It’s fall and you finally have an excuse to eat and drink all things pumpkin. There’s a nip in the air, you’ve busted out the wool socks, and you and your customers are awaiting the first freeze that’ll take away all those cold-sensitive annuals.

According to this report from CNN, you and your customers have been waiting longer for that first freeze to come. Over the last several decades, the date of the first freeze now comes an average of 11 days later in 85% of 200 cities since 1970, with the biggest changes in the Midwest and Northeast. The first freeze has been pushed back by at least 14 days in five dozen major northern tier cities, including Detroit, Philadelphia and Minneapolis-St. Paul. And according to research group Climate Central, Reno’s first frost date has been pushed back the most—41 days since 1970. To be fair, there have been a handful of places in the U.S. that have experienced slightly earlier first freeze dates. The CNN piece provides a fun map with orange and green arrows indicating earlier or later and by how much.

The later date of the first freeze has plenty of implications. For instance, much of the garden will continue to thrive, which is a good thing, and it gives you a little longer to plant those spring bulbs. But it also means more biting insects and more airborne allergens for longer. It also means the delay of the much-needed winter chill period for flower and fruit production for the following year. Later first freezes also leads to less snow, which means less insulation of the soil and what all’s growing in it. The moisture is still up there in the sky, it just means it’s coming earthward as rain.

Longer falls, more rain, less cold, more insects … these are all things that impact your customer. Have you been adjusting your advice about fall gardening and first freezes over the years? Be prepared this month for customer questions about the changing climatic road signs and what it means for their gardens. 

Colleague Jen Polanz attended the recent BFG Show and spotted these products she thinks you should know about!

I walked the BFG Show last week in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio (it was a gorgeous day), to try to find products I hadn’t already seen at Cultivate in Columbus this summer. I found a few new goodies, and heard a great tip for the holidays.

Pacific Home & Garden had several new introductions for 2026, including these stylish and sleek long-fired pots that can be great for indoors or on a patio. There were lots of color choices in multiple sizes. They almost look like a 3- or 4-tiered cake here!

Radius Garden had a couple of new tools, plus some redesigned existing tools. This multipurpose weeding tool caught my eye, though. It’s a new product they had just purchased from a smaller company, and it features an angled sharp edge that’s great for getting into those tough cracks and crevices like between pavers, up against a wall or in the driveway. The ergonomic design lets the user really get in there with minimal force or discomfort. There are two sizes with a long handle, as well as a handheld version.

JP continues from above:

There were a couple of new options for hummingbird lovers. First, the Nectar Cooler feeder from Panacea Products has a 30 oz. insulated reservoir to keep food lasting twice as long (a necessity during the heat of summer). It also features a cutout gauge to show the nectar levels.

Pair that with the new boxed, ready-to-use, All-Natural Hummingbird Nectar from Sweet-Seed. It’s 3 liters of dye-free, wildflower-infused nectar and comes with an easy-to-pour spout.

Retailer Kate Terrell (Wallace’s Garden Center) happened upon us as we were talking in the booth, and she noted that Sweet-Seed’s Hummingbird Nectar in the wine bottles flies off the shelves for the winter holidays. Pair a bottle with a feeder for a lovely and easy gift combo!

One more unique product is the Aussie EZY Spray from TDI Brands, a no-pump sprayer that doesn’t require gas, a charge or a battery. Invented in Australia by a firefighter, the pump uses air and water pressure to provide the mechanics necessary to spray continuously. It has four different spray heads: mist, shower, cone and jet. 

Watch the November issue of Green Profit for more products!

Thanks, JP! I do like the hummingbird gift idea—I have the perfect friend in mind for that.

Funny that Jen mentioned Kate Terrell, as I had a recent chat with Kate myself. We were talking about creative revenue streams. She mentioned pumpkinscaping for both commercial and residential clients and my ears perked. I had seen some