Better than the same weekend last year for both the U.S. and Canada, and better than the 13-year average, too! Which is good news for many of you, since April started off slow in some spots and May was ravaged by weekly storm systems traversing the country from Texas on up to New England (which has been plagued by rain for 13 weekends in a row, according to one news report … or at least New Hampshire has). NH finally scored an 8 and a 10, for an average of 9.

But, wait, here’s the score: 7.5 in the U.S. and 8.0 in Canada.

And here’s the map:

That’s based on 94 scores from 45 states and nine provinces.

Fifteen percent of you (13 out of 88) called the weekend perfect—from Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, the aforementioned New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia. Up in Canada perfect 10s came from Ontario and Quebec. Another 12% (11 people) scored it 9, so a tad over a quarter of you had a fantastic week/weekend. There were just 11 scores of 5 or below (11.5%). Glad to see it!

Interestingly, and perhaps for the first time ever, NO state received more than one 10. Only one province, Ontario, scored multiple 10s (two of them).

Also interesting was how often a 10-scoring state also got a low score. Such as Connecticut (6), Illinois (4), Minnesota (6), New York (3) and Ontario (5). I know there’s a lot of local variability—I mean Buffalo vs. Long Island, Pittsburg vs. Philly, Thunder Bay vs. Toronto. And it really showed this week.

All in all? A solid week for early June!

The average of all the scores from each season since 2012 come to 7.3 in the U.S. and 7.5 in Canada, so as I said, you beat that. Last year, the national averages were 7.1 and 7.2, so you beat that, too. But when I look at the averages since 2012, at least in the U.S., they look really consistent. See what I mean?

YR      U.S.       CAN

25        7.5       8.0                 
24        7.1       7.2
23        7.7       7.9
22        7.5       8.6
21        7.4       6.6
20        8.5       8.4
19        7.4       8.2
18        6.8       6.3
17        7.6       8.4
16        7.1       7.1
15        7.4       8.1
14        7.4       6.1
13        6.6       7.4
12        6.3       6.4

Note how relatively consistent the U.S. is with only one season in the 8s—and that was the first pandemic year of 2020. And just three seasons in the 6s.

Canada, meanwhile, has had six weeks in the 8s and four weeks in the 6s. They’ve swung from 8.6 down to 6.1. I reckon it’s because their season starts later than most of the U.S. and they warm up a little later, so June is a bit stronger. The exception is BC and its temperate oceanic climate.

Not much excitement out there as we wind up 2025—with the exception of long-time contributor Kathy Wheaton:

Washington (10). “A 10 must be above normal, extra good, above and beyond, and it was … broke records—lots of records—heat 88F …OMG it was hot! Sales goals 10% over expected, customer counts, average ticket, units/dollars both [up]. Oh, and did I mention the heat? HOT! We were cooking! Sales? HOT! As in sizzling. Customers broiling in the sun, but still shopping. Staff par-broiled, but happy. Me? Well, I now look at the rest of the month and wonder what do we cook up for the rest of the season. Well done! Rare—and to all—well done!”—Kathy (gone loopy in the heat) Wheaton, Kathy’s Corner

Illinois (10). “Making up for April.”—John Hoerst, Chalet Home + Garden

Ontario (10). “Well, I can't complain about this weekend. Both stores’ sales were 25% higher than any other weekend in June’s history. Sales are strong this month so far.”—Ron Gemmel, Gemmell’s Garden Centre

Kansas (10). “Sales are continuing to hold despite the absolutely crazy weather.”—Kathy Miller, Sedan Floral

Missouri (9). “Catch-up time. Weather continues moderate, allowing us to end our season on a better note than April promised.”—Nancy Martin, Lilac Hill Greenhouse

Virginia (9). “Great weekend here in Virginia. Weather was hot and sunny and customers were still planting. Annuals and perennials were the sales leaders. Sales to date here are flat to slightly above last year. If we can get sales to continue, we might fair pretty well.”—Mark Landa, Boulevard Flower Gardens

Utah (8). “Customer visits staying pretty consistent even though Mother Nature decided to overdo it on the warm-up for our region on the early end of the calendar for late spring. Still, lots to be grateful for.”—Scott Engh, Sun River Gardens

