Embrace the Blooming Resilience: Discover the 2025 Gardening Boom Amidst Opportunity!
Witness the inspiring resurgence of gardening in 2025! Join our expert panel in “Ask the Experts about the 2025 Gardening Boom” and learn how cultivating green spaces is becoming an empowering and positive response to uncertain times. Discover the multifaceted reasons behind this thriving trend, from the therapeutic benefits of stress relief and anxiety reduction found in nurturing plants to the tangible rewards of enhanced food security and self-sufficiency. Our experts will share insights on how this growing movement fosters community, promotes well-being, and offers a tangible sense of control and accomplishment. Whether you’re seeking a calming hobby, a way to connect with nature, or a path to greater self-reliance, this webinar will illuminate the positive power of the 2025 gardening boom and how you can cultivate your own thriving and fulfilling green oasis.
🌱#homegardening #garden #gardentips
Find out more Fun Facts about Gardening: https://youtu.be/vJO6Tl55oGE
Learn about the New Varieties to grow: https://youtu.be/WkUjahN6nhU
Grow Sunny Sunflowers: https://youtu.be/f7FyTIocwT4
Learn more from our NGB Member Podcasts: https://ngb.org/garden-podcasts/
Learn more at ngb.org – we are here to help!
Thank you to our experts: @bejo_usa @syngentaflowersNA @americanmeadows
Find more information about…
– New Plants for Your Garden and Home – https://ngb.org/new-plants/
– Year of Plants – https://ngb.org/2025-year-of-plants/
– Combination Planters – https://ngb.org/combination-ideas/
– Garden Products – https://ngb.org/gardening-products/
– Garden Inspiration and How To – https://ngb.org/gardening-products/
– Shop Our Members – https://ngb.org/shop-our-members/
Don’t forget to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@NationalGardenBureau
Follow us on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nationalgardenbureau
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/national_garden_bureau/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nationalgarden/
00:00 Introduction
03:02 Why does gardening surge during certain times?
08:18 Increase in Edible Gardening
11:08 Increase in Ornamentals
15:18 Gardening with a Purpose
18:24 Natives with American Meadows
22:08 The Stages of Gardening
29:35 How do the Breeders set up Homeowners for success
33:52 Gardening for Biodiversity in small spaces
38:38 Gardening for Community
47:30 Supply and demand of garden supplies
51:41 Closing comments and tips!
Welcome everybody. I am Diane Blazic from National Garden Bureau. We are very excited to have this webinar today to talk about the gardening boom. Um I think you’ll see that all of us on the panel as well as everybody who is attending is very excited about gardening. And what I want to do is introduce our panel. And I’m just going to go by who’s in the corner here um on my screen. So, we have Mike Lazot from American Meadows. I can say he is a true fan and promoter of everything regarding natives and wild flowers and pollinators and everything else. Right, Mike? That would be correct, Diane. Thanks for Okay, thank you. And let’s see, I’m going clockwise. Allison Carlson from Senta Flowers, also serving as the president of our National Garden Bureau board. Thank you, Allison, for that. And Allison um is very very passionate about all things flowers, we will say, but again, like all of us, probably everything that goes in the garden, right, Allison? Absolutely. Okay. And Katie, welcome um from the Garden Media Group. We’re really excited to have you here. Excited for your idea of doing this webinar. um again, you know, to just push this excitement out um to everybody. So, Garden Media Group, um I guess we can call you like the official trend forecaster for our industry. We can definitely as well as being excited about everything in the garden. So, that’s that’s wonderful. Thank you for being here. and Allison from Beijou Seeds. You are working for a vegetable breeding company and I can’t say I’ve known you as long as I’ve known everybody else on this panel, but my assumption is you’re pretty much excited about everything in gardening too, right? Yes, 100%. And happy to be here. Good. Well, thank you for being here. Um, I’m going to end our poll now just so that we can kind of show Let’s see here. are the here I click share results. So you can see that we have a good mix. We have a lot of people working on their home garden and all excited about it and we’ve got our master gardener friends with us and then we’ve got a little bit of oh we’ve got quite a few others so I guess I didn’t fill my categories very well. Um so that’s who we have on our webinar today which is very exciting. And we are going to now start talking about the gardening boom. And we’re going to start with um some big picture questions maybe. So this anybody can answer. I’m just going to lay out these questions and you guys can chime in. So why do you think that gardening continues to surge in popularity in uncertain times whether it’s economic, environmental, or emotional? So, who wants to take on that? Well, all of you can. Let’s give each one of you a turn. Well, I’ll take us off since nobody’s doing it. I’ll go. Um, and we want to hear from you. I know Diane already said this, but we want to hear from you guys what you’re thinking in the comments, too. Like, why do you garden? What does it do for you? What cup does it fill? Because I think for all of us, it’s something a little different. And that’s why I think gardening appeals to so many people. And I know today we’ll talk a little bit about the the times that when things are uncertain, why we turn to gardening and I think in particular gardening offers a little bit and this is going to be funny for those of you who are gardeners but of control. Yes, we cannot control what happens in the garden, but we do feel like there are steps and processes that when things seem crazy, we can take it down to one little seed and the confidence in knowing that when we plant that seed, there will be a seedling. And then the fruits of our labor literally, whether that be flowers or edibles, will come from that and the joy that that provides. So to me I think it’s especially in uncertain times gardening provides us with a little bit of control and grounding but also of course joy. Very good. Who else wants to add to that? Yeah, I think just the um yeah, to like find some uh beauty and like the calming de-stressure that you get from like being active in the garden or just the experience of going to the garden center and you know looking around like making a day of it. It’s um you know a rather like inexpensive thing to do and you get a fun plant out of it you know for a cup of coffee and you know buying a few plants depending on you know how how much self you have self-control you have in the garden center don’t have a lot but you know when you’re when you’re on a budget you you make it work. Um you know it’s it’s a fun thing that you can do. You make an activity of it with your kids you know your