Acres & Acres

Social Media Then & Now

Chris Beytes

Ten years ago, social media was a novelty; today, social media is the front door of your business.

Cover Story

A Happy Accident

Jennifer Zurko

This year’s GrowerTalks/Ball Horticultural Company Young Grower Award winner, Michael Wijesinghe’s foray into our industry took some good timing, rare opportunities and a little bit of luck. But he’s earned every bit of his good fortune.

Culture Notes

Always Sunny Gold Sunflower—Always Show-Stopping

Robin Ruether, PanAmerican Seed

Large-size, multi-blooming landscape-type sunflowers have become highly popular due to their strong consumer appeal at point of sale. Who doesn’t love a sunflower?

Culture Notes

CitraNova Petchoa: Freshly Squeezed Color for Spring

Gary Vollmer, Ball FloraPlant

Ball FloraPlant’s introduction of CitraNova, its first petchoa series unveiled at the 2026 California Spring Trials, gives growers a fresh option in the increasingly popular petunia x calibrachoa hybrid category.

Culture Notes

Dianthus Sprint Series Growing Guide

Katie Miller, Dümmen Orange

The dianthus hybrid Sprint series was developed to be a compact carnation-type selection.

Culture Notes

Dramatic Dark Foliage: Sweet Caroline Bewitched After Midnight II Ipomoea

Kate Spirgen, Proven Winners

Typically known for their trailing habit, Ipomoea batatas are perhaps most commonly used as “spillers” in container combinations, but Proven Winners has a more versatile option in the newly improved Sweet Caroline Bewitched After Midnight II Ipomoea.

Culture Notes

Fabulous Fan Flowers: How to Grow Surdiva Scaevolas

Delilah Onofrey, Suntory Flowers

Peak summer, we’re always pleased to see how great Surdiva Scaevolas look in landscapes, containers and even hanging baskets.

Culture Notes

Growing Rudbeckia Treasure Trove

Jessie Cumber, Walters Gardens

This botanical bounty will shower you in an explosion of golden flowers and it will bloom from mid-summer to early fall, providing you with months of color. It has bright yellow/gold petals with a dark brown center.

Culture Notes

Growing Sorghastrum nutans (Indian Grass)

Chris Brown, Emerald Coast Growers

Native grasses not only play a pivotal role in the American landscape, but they’ve carved out an important role as cornerstones of American gardens and commercial landscapes.

Culture Notes

SunPatiens Petite: The SunPatiens for Containers

Mark Seguin & Michael Wiebe, Sakata

The SunPatiens family has built its superb reputation on season-long color, exceptional heat tolerance, and reliable performance in both sun and shade.

Culture Notes

The Sunfinity Sandwich: Culture tips to grow Sunfinity Sunflowers from Mother’s Day through Labor Day

Syngenta Flowers Technical Services

When Sunfinity Yellow Dark Center was introduced nearly a decade ago, it changed how many of us thought about ornamental sunflowers.

Features

Finding the Sweet Spot

Luke Finn, Patrick Veazie & Brian Whipker

Dialing in geranium fertility to balance the EC and pH.

Features

Homegrown Substrates: Renewable Resources

Dr. Brian E. Jackson

This is the second article of a three-part series highlighting domestically sourced growing media products. In this article, we’ll focus on organic products and producers.

Features

More Than Pots & Trays

Bill Lucas

What growers need from suppliers today.

Features

Providing Purpose

Neal Glatt

Inspiring your team by communicating how their contributions have meaning.

Features

Resources Rooted in Research

Laura Barth

Free AFE tools for young plant producers.

Features

What a Show!

Chris Beytes, Jennifer Polanz & Jennifer Zurko

That’s the first thing that comes to mind when we think about Cultivate’26.

Features

What Plants Are Customers Searching for & Where Is Breeding Still Open?

Chi D. Nguyen, Seth D. Wannemuehler & Mike A. Schnelle

A new data-integrated framework combines consumer search interest, plant patents and production geography to help breeders identify promising ornamental genera and traits before committing years to cultivar development.

Growers Talk Business

Waste & Opportunity

Stan Vander Waal

Waste happens through any process or product not translating to value/dollars.

Growers Talk Production

IPM Meets AI: Where the Biological & Technological Intersect

Janeen Cooper & Stephanie Saccomano

AI should strengthen and support human judgment, never bypass it.

GT in Brief

Aliette Now Teclera

JC Chong

The name has changed, but everything else remains the same.

GT in Brief

Ball Customer Day: Now ... and Then

Chris Beytes

One of the questions we’ve asked Anna Ball on numerous occasions is: “How long has Ball been hosting Customer Day?” Her answer is generally, “Since the ’50s, I think.”

GT in Brief

Ball Takes Over Tradewinds Hibiscus (and More) From Aris

Chris Beytes

Ball Horticultural Company and Aris Horticulture have announced that Ball has acquired Aris’ Tradewinds Hibiscus program, from URCs to liners to pre-finished and finished plants.

GT in Brief

BioWorks Introduces New Stemmer Plant Health Product

Chris Beytes

Stemmer, a new highly soluble, silicon-based plant-health product from BioWorks, is said to help reinforce plant cell walls, optimize nutrient and water use efficiency, and enhance crop performance under challenging growing conditions.

GT in Brief

Box Tree Moth Quarantine in NJ

JC Chong

The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) announced on June 25 that box tree moth quarantine has been established for Cape May County after an infestation at private residences was confirmed on June 10 by USDA-APHIS.

GT in Brief

Fire at Altman Plants’ Texas Location

Jennifer Zurko

A fire in early August at an Altman Plants production facility in Troup, Texas, heavily damaged the building where the company mixes soil and transplants young plants.

GT in Brief

In Memoriam: David J.C. Austin (1958–2026)

Lindsay Daschner

The floriculture industry recently lost one of its most influential ambassadors with the passing of David J.C. Austin, chairman of David Austin Roses.

GT in Brief

On the Move

Jennifer Zurko

Ball Seed; Proven Winners; Van Belle Youngplants

Guest Column

Collecting Some Clematis

Lowell Halvorson

Customers still ask for it by name and no other variety comes close in annual sales.

Guest Column

Growing the Next Generation Starts With Awareness

Broch Martindale

Our workforce challenge isn’t primarily a talent problem. It’s an awareness problem.

Guest Column

Responsibility vs. Accountability

Rayne Gibson

Responsibility fills job descriptions; accountability builds companies.

Inside Look

Take This Job & Love It

Jennifer Zurko

Yes, people want a more defined career path with decent pay and good benefits, but they also want a boss who’s supportive, reliable and gives them room for positive growth.

Pest Management

A Practical, Compatible Strategy for Greenhouse Mealybug Management

Peilin Tan & Muhammad Z. “Zee” Ahmed

As growers adopt integrated approaches, the question is no longer “biocontrol or pesticides,” but how to combine both without undermining either.

TRENDING NOW

Ball Seed WebTrack

Ball Seed

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BlooMix Rosefield

Dümmen Orange

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Heuchera FYRE WING series

Terra Nova Nurseries Inc.

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Novavert’s HS BRAVO

Novavert GmbH & Co. KG

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Sensie Omni

Sensie

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Surfinia Heavenly Peach Horizon

Suntory Flowers Ltd