New Jersey (8). “Another good week of sales in New Jersey. Landscapers are very busy and the shore business is picking up as the weather warms up. We are still getting plenty of rain and all the yards with grass look great. Flowers look beautiful as well. Looking forward to a good week this week as well.”—Bill Swanekamp, Kube-Pak

Iowa (8). “We were back open with full services after the fire and the customers came back to support us. Saturday was high 70s and sunny, so we had a great day. Sunday was bumpin' until the rain hit at 2:00 p.m. and then we slowed down from there. Talked with many customers who had been there during the fire and came back to re-shop for the carts they had to abandon while evacuating. Annuals and perennials still strong, with patio furniture continuing to be slow.”—Kate Terrell, Wallace's Garden Center

New York (8). “This was the 12th weekend we suffered through some or all-day rain at least on one of the two days. Not only was it wet, it was also cold. Temperatures did not reach 80F all May, only half a dozen passed 70F and night temperatures never reached 60F, which I don’t remember ever happening before on Long Island. (One colleague called it the wettest and coldest May in history.) It is amazing that sales held up as well as they did.”—Sig Feile, Atlantic Nursery

Oklahoma (8). “Steady, but not too busy.”—Tami Adams, Calvert’s Plant Interiors

Wyoming (8). “Much higher than the previous two years. Due to cooler temps and a lot of rain, many are behind in their gardening. Thinking some will abandon the cause, but most are still filling in.”—Jeff Jones, Great Gardens

Saskatchewan (7). “A smoky, very windy weekend—winds of 50 to 80 km per hour for Saturday and Sunday.”—Lucille Bouvier, Plant Ranch

Washington (7), Oregon (6), Idaho (6). “Things are heating up weather-wise, so that means customers don’t want to bring anything in. Sales were average, but wholesale sales were down. Keep the summer bugs dead and keep selling!—Tom Van Wingerden, Van Wingerden Greenhouses

Minnesota (7). “Was it better than last year? Yup. Did it move the needle as much as any weekend in May? Nope. We’ve hit the point where we’re slashing prices on everything to keep up with the Joneses and it’s clear that there’s no coming back from nine straight days of rain in May.”—Derek Lynde, Lynde Greenhouse

Montana (7). “Weather was good most of spring for us, including last weekend. I feel fortunate for that! This weekend was pretty busy on Saturday and Sunday was a little slower. Kind of right on track for June, though.”—John Campbell, Delaney's Landscape Center

Virginia (7). “An average June weekend—nothing too exciting to report."—Gary Garner III, Gary’s Garden Center

Maryland (4.5). “Good Saturday—score of 8. Bad Sunday due to rain (again)—score of 1. It’s been a continuation of May so far. We raise and release Monarch butterflies here starting in mid-June, so that should increase interest and sales of all host and pollinator plants.”—Annie Hall, Grasshopper Perennials & Native Plants

Kentucky (4). “Only 3.6 in. of rain Wednesday through Saturday morning. Same for this week … I’d say sales are gone in this soggy weather.”—Jesse Shelton, Shelton’s Greenhouses

Ohio (4). “Saturday was good, but Sunday was a big disappointment! Just like all the weekends have been except for Mother’s Day.”—Brian Sabo, Sabo’s Nursery

New York (3). “I’d say it was about a 3. Heavy rains again on Saturday. We’ve had so much rain and always on a Saturday.”—Sue Adams, Adams Fairacre Farms

Alabama (3). “Rain. Then a little sun. Then more rain. Humidity so thick it feels like you’re showering with your clothes on.”—Davy Wright, Wright’s Nursery and Greenhouse

I learned about this accolade from founder Bisser Georgiev’s Facebook page where he joyfully posted that Target had just named his young company, LiveTrends, the 2024 Food & Beverage Business Partner of the Year at their annual Vendor Summit in Minneapolis last week.

“Still can’t believe we won,” Bisser wrote. “LiveTrends was selected among hundreds of exceptional (and much larger) companies. Thank you to everyone at Target who believed in us and challenged us to create and innovate. And a big thank you to the entire LiveTrends team, who always achieves the impossible.”