family your friends. Um, and it’s, you know, it’s just it’s a a fun thing to do, um, in your spare time, uh, and enjoy the outdoors and that connection with nature. So, really like the, uh, emotional and like de-stressing um, I think is why, you know, in uncertain times we we turn to nature. I can add on to that that I think I’m seeing a lot in the comments that we like to use gardening as an emotional outlet. So, not only does it provide food security for you and your family, but it also gives you that outlet to go outside, get your hands dirty, and reconnect with nature. And also, you know, when you get to harvest all that you’ve done, it kind of makes you a little bit happy, too. And I guess I will chime in. It was ladies first, so I was waiting for, you know, but um so, um thanks for the introduction again, Dian. So, I’m talking to um gardeners every day. That’s part of my job. And I’ve been doing it a long time and spoken to millions and millions of gardeners. And I’ve shared this with a number of you, but certainly from where I sit and the people who I’m talking to every day, I’ve said this for a number of years now, but feeling like the consumers who I’m engaging with are more in tune with the environment than they ever have been ever. And and it doesn’t matter what level of gardening skill you have, whether you’re new or you’re a master gardener, they want to do something for the environment. Um, and whether it’s grow their own food because, you know, we’re not sure about where the food’s coming from in our grocery stores to helping the decline in pollinators such as Mars, they want to get involved and um and that, you know, it’s exciting and it presents opportunity. And um certainly again in my journey which goes back to the ‘9s um uh it’s really the last number of years um they we want to do something good. They want to do something good for the environment. They don’t even know where to start but hey I just read this article in the New York Times um you know and I want to get involved. Tell me what to do. And so um it’s exciting. It presents us all with opportunity um and continue to to hear that um on a daily basis. I agree and I and I noticed somebody had said community. I think each of you have kind of referenced this too, but you know, working with people who have common interest is is so rewarding. You know, I speak to a lot of garden clubs and and you’re there and everybody knows each other and they’re sharing things, information, plants, whatever it might be. So, there’s there’s many many reasons why why we garden. And I love seeing them in the chat here, too. My garden is my version of a playground. That’s a good one. It’s an adult playground, right? Well, and not necessarily. I mean, kids love to garden, too. So, your kids love to garden no matter how old they are. I just heard from my 30-year-old this this morning like, “When do I get to help you plant?” I’m like, “Okay, we will do that.” Okay, good. So, we have a lot of different expertise on our panel. So, we’re going to ask each one of them to kind of pull some specifics. So Allison from Beij, we’re going to start with you and tell us about right now the demand for edibles, you know, the demand for edible gardening and has it changed this season compared to last year or comparing it to COVID years. What can you tell us about that aspect? Yeah. Um I’d love to elaborate on that about like during times of economic uncertainty, we often see that uptick in sales. Uh usually due to the consumer’s desire for food access and stability like we’ve discussed in 2008 during the pandemic and this year um when relating it to demand, the balance of these optics, whether it be with throughout the years, um we’re seeing like the the valley of buying after those hills. So the demand increases and now we’re kind of in the valley. So things are leveling back out. Demand returns to normal and a more sustainable buying pattern like as far as seed supply, which is what we’re focused on at Bejo. Um it all starts with a seed here. Uh and we’re supplying consumers with those seeds. So, we’ve kind of returned to the valley after 2020 and now we’re seeing that uptick in 2025 uh with the rising demand and people more of the economic pressure and wanting the to feel secure with the food that they have, not relying on a grocery store or supply and demand. Um, so between 2008 and 2020, we got a little bit more of time between the valleys to uh get the seed supply sorted out. But now as we’re uh flipping so quickly between 2020 and 2025, we’re trying to make sure that we can provide to all consumers. And speaking of consumers and the COVID, you know, we got what 18 million new gardeners from COVID. Do you see um a increase in maybe some of the varieties that are easier to grow? Maybe the direct sew or or are people tackling the difficult things? Are you able to see any of that based on your sales? Um, so I would say in my position uh within marketing, I see the optics within um educational opportunities more so. So, people are much more interested in seeing the different videos that we produce on our YouTube about how to learn how to grow these varieties and the eating qualities of some of our cabbages and fun new ideas of you can replace the um cabbage leaf with a taco for your family dinner. So, I think that that’s where we’re kind of seeing that change, at least for my role at Bejo. And that’s an interesting point, too, um for dietary concerns. you know, more vegetables and less whatever it might be. Um, is is another strong benefit for our industry in general. Um, how about switching over to ornamentals? The other Allison, who spells it differently, um, what would you say is out there when it comes to flowers? Are are there certain demands that you’re seeing request higher sales in this area or another area? Yeah, you know, with the with the flowers, um I mean, you know, some of them you can eat, but we’re not necessarily there for food security and they’re great companions to to edibles. Um but, you know, flowers are the fun parts of plants. So, you know, a lot of the the feedback and like what we’ve been hearing um from the flower side has been uh flowers that are fun, like they bring that uh really long-staying ornamental quality. So like relooming, like lots of flower power, um that are easy, you know, easy care. Um and then also for like these new new gardeners that, you know, joined us during co um to be successful and then, you know, maybe ones that are a little bit more of a step up. So like as they’re building their confidence in gardening, you know, they’re exploring even more species. So, you know, we’re uh looking at those that are super easy beginner plants, but then also those that you, you know, you kind of uh build up to for your in your in your gardening. Um we’re also seeing kind of from like a budget conscious standpoint. Um you know and we saw this during co too where people uh well there were limitations on travel but then there were like the economic limitations where people weren’t um you know buying as many plane tickets and