April 26-27, the last weekend in April, was above average in the U.S. and sort of above average in Canada (I’ll explain in a bit). And pretty much exactly the same as 2024, interestingly enough. Which is nice to be able to report after this up-and-down April you’ve endured, with horrible rain across the southeast and winter hanging on up north. The only good thing to report about April, really, is that where the weather has been nice, customers have been buying and you’ve been reporting 10-level sales. As Abe VanWingerden of Metrolina Greenhouses in North Carolina has told me several times, “Nothing currently in the data that says consumers are buying uniquely different than other years.”

The scores? 7.5 in the U.S. and 7.3 in Canada. Or perhaps 5.7 in Canada. Why two scores? Well, one respondent rated the four easternmost provinces a dismal 1 due to rain and cold. I want to be honest with this report and include everything. But that one score drags down the average of the entire country—and can drag down your mood, if you think it was really that bad across all 4,860 miles of the country—which it wasn’t! BC scored two perfect 10s! And Ontario averaged 8.3 on five scores from 7 to 9. So sometimes I make the executive decision to toss out an outlier that greatly skews the data.

Here’s the map:

That’s based on 112 scores from 43 states and 7 provinces. Twenty one of you (19%) sent in perfect 10s. Ironically, that’s the same percentage of 10s as last year … which scored 7.5 in the U.S. and 7.2 in Canada. The average for the last weekend of April is 7.2/6.6. And if we drop out the crazy pandemic years of 2020 (9.4/7.6) and 2021 (9.1/9.6), the average drops to 6.8/6.1. So all in all, a good weekend, and one that bodes well for our most important month, May.

Occasionally in your notes you’ll mention what’s selling. This week, at least four of you made specific mention of herbs and veggies, almost as if the current economic situation has folks thinking of homesteading again, like during the pandemic.

New York (6). “Vegetable and Herb sales (especially organic) are very strong in spite of the cold and rainy weather.”—Sig Feile, Atlantic Nursery

Virginia (9). “Friday was a little slower than expected, but Saturday made up for it despite a cloudy wet start to the day! Anything edible is selling faster than it’s growing right now!—Gary Garner, Gary’s Garden Center

Illinois (9). “Good traffic and good sales, especially in edibles, but really across the board.”—Lawrence Christian, Redbud Creek Farm

North Carolina (10). “Another fantastic week. Vegetable sales are far beyond projections.”—Sam Franklin, Franklin Brothers Nursery and Greenhouses

Are you seeing anything unusual in herb and veggie sales, or any other department/category, for that matter? Let me know HERE.

Some of you had two perfect days and a great week leading up to the weekend; some of you had one great day and one miserable day; and a few of you are still waiting for spring to arrive.

Washington (10+). “Record-breaking weekend for April, and just a stone’s throw from all-time records for May. Perfect weather on both Friday and Saturday brought out customers in droves!”—Davis Vos, Vander Giessen Nursery

British Columbia (10). “Phenomenal. Doubled sales at both locations for the same weekend last year. Can’t attribute the sales to better weather; it was about the same as last year.”—Pamela Pilling, Canadian Tire

Virginia (10). “Customers were out in force all week. We made progress in catching up vs. last year, but we’re not quite there yet …”—Duane Weaver, Milmont Greenhouses

Kansas (10). “I ranked this week a 10 as our sales were actually slightly better than 2024 for the week. Once again, we had a very rainy weekend, which continues to hurt our garden center customers. We have experienced substantial rain three out of the four weekends of April.”—Kathy Miller, Sedan Floral

Minnesota (9). “We finally got a weekend in MN worth reporting! Not perfect, but one of the better April weekends in recent memory.”—Derek Lynde, Lynde Greenhouse

Ontario (9). “This past weekend we hosted our annual spring open house and also celebrated 25 years in business. We had a lot of events/vendors/fun things going on. We rate this weekend as a 9/10. The weather was good, the turnout was good, the sales were good. We had a lot of community support!”—Anita VanAdrichem, Westland Greenhouses

Wisconsin (9). “We finally had perfect weather for a weekend and the sales showed that. We made up a lot of ground from last year, just need to keep the momentum going into May.”—Chris Williams, K&W Greenery

Iowa (9). “Nice sunny weather and customers buying flowers like it’s already past the frost-free date.  Strong sales for annuals, tropicals, perennials and shrubs. Lots of trees for installation getting purchased as well. Patio furniture still a little slow with our up-and-down weather. The next two weekends should be 10s if they keep going like this.”—Kate Terrell, Wallace’s Garden Center