How did a floral vendor come out on top in the food & beverage category? Well, if you know grocers (which Target is, in part), they put floral under produce and produce is part of food & beverage. But that also means LiveTrends was vending against some heavy hitters like Chiquita, Frito-Lay, PepsiCo and so many more multi-billion multinationals. And to make it even sweeter, it’s the first time the honor has gone to a floral vendor.

Bisser accepts the honor from John Conlin, Target's Senior VP of Food & Beverage. Looking on are (left to right) Andrew Schuster, Senior Director of Produce; Terah Reed, LiveTrends’ Sales Director for Target; Lauren Cadotte, Floral Buyer; and Robby Cruz, VP of Produce.

The bigger question is how? How did LiveTrends impress Target so thoroughly? It's taken a few years of hard work and innovation … “and, most importantly, being able to quickly respond to difficult creative challenges that Target wants to explore,” Bisser explained.

One of Target’s big requests was to come up a vision of the future of the floral department—a vision that would keep the category growing for the next five to 10 years. Bisser’s crew of talented designers set to work imaging a floral department that cross-merchandised with other Target product categories, including home décor, lifestyle and outdoor living. They created a massive retail installation within their showrooms at the LiveTrends campus in Apopka, Florida, utilizing many Target products well beyond LiveTrends’ cool containers. Jetloads of Target execs flew to Central Florida several times to tour and learn the details of the vision.

They were impressed. So impressed, in fact, that they asked Bisser to set up a similar display at their corporate headquarters in Minneapolis … the next week! Despite the logistical challenge, Bisser’s crew pulled it off, wowing the rest of the corporate executives who walked past the display for several months.

LiveTrends also innovates with products that fit the Target guest profile and they rotate in new designs every four weeks. Their ability to create unique “targeted” (pun intended) products also impressed the company.

Bisser credits the fact that, unlike those other big Target vendors, his company is privately owned.

“We don’t need to have big board meetings and committees to approve our investments. We can basically decide today and tomorrow we start.”

He said Target hasn’t seen a vendor that can react on any request basically overnight. “And that’s huge.”

A small portion of the Target floral concept display at LiveTrends' HQ in Apopka last year (I got a sneak peek along with the TPIE planning committee). Note the Target logo done in green and white flowers.

This is not the first award LiveTrends has earned from one of its customers. Back in October of 2021 they were named Lowe’s Vendor of the Year for Lawn & Garden.

Founded by Bisser in 2013, LiveTrends Design Group operates with the goal of “Making life more beautiful by fusing nature and art.” Each year, the company creates more than 700 collections of unique living home décor. Today, they employ more than 550 people and reach more than 14 million homes each year.

I just got a press release about a new organization called Next Level Nursery Group, which is a paid-membership “leadership community” designed to help container nurseries “reach the next level,” as the name implies.

It was founded by Rayne Gibson, a young guy who got his start in the family nursery business in Louisiana. Earning a degree in horticulture from Louisiana State and working in various types of horticulture businesses, as well as his family's business, he realized how few resources there are for container nursery operations, so he started his own consultancy, Taproots Horticultural Consulting.

To take the idea even further, Rayne has partnered with other smart folks, including Megan Morrison (MTM Coaching & Consulting), Katie Dubow (Garden Media Group), Katie Elzer-Peters (The Garden of Words) and Todd Downing (Best Human Capital) to provide all the expert guidance you need to run a successful nursery.

Said Rayne, “We built the Next Level Nursery Group to offer two things: a real community with real solutions. Members get powerful insights from peers who understand the grind, plus access to specialized experts who know how to move the needle.”

Like similar groups, Next Level will offer regular sales metrics and KPIs, plus advisory meetings, strategy calls, on-site visits, marketing help, coaching and a chance to network with peers—how much you get depends upon your membership level, which ranges from $750 a quarter up to an exclusive, invite-only, five-figure membership.

Learn more HERE.

At the GreenTech horticultural technology trade show that just wrapped up this week in Amsterdam, judges have chosen the winner of the event’s Robot Challenge: SAIA Agrobotics.

Jury chairman Erik Pekkeriet, with Ruud Barth and SAIA Chief Commercial Officer Bas Froon.