like taking their vacations um which there is also a trend for that kind of starting for this year less domestic travel in the US. Um, so that’s also signaling um, you know, a you know, a sign that people are going to maybe spend some of that that fun money maybe that they still have on something that’s more cost-effective like a plant that still brings fun and flowers and color and something to do but at a more uh, you know, budget friendly price than plane tickets these days. Um, we also see kind of a difference between more lots of combinations that, you know, consumers really want to know how to put together good combinations. Um, and either they want to DIY it themselves for maybe something that’s a little more budget friendly. Um, or they want to buy them already put together cuz it’s like that one investment and they’re done and they know it’s going to work and so they’ve spent their money really well. So um you know those are kind of the uh some of the trends that we see in flowers. So that easy care um also multi-purpose plants. Um so you know with flowers you know you can have them out in your landscape to you know beautify your your home and your garden but then also like cutting gardens. So plants that you can also cut um the flowers and bring them inside to to beautify the inside of your home but you still have plenty of flowers left in the garden to beautify the outside of your home. And while you were talking, I was also thinking about how during COVID, you know, people wanted to beautify their outdoor space and they maybe could or couldn’t entertain, you know, entertain at a distance, but that’s no longer a limitation this year. So, if you’re cutting back on your travel and you do want to have people over, you can do it now. So, I would think that there’s even a larger uptake in let’s beautify my home space because I’m just choosing not to travel right now, right? And that is a trend too in flowers is increasingly um I mean even before this this you know boom this year uh uh flowers for decoration. So, um I anticipate that will increase you know likely for that reason you just brought up. Okay. Well, Mike, going along with your ladies. First thing, I’m going to go to Katie next. And Katie, I want you to um just kind of talk about the trends and this this wave that we’re seeing, you know, with the boom and compare what you saw in 2000. You were born in 2008, right? I think so. Um blushing. Yeah. um your involvement in 2008 and 2020 and now what you’re seeing in 2025. Yeah, both Allison’s really touched on this a lot. Um in 2008, well, so first when I was on a phone call with one of my colleagues and we were like, man, things are wild out there. We really hope gardening is going to be a solace for people again this year. And she looked at me and she was like, well, first of all, of course it will. And then I wonder if we look back at 2008 2000 let’s just crunch some numbers. So we did we looked at the data and as everyone has said 2008 we were all about saving money like that was the big thing like we wanted to save our money in 2020 it was so many reasons I don’t even want to think about it but like let’s let’s boil it down to a distraction. We had the time and we really didn’t have anything else. So people came to gardening. This time it is incredibly different. The DIY movement is huge. But I think to let’s circle back to Mike’s point about like gardening for wildlife. We’re seeing so much gardening with purpose now because we are gardening to 2.0. Like we all picked it up. 18 million people were 1.0 back in 2020 and now we are 2.0 gardeners. So, we’re digging into some of the interesting facts about our soil and like yeah, we know we don’t just like know we have some things that fly around outside like we know specific butterfly species and bird species. And so that’s what’s really fascinating. In fact, Mike, you’ll be happy to know I have a stat here. I want to not mess it up. But the wildlife garden certifications from the National Wildlife C uh federation surged 12% over last year and they had the highest number of new certifiers since their biggest year ever, which was 2021. So, you hit the nail on the head. Obviously, you know, you have the data, too, but like people are really gardening for a purpose, and I love to see that. Plus, in addition to the difference between those other two uncertain times, Jenz is fully in the mix, fully here. Like, they are gardening. They might be doing it in different ways than the rest of us, but um they’re here for plants with a purpose, plants that give back, plants that do all the things like not just food, but look pretty and contribute to their community. So I think um to Allison’s point of from Senta like it just it changes to how we communicate to them. So it’s not just about a plant but what does this plant offer me? You know how does it make me feel? And um I’m just really excited about that because garden chatter is both on YouTube and Reddit like 600% up over 2020. So people are talking about gardening more than ever. And to to me and all of you, I know that it’s it’s lovely that not just the people who are on this webinar, but that our friends and family can turn to gardening to make them feel good, too. Excellent. Thank you. And and that’s a wonderful segue to asking Mike all about natives and pollinators. You know, what have you seen? Has it influenced your product mix or you know what are you seeing some of the the hot hottest most popular items? Yeah, certainly. You know, as Katie mentioned and I I mentioned earlier that the planning with a purpose and you know the consumers regardless of what their gardening skill level is um being really in tune with nature and certainly natives and we’ve all heard that that that has been um really important for consumers for a number of years now and just continues. So certainly with our product mix, we continue to offer more and more and source more and more natives both in plant material and seed because we offer both um and pollinators, you know, planting with a purpose, helping pollinators, whether it’s native bees or monarchs um creating specific mixes to support um to another level of specificity depending on what those consumers might look at. But so there’s that and and I would argue that’s been going on for a while and just has continued to build. But in a totally separate direction and kind of piggybacking on Allison too, there is a big a core group of people again regardless of skill level that are still looking for big, simple and easy. So lineas and cosmos and coropsis like and I I would argue um Erin Benzian over at Fuette is helping all of us because what she does in in her dayto-day and the inspiration she creates is off the charts, but we have a lot of people still looking for simplicity. And so um you know some of those categories easy to grow from seed flowers that are also inexpensive um are have we’ve seen that those sales go off the charts too. So it it’s been this really unique mix um lots of different types of of products and certainly um we’re fortunate with someone