New Jersey (7.5). “NJ saw some decent weather this past week and as a result sales rebounded. So far, demand has been on par with last year. Hopefully, we will see steady sales for the next three weeks and enjoy a good spring.”—Bill Swanekamp, Kube-Pak

Ohio (4). “Weather. It all comes down to good weather and I am still waiting for it!! “—Brian Sabo, Sabo’s Nursery

Nevada (2). “Cold, snow, and rain equals bad weekend performance.”—Bruce Gescheider, Moana Nursery

That fun line comes from the equally fun Chris Baker of Baker’s Acres Greenhouse in Alexandria, Ohio, where “the other CB” as I call him scored the weekend a 9, saying, “It was an excellent weekend. The weather was perfect and the crops were in full bloom, but I’m sure it was because of our Colorful Coleus event.”

I’ve mentioned before in this space that when one company scores their weekend high and another in the same area scores it low, the difference is often an event at the former that drew traffic. A Colorful Coleus festival sounds like something I’d like to see!

Chris sent along some pictures of his breeding work, named for family members who selected the new hybrids:

Pam's Glam, named for his daugher-in-law.

Cosmic Nick, named for his son.

Big Bob, named for his dad.

Raising Helliot and Noahlus, named for grandsons Eliot and Noah, aka The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Oh, and I should mention THIS NY TIMES ARTICLE about Chris’s coleus breeding exploits!

Last week, I was up at Four Star Greenhouses in Michigan with fellow editor Jen Zurko and publisher/right-hand man Paul Black for a look at the new Proven Winners annuals and perennials for 2026 and beyond. I’m glad for this event, because otherwise, with the brand not participating in the California Spring Trials, I wouldn’t get a look at what they’re launching until Cultivate in July. And you need to know about new varieties NOW so you can plan your orders for next year. Here are a few highlights in annuals:

Agastache Maestro Gold, Coral

A whole new genus for Proven Winners … and yes, these are annual agastache, not perennial. A tidy habit and loads of flowers make these seem natural for pollinator-attracting combo pots.

Jamesbrittenia Safari Lava Flow

Aptly named because look at that loud red color! Tim Anderson, who toured me through, said you can use Jamesbrittenia as a heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant bacopa replacement. It joins Safari Dawn, Safari Sky and Safari Dusk.

Calibrachoa Superbells Magic Double Grapefruit

A pretty spring-colored (pink, fuchsia, yellow) double-flowered calibrachoa. Perfect for Easter endcaps!

Petunia Supertunia Vista Cool Jazz

A clear orchid pink that’s early to color up, timing with Jazz Berry. Only the seventh color worthy of being included in the popular Supertunia Vista series.

To see these and many, many more, check out the VIDEO we shot with Tim, our expert tour guide.

Jen wrested the microphone from me to cover Proven Winners perennials with Walters Gardens’ Christa Steenwyk (who is third generation at her family’s business). HERE IS THAT VIDEO. Highlights include:

Heliopsis Rays for Days

Compact, with loads of golden yellow double flowers. And it’s tough, hardy to Zone 3.

Stokesia Totally Stoked Riptide

Part of a new series, Riptide has big lavender flowers. It’s a big plant, filling out a landscape nicely—32 in. wide. The white version is called Whitecaps.

Primula Bouquet Perfect collection

Walters has three perennial primula they’ve added to the Proven Winners perennial offering. Bred by famous David Kerley in England, the Bouquet Perfect collection has three colors: Watercolor Blue, Violetta and Spearmint. Use them in containers and the landscape!

See all these and more in our VIDEO.

Three more videos we shot while at Four Star for the Proven Winners event:

- Two New Caladiums
- Hollywood Hibiscus Liners and Prefinished
- The Latest in Sustainable Pots and Watering

Don’t miss out on celebrating National Wave Day (Saturday, May 3) with your customers! I assume you sell Wave Petunias … if so, capitalize on the official holiday PanAmerican Seed has lobbied so hard for. You can find a bunch of free downloads HERE to help you celebrate the occasion.

But if you want big news, in celebration of Wave’s 30th anniversary, the brand has partnered with world-renowned baby photographer Anne Geddes (above) to award one lucky Wave gardener a baby photo shoot by Anne herself! Pretty amazing!

Learn more HERE.