments benefit from being located in God's country, they also benefit from owners and staff that are constantly looking for ways to craft a better store. Events such as this and the recent ANLA Retail Roadshow provide valuable glimpses at how people "in the trenches" in trenches far from home fight their battles. If you don't tour, you should. Places that made me say, "Wow!": Shorty's Garden & Home in Vancouver, Wash., is cleverly designed, has lots of great plant material, and boasts a hard-goods display that likely ensures a lot of hard goods are sold. But what separates this place is a remarkably chipper and knowledgeable staff. Ditto, the folks at both Al's Garden Center locations in Woodburn, Ore., and in Sherwood, Ore. Both stores are clean, bright and appealing, as well. Still, my favorite stop on tour was the Garden Corner in Tualatin, Ore. Owner John Karsseboom has crafted a veritable amusement park for plant/accessory shopping. And the staff is as fun as the store. Definitely check out www.thegardencorner.com. Or better, yet, check out the store if you travel to Oregon.

Item: Greatness. The skinny: I have called many a person noted in this space "the great so-and-so" because I feel this business is blessed with a lot of fine people. One man's opinion: After several conversations during the GCA tour, I would suggest that landscape architect and industry patriarch Ernest Wertheim is the finest of them all.