like Katie and her garden trends and organizations like the Xery Society and stuff like that. We always pride ourselves on kind of being ahead of the curve, always in tune of what’s going on in the industry, what’s going on in the environment, and most importantly, what’s going on with our consumer. And absolutely, you know, always looking to to provide solutions for for what’s happening. And um and it’s exciting. Um there’s there’s so many different angles, I think, for for retailers like us to grasp onto, which is is great. Um so, you know, uh I get pretty excit excited about it, if you can’t tell. Um, and so, you know, it’s been a it’s been a great year for us, and I I expect it to to continue. You know, it’s, as Katie pointed out, you know, we have these 18 million people came in during COVID, and it clearly seems a lot of them were successful on one level or another. So, now let’s take them to step two. You know, what’s next that they can try? You know, hey, I did my wildflower meadow. Now, hey, how about some veggies? You know, tell me about veggies and I’m going to call Bejo, whoever, you know, and that’s what it’s all about. You know, you want to get someone hooked for life. get him get him to be a gardener for life and and it doesn’t matter if you’re a master gardener or this is your first or second time. That’s that’s my job and that’s what keeps me coming back and gets me so excited and why I love the industry so much. So that’s awesome. So while you were talking one of the things I was thinking about you know easy and quick and it’s interesting our year of program you know we have year of the escipios so that covers easy quick pollinators we have a year of the colindula easy quick pollinators peas you know that then is the food aspect of it so we chose these crops like three years ago but they were very relevant um and then Mike you said something that I would like for all four of you to address is um the stages of gardening. So what do you see people buying in early stages? I’ve always said and maybe it was just because what happened for me was herbs. I started with basil and that just started my love of gardening. They were easy. They were tasty. you know, do you and probably each of you have a different viewpoint, but you know, let’s talk about some of the beginning gardeners that we got during CO and how they’re progressing and what you see at the beginner and the intermediate and the advanced stage. Anybody can go first. Well, I mean, I think for me, I mean, what what sticks out for for me for like beginning gardeners is um you know, you start with uh maybe start with, you know, with a seed, you know, and and just starting from that basic process. I mean, we start with that as kids, you know, it’s it’s a a lesson you learn about where plants come from, uh with seeds, and that’s always a really great starting point. And I mean, for me, sunflower, you know, ornamentals, got to spin flowers here. um that the sunflower is kind of like where it begins and then I think uh uh for that then it starts to you kind of build off of your successes with things. So, um I don’t know. I think you could kind of really start anywhere and then you start to oh, I was really good at that sunflower like maybe I could try zenas next year or you know then uh I tried then then I’m going to try like geraniums or patunias. You know, I think you just I think that’s why we as an industry also have a really uh a duty to home gardeners to make our products um easy to grow so that way you can be successful and like gain that confidence that like you can be a gardener like you do have a green thumb, you know? So, and to to provide, you know, those educational opportunities um like Allison brought up with like watching videos and stuff like to help build that confidence to to build those gardeners. So, for me, it’s not necessarily like what plants they grow through, but the knowledge and experience that you gain as you keep going. I think I can definitely touch on this subject from kind of a different point of view because I’m in the shoes of a lot of these um new gardeners. So, I am what Katie was talking about, Gen Z. I just recently graduated college and so when you’re in that when you’re entering this new type of chapter and industry in college, you don’t have, you know, necessarily the funds or the space to be, you know, let your green thumb really explore all these opportunities. And so I’ve been definitely utilizing Reddit like Katie explained, Tik Tok, Instagram, different educational opportunities as well as my colleagues here when I focus more on the different types of edibles and um you know herbs, stuff like that. So it’s been a huge learning curve and it’s always really helpful to have your local gardening community. So, I’m sure a lot of you across the US have like a local farmerowned co-op or a nursery center. And I love to go in there and spend some time learning. I meet other individuals in there and get to ask them questions and expand my knowledge. So, that’s been a really interesting curve to kind of be able to um enjoy and learn from as I’ve entered this next chapter of my life. And it’s been great to have gardening along for the ride. I I think you’re right, Diane. I mean, I want to say it’s not edibles, but I think the entry points for people are a lot of times edibles. Um, I guess I’d be remiss in not acknowledging today is National Knockout Rose Day. Also, though, um, they’re celebrating 25 years. So, a lot of my friends are like first, you know, a couple years ago, first-time home buyers, and they would ask me for advice on just like, I just want something that’s really easy in the front of my house by my door that will flower and that I don’t have to do anything with. And um so for for a lot of people I think they don’t consider themselves gardeners. Probably not y’all here in the chat because you are here, you’re avid, you are like the we’re preaching to the choir, but a lot of people who do put in that simple shrub, they would never consider themselves a gardener. Um so I do think that uh maybe once you hit that herb level, now you’re maybe getting closer to identifying as a gardener. But I would encourage those people who are still putting something out in their landscape, digging a hole, putting it in a container, that kind of easy entry point flowering shrub. Of course, it’s going to be different depending on where you live, but is that beginner person. And then you take up to, you know, the person who are they’ve got grow lights in their house and they’re starting seeds for everything that they that they do. Like my dad who has a greenhouse, you know, we’ve got every level of people. But um I think it is helpful that we have so much education to your point Allison now um including the National Garden Bureau who provides quality accurate advice and then communities like on Reddit where you can go and be like oh I killed a plant and then hear from thousands of other people. Yeah, I killed a plant too. It’s normal. And I would I think I would just add these all great points that