I’d never heard of SAIA (pronounced sigh-ah according to one video I watched), so I did some research. Their winning “robot” isn’t a single device—it’s an entire automated, robotic, AI-controlled greenhouse system for growing high-wire crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers) in a system that moves the plants to the workers and production area, rather than the workers having to come to the crop. They’ve built a test facility at their headquarters in Ede, about an hour southwest of Amsterdam, where you can see the system in action. Better yet, check out THIS VIDEO.

Now, I’m a bit skeptical about the practicality of moving a tall vine crop around a greenhouse. Leafy greens? Sure! We've used moving troughs and floating rafts for decades. But a 10-ft.-tall tomato plant? Sounds like trouble or at least a tremendous challenge.

But Erik Pekkeriet, the Robot Challenge jury chairman, said that through the long development of SAIA’s system, the industry has moved “from doubt to hope and now to trust.

Said Erik, "What they’re building is highly disruptive, with a level of innovation excellence that has the potential to transform the entire sector.”

According to Ruud Barth, CEO and founder of SAIA, who accepted the award, they kept a low profile at Greentech last year, having just built their test greenhouse. But with a year of testing and much help from growers, they're currently deploying their first commercial system.

“It’s really awesome to have this momentum and this prize,” he said. “It really helps.”

It’s fascinating to learn the layers of connection between some of the companies in our little industry. Take Vis Seed Company, for instance, which this year is celebrating 40 years as a family business, headquartered in Arcadia, California.

You may know them as a solid western regional supplier of seeds and plants (but they serve all of North America and beyond). But did you know the founder, Jan Vis, was born in the heart of flower seed country, Enkhuizen, Holland, and that his father, Jacob, and his grandfather, Jan, were also seedsmen? They owned Vis Brothers Ltd., flower breeders that were skilled enough to have won an All-America Selections bronze medal for Velvet Ball Petunia in 1939.

Vis Brothers Ltd. in 1933, the forerunner to today’s Vis Seed Company. That’s Jan Vis, second from left, grandfather of the Jan Vis who founded the American company that’s celebrating its 40th year in business. (BTW, I was curious what the sign said, so I typed it into a Dutch translator. It's Corinthians 14:40—"Let all things be done decently and in order.")

But in the ’60s, the family decided to sell the business to Royal Sluis, so Jan the younger decided to emigrate to the U.S. to take the job as International Sales Manager for Howard Bodger and Bodger Seeds. From Bodger, he jumped over to another venerable seed brand, Burpee Seeds, as their West Coast Sales Manager.

It was after that, in the spring of 1985, when Jan decided it was time to start his own business to meet the need for a service-oriented seed and plug company in Southern California and the Western U.S. Jan’s son Ben joined the company in 1987 and then son Hans in 1988.

Today, with Ben’s son, Grant, the third generation at Vis (and the fifth-generation Vis family seedsman), Vis Seed is a distributor for more than 70 vegetable and flower seed breeders and producers worldwide, including Hem, PanAmerican, Sakata, Syngenta, Takii and more.

Congrats to the whole Vis family of seedsmen!

If you or your staff have a little time between the spring and fall crops, why not bone up on your fertilizer knowledge by taking the University of Florida’s “Nutrient Management Level 1” class, running July 7 to August 1.

It’s an online course designed for people with some experience or entry university level who are in production, or technical or sales roles for greenhouse and nursery crops. Topics covered include common nutrient problems, supplying essential nutrients, fertilizer types, interpreting the fertilizer label, the importance of pH, testing and more.

Nutrient Management Level 1 is part of the award-winning Greenhouse Online Training program offered by the University of Florida IFAS Extension for a decade now. Join the more than 1,100 growers from around the world who've successfully completed this course and received a certificate of completion from UF.

Cost is $285 per employee. Sign up five and get 20% off!

To register and to see all the online training courses they offer, CLICK HERE.

Congratulations to the National Garden Bureau, the 105-year-old non-profit dedicated to promoting the horticulture industry. On May 10, the NGB YouTube channel officially surpassed 1 million views, a figure that's since risen to more than 1.2 million views and counting. And on the same day, NGB’s subscriber count exceeded 9,500 and is now poised to hit 10,000 subscribers (Ellen Wells and I just added our names).

They did that with more than 400 videos that feature the expertise of NGB members, including “Ask the Experts” webinars and Authors Talk Gardening book events.