in my in my day-to-day speaking to people um it’s all about setting them up to succeed. And you’d be surprised someone will call, it’s their first time, their first gardening uh endeavor, and they’re ready and they’re gung-ho and they’ve got a good size land of property that they want to plant. And how many times I’ll say, “Hey, it’s great that you have this size, but you might want to think about starting small.” Because my goal is to set you up to succeed because I know for a fact if you’re successful, whether you’re planting your first vegetable or flower, you’re going to be hooked. You’re going to get the bug and then you can always expand down the road or try something new. But the goal for me is always start is to be successful. But a lot of times it’s starting smaller. Learn, educate yourself. everything we were talking about here. Build up that confidence and I guarantee once you have that and you see that one seed that you thought you’d never be be growing a seed because to Katie’s point, you’re not a gardener. Holy crap, look at that thing coming out of the ground. I did that. This is awesome. And hey, this I did these flowers. That was cool. I talked to the seed man. Now I’m going to, you know, tell me about these, you know, veggies over here or, you know, and so it’s really important there is, you know, setting them up to succeed. And it doesn’t matter. You could have all the money in the world and you could have 10 acres and you could have all these, you know, start sometimes start small. It’s not a bad thing. Yeah. Set yourself up to succeed. Learn, educate, and I guarantee you’re going to be much more successful in your gardening endeavors. And that’s something, you know, I’m doing on a daily basis, but it’s it’s important um for me because I know they get that inkling of success and confidence, they could be hooked for life. So, you are absolutely right. Okay. So, by a show of hands of our panelist, how many of you start your seeds in the spring and then literally check on them daily? You know, they have a 14-day germination time, but you’re checking on them daily because you’re so excited, right? Yeah. So, we all do it. Um, okay, Mike, you were just talking about setting them up for success. And I know both Allison’s are going to have some commentary on this, but how does the breeding work from your companies set the home gardener up for success? What’s happening? What are the goals? Yeah. So, uh, from the from the flowers standpoint, you know, I mean, breeding breeding takes a long time. So you know we have some varieties take a lot of varieties take 5 to 10 years from like ideation to launch and like sometimes a bit a bit more than that. Um so you know we’re we’re always having to kind of keep in mind these I don’t know keep ahead of the general trends kind of anticipate things keep our ear really close to the ground of what’s going on. But you know with with things like this I don’t know this is one of the reasons why I love being in horiculture because we work with live goods. We work with plants all the time which are nature and will always ground us whether in like good times or bad you know we use flowers to celebrate um and you know also to de-stress and like all the things you know. So, um, you know, as a as a breeder, you know, we we can respond to some of the trends, but, uh, it takes it takes time, but we’re always cognizant of the the beauty of them in flowers and, you know, keeping ahead of color trends. And luckily, people like all kinds of colors, whether they’re bright and vibrant or kind of muted and antiquequy. You know, uh, color trends come and go. But um flower species, you know, you definitely see kind of cyclical trends in those too. You know, what’s old is new again. Tried and true favorites where will always be easy for home gardeners to to start with. So um you know, our assortments expand and contract, but they um they they stay the same in some uh instances too. And a lot of the improvements that we make are uh continually keeping the home gardener in mind of making it easy for home gardeners to to be successful with our products. So, you know, we’re always looking at garden performance, you know, and and we’re also looking at making things easier for like greenhouse growers who who produce the crops that get out to retail that you then buy for to that for that to be more successful for them and less inputs. So it helps to keep the cost down and reasonable and um environmentally friendly from that standpoint too. Um so you know those are those are the kinds of things like from a breeder standpoint that that we’re um looking for as it rel to relates to now. I think Allison said it really well. Um, and here although we’re in the vegetable space, we also have some like very similar goals. And although we’re focusing on the hybrid vegetable varieties, we’re looking at disease resistance, yield, and ultimately the ease of use. So, um, we know that that like the need for those varieties is going to continue to grow, especially with the environmental changes in the future and the adaptability to disease pressures you might see in your garden. we as breeders need to be ready and aware of those trends um years before it happens hopefully. So um here at BJO we place a large emphasis on sustainability and producing the best seeds and the best varieties for today and 50 years from now. As individuals get into gardening to learn more about their seeds that they’re growing. We hope that by providing the highest quality seeds from Bejo, it helps the demand grow um and overall just benefits the entire industry. Whether you’re into whether you’re growing flowers, herbs, vegetables, um we’re an industry together and we want to keep promoting that industry because, you know, we need we need food to keep our population growing. Exactly. Um okay, Mike. Um let’s talk a little bit more about you know your expertise and everything. Um do you think con today’s consumer today’s home gardener is thinking differently about biodiversity and beauty even in small spaces? Yeah I think so. Um, as I mentioned, you know, when we started, you know, the fact that they in they are more in tune with the environment than they ever have been. Certainly, you know, things like natives and pollinator decline and wanting to do something good for the environment for themselves is is front and center more so than ever versus like, yeah, Mike, um, I’m just here to buy some wildflower seed, you know? And so certainly we we see more and more of that. and and again um regardless of skill level um they want to get involved and they may only have a planter or a raised bed or you know um a small area um but they still want to do something. So certainly you know as a retailer making sure that our solutions you know we are we just brought back most of the seed that we sell we used to sell in bulk and now we’re starting to sell smaller sizes to acer size packaging to accommodate smaller spaces and things like that. So um you know it’s again it’s exciting for us to I don’t care how big or how small your area is. The fact that you’re calling us and you want to do something um you know related to gardening um that’s that gets us exciting that presents opportunity and we want to set them up to succeed and in all different you know it doesn’t matter what size you know um they’re looking to plant or or engage in. So I’m I’m glad you brought up succeed. I know we’ve talked about it a little bit but I I think it’s amazing in today’s world. You know, you talk about retailers or brands, brick andmortar, online, everybody wants to provide information and provide products to make everybody more successful. I mean, I’m looking at all of you and you talked about Reddit and YouTube and your articles and your blog. Same same thing that National Garden Bureau does. You know, we’re trying to provide this good information. We know that there’s some misinformation out there. So, we’re trying to make sure that we bring it from the sources and you guys are the sources. There’s no doubt about that. Um, so Katie, that’s what I was kind of thinking is um what are you seeing some of the trends among either a retailer or a brand um on what they’re doing messaging wise? Um, do you think there’s a there’s probably not just one message, there’s multiple messages, but what do you think are some of the most prevalent ones right now in today’s economy and environment? Plants do that. That’s the message. That’s all we need to know. No. Um, but I think the biggest thing that’s resonated especially with Yeah. Do you have that back there? Probably you have that. I have I don’t know if you can see it back there. It says plants are the answer. Hashtag plants are the answer. So there you go. Mic drop. end of webinar. Um, but I think what is really working for the consumer, well, it works for me and I would love to hear, you know, some of some of the people in the chat, too, but is storytelling. So, we’re setting the stage about this plant. Why when I went to my grandma’s house as a kid and I would walk up to her back door and she had some blueberries and I would pick them every time I went in or you know the smell of lilac. Right now of course right here in Pennsylvania it’s like lilac season and just the smell of lilac. So I think these things are evoke these memories for people and that is what helps people continue to garden is creating those memories but being able to attach oursel to a story. And that’s what I think some of the really good brands and retailers are doing. Not just events, not just selling a product because that doesn’t work as much anymore. Now we really have to visualize how we still have products to sell. So how does our product enrich someone’s life by telling them a story? uh what’s back to purpose? What is the purpose? And so those are the brands that really succeed. Um also in our research um so I did talk to Danny Summers of the Garden Center Group and the they’re listen sales are starting to like just sore. It’s really exciting, but the garden centers that had the most success in April also had community events. And so back to some of the people in the chat who said they garden for community, you also have to realize that this is what brings people together. Like whether it’s because you have 45 zucchini and you make some zucchini bread and you bring it to a neighbor or you know you collect sunflower seeds at the end of the year and you’re sharing those. Whatever it is, I think that the power of those events you c they cannot be overlooked because that type of community building will really ingrain us in people’s lives. That’s that’s a really good point. Um, so what about with our other panelists? Are are you seeing some things like events that um simply wouldn’t have occurred 5 10 years ago? I mean, I have to say webinars, you know, they weren’t what they were precoid and now since co webinars are just just a natural. So what what do you think is helping contribute to the boon? You know, what are some new things? That’s kind of a tough question, but I’m going to put you on the spot and um ask what what else are some things contributing to the boom that are just new and different? I would um I would say one thing I’m seeing so I I as you guys know I speak at various events like was out at the Northwest Flower Garden Show, but I do a lot of local just garden clubs, small garden clubs. So you talk about community and I think one of the things Diane it’s not necessarily new but they’re excited to be back and you know maybe they took you know a couple years off during the co and now that they’re back I’ll go to speak to a garden group maybe you know 40 or 50 people and I mean it is charged like they are so excited not only to be together but to you know to learn from each other but like I think there’s just a renewed excitement that some of those things you know they had to be put on pause for a few years and now that they’re back I mean I’m going to these And it’s it’s phenomenal. The energy is like off the charts. Um, so that’s exciting. That’s inspiring. So, you know, it’s not necessarily new, but people are excited to be back there again because again, it does bring a strong sense of community and learning from each other and, you know, and just the excitement of gardening in general. But that’s something that’s jumped out to me. I I probably did about a half a dozen last month and every single one like, you know, phenomenal. Even last year too, like the ones I’ve been doing, they just seem to have a lot of energy and I think, you know, again, because of the they got away from it during CO and now they’re kind of back and there’s a lot of energy in that community and so really really important. I totally agree with you on that. Um because I’ve been speaking to a lot of garden clubs um basically right here in the Midwest and without a fault, every single one of them because I would ask about their membership and they’re like, “Oh, you know, COVID it went down. Some people were coming and then pretty much like at the drop of a hat in late 22, early 23, their membership started going up and one of them was pointing around the room and said, “Just look at these.” You know, I can tell you about half of these are new members and they’re really engaged. So, I kind of have a challenge not only for our panel but for everybody who is attending or listening this. If you’re an experienced gardener or if you’re a new gardener, go get involved, share your knowledge, you know, whatever way it might be. Volunteer here, join a group, whatever. It’s like I think your heart will be warmed by by doing something like that. So, who who else wants to comment on those lines? Yeah. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of um events uh with um uh like floral design and like floral design and wine, you know, uh and you know, kind of like the paint and sips, but instead of paint, it’s it’s you know, plants and and sipping. Uh with like floral design or like building a terrarium. Uh, a lot of like I’ve seen even like with bridal parties like a fun thing to do is go learn how to make a floral arrangement together like make your own uh bouquets like for the things you know. So like plants are becoming more of like fun things to do as well in addition to being a hobby. Um, you know, and then I think it’s kind of like the gateway into it becoming more of a hobby. uh like plant swaps at breweries, you know, like combining two things that people love, you know, they started collecting plants, you know, over the last few years and now they do like plant swaps and have a beer while they do it. Um I don’t know. So, it’s becoming, you know, fun just fun things to to do. And um I think too some a lot a lot more like homesteading uh started happening to where people, you know, have their own sourdough starters. I’ve seen more about like, you know, people’s having someone take care of their sourdough starter while they’re like out on vacation, you know, than I ever have in my entire life. And I think that’s also led to, you know, renewed interest in canning, you know, that maybe like our mothers and grandmothers did, but, you know, maybe generations after that really didn’t, but now it’s coming back. So, grow everything you can and like can it for homesteading. I know there’s lots of ways that people have started uh bringing in uh uh plants into like more of their their everyday life as like our lifestyles kind of shift. Um and I have to share though I I grew lofah for the first time last summer and I am hooked. Okay, like I mean I’m a PhD horiculturist. Like I’ve grown lots and lots and lots of plants. But it was my first time growing lofah and totally doing it this year cuz I got so many of them. We dried them. We processed them. And then I gave them to like our friends and family and stuff like little teacher gifts like on a uh pieces of them like with the soaps and everyone’s like, “Wow, you grew these? That’s so exciting.” And the kids were like, “Yeah.” So I don’t know. Like it’s plants are fun. And I think people are realizing that more and more to go to go along with that. Um same kind of thing like um when when I have company over you know Easter say you know um and people go up to my water pitcher and say oh you know you is this basil in your water. I’m like yeah where’d you get it? You know thinking I’ll say at the grocery store. Well I I grew it or you know this is a cool looking pepper. I’ve never seen a striped pepper like this. Where’d you get it? Well I grew it. And so, you know, at one point I was saying this is like bragging rights and they were like, “Oh, don’t call it bragging rights, but it’s just it’s conversation. It’s doing something unique and other people appreciate it.” So, yeah, love the lofah. So, anybody else on that with some of the new things you’re seeing? I can touch on that. Um just I feel like I’ve been bringing up education a lot during this seminar uh but our webinar but I really think that I’ve seen that change in different uh in our area on the central coast of California we have different high schools and colleges they’re reaching out to us asking BJO to host tours at our facility um and we go and speak in their classes and there’s also been an increase in like our a days here in the area where it highlights all aspects aspects of agricult culture within the coast. So, um you have, you know, your planters, uh breeding companies, the produce, uh areas, everyone is there to benefit our industry and share our knowledge. And I think that that’s what maybe I didn’t see as much before COVID is that all these educational opportunities and free events for the entire community to come and learn from us. I really have enjoyed being a part of those since starting at BJO. Well, I see somebody had just commented about plants as therapy. Horiculture therapy is growing. No pun intended. Or maybe it was. Um, but yes, we agree with that. National Garden Bureau does a horiculture therapeutic garden grant and it’s the interest in that is really increasing. In fact, when I was speaking last week at a garden club, a lady came up to me and said, “Well, how do I learn more? I want I want to get a certificate or a degree in hor therapy.” And so yeah that too is expanding I think because people are realizing what horiculture can do. You know for a while I was calling calling it gardening is good or the goodness of gardening because we already talked about the physical the mental benefits and with if you go to a good therapeutic garden and listen to some of the stories I guarantee you there will be tears. I’ve had a many a times when I’ve heard about some of the success stories from horiculture therapy. So, okay, let’s see what else do we want to talk about. Probably have time for one more question maybe. Um, let’s see here. Oh, here’s here’s one. You know, in COVID, we had and I hesitate to even call it short supply. it was more of a distribution issue, not necessarily a supply issue, but what kind of advice do you have when it comes to supply and demand? Um, reacting, preventing, anything like that. Yeah, people are like doing some weird pandemic behaviors now where they’re bulk buying stuff. I heard coffee, which I only bought 45 jugs of just in case we run out, but um people are are panic buying right now. So, I don’t know if they’re panic buying seeds, but or toilet paper. I haven’t heard about toilet paper, but um so yeah, maybe. Who knows with the tariffs if things will be in short supply. To me, the number one thing is flexibility. I know a lot of people come with like a list of exactly what they need to the garden center um because it’s based on an influencer recommendation which I love that but flexibility. So if you want a white hydrangeanger, your garden center will recommend the best white hydrangeanger for you. So I think that’s really important um is to know that we have a many different beautiful varieties of plants that will work. Um, and then also like rely on your local garden center. Ask them for tips and advice. If you do have something like you went in looking for X, ask them and they’ll likely have something that is just as good as an option who can replace it. And then of course, um, organizations like the National Garden Bureau, I think you can rely on people like this to help you find solutions. Um, and of trading. I mean, I think like figure out how to trade with neighbors for certain things to get Listen, a pack of seeds. Mike, I’m glad you guys are going from bulk to smaller packets because inevitably, you know, if I do buy a pack of zucchini seeds, I just really need one. Like, I only need one. So, share grow them, start them, but then share these things with with people. To add on to what Katie said or mentioned about flexibility, I think that it’s really important when you’re looking at varieties. Um, a lot of times breeding companies, I can speak on behalf of BJO that we are just trying to improve our best varieties. So, using cabbage for an example, we have a variety named Bronco that’s been a market leader for over 30 years. And we’ve recently released a new variety that has some disease improvements to Bronco, but there might be limited seed supply with all of these supply and demand shortages. So, don’t be afraid to check out something that might be, you know, old, steady, and reliable. You know that you can count on it. It might just not be the new thing, and you can always save the new thing for next year. But you might find your next favorite variety to grow if you just have a little bit more flexibility. I I think that’s great, Alison. you know, keeping an open mind. As much as, you know, we may have read and got our hopes up of needing this particular zineia or this particular, you know, tomato and you don’t have it instead of being disappointing, absolutely try something else. Again, just getting back to our goal is to set you up to succeed and you know, whatever it is you’re purchasing because if we can do that, they will come back and buy the tomato when it’s back in stock or the one that they wanted, you know, and um you know, trying to and that’s where, you know, us as retailers, educating them and getting them inspired to again, they might come, oh, I’m I’m so bummed that you’re out of this. Well, don’t be bummed because I have something over here and and um you know and and um keeping them excited about it. But uh definitely keeping an open mind. Um I don’t want to take this too negative, but I do think in our industry, at least with our what we sell, plants and seeds and stuff, I do think the tariffs are going to there will be an impact to some capacity, but um you know, we’re staying optimistic with it. We’re not seeing any issues right now. Um, and we as retailers and purchasers, you know, trying to stay ahead of the stay ahead of the game there. Um, I think it’s inevitable, but just trying to keep a a positive spin on it, you know, and our hope is it’s not like we’re going to raise our prices 20% or anything like that, you know, and um, you know, we’re um, you know, we’ll see how it all develops, but um, I think we continue to be really optimistic about the trends we’re seeing in the gardening industry, whether, as we talked about, if it’s natives or pollinators or easy to grow. There’s so much excitement happening and we’re going to try, you know, both American Meadows and High Country Gardens continue to leverage that as as much as we can and be a a leader in in the uh in the industry as far as that goes. So, excellent. So, I’m looking at the clock. Unfortunately, our hour always goes so fast. But what I’m wondering is a closing thought from each of you about this gardening boom. Is it advice you have for people or your own personal experience? But each one of you gets a closing thought here before we close out our hour. Who wants to go first? I can um lead the lead the advice. Uh I wanted to bring this back to all America’s selections. So we um we at BJO are really proud of our previous winners and current winners of AAS and they’re all um tested locally proven nationally. So it’s really important to look at the national varieties as well as the regional varieties. And this will kind of help with this gardening boom and you can figure out varieties that have uh really taken the market and people are really excited about. Learn, go on the National Garden Bureau website um and do the research about them, see where you can buy them. Uh but it’s a really great program that we’re very thankful to be a part of and just try it. Might be your new favorite variety. Thank you. And I didn’t tell you to say that, but I want to say that we’re going to have a new website by this fall. And so it’s going to be even easier for you to find which retailers have the AS winners. So I’ll add that to your closing thought. Who’s next? Perfect. Uh I think for me I don’t know a lot of this the kind of this this boom and then kind of in years you know since co we’ve also seen increases in enrollment in horicultural programs at universities which has really made my heart very happy um because I think in order to keep this going and keep our our industry that you know you all as home gardeners and uh master gardeners and you know everything else that was listed there to keep it relevant and moving forward and meeting the future needs of consumers. We really need uh we need a good bank of horicultural professionals coming down our our pipeline there. Um so uh it’s been really great to see that and uh more people really view horiculture not just as a hobby but as a career. Um so I hope that that that keeps going and um uh that those of us who are parents will will encourage you know our children to pursue the plant sciences and horiculture and things related to um the cultivation of plants to keep to keep this going um for forever. I love that. I love that. Um we work with se you guys might know the organization seed your future. It’s fabulous organization. If you don’t know about it, you should check it out about furthering careers, helping kids understand what kind of opportunities there are in the green industry. Um, and I think that’s also kind of echoes my final thought. We’re calling this gardening boom that we’re promoting is the beat goes on and all puns intended. um but is that even in uncertain times, gardening pushes us forward and the the all the benefits that people outlined earlier. I loved the variety and the diversity of the reasons that people garden. Um and is up to us all on this call to make sure that we spread the message. We help a neighbor. If we see somebody out in the yard and they’re struggling or at even at the garden center, you know, don’t be afraid to ask somebody just like, “Do you love that? I love that variety. Have you tried this one?” So spread the joy and into like Allison said the next generation to keep that beat going. Very good. I I think Allison from Beij likes that beat reference. Okay. Well, guess what, Mike? Because you were such a gentleman and let ladies go first. You get the last word. Uh I’m I’m not sure I’m going to add more. I think Katie really summed it up. Um it was this was a great panel. Um, again, I think as you know, there’s so much positive going on right now and and us being in the industry, our responsibility, whatever roles we’re in to educate, to inspire, um, set the proper expectations and and set up, you know, these these consumers up to be successful and you’ll have a gardener for life. And that’s what I wake up and do every day. And it’s exciting and um, yeah, you know, ready for another awesome season and don’t want it to end. And I don’t think it will. I think there’s too many positive things happening. Again, whether it’s pollinators, natives, whatever it is, planting for purpose, it’s it’s real and let’s embrace it and let’s keep it going. I don’t think I can add a single thing to that. I usually summarize, but Mike, you did a wonderful job. All of you did a wonderful job. I I love hearing your insights, your enthusiasm, your positivity. It’s it’s great. So, let’s keep the boom going. And thank you to our panelists. Go out there, have a wonderful gardening weekend. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are moms or celebrating with your moms. But uh with that, thank you and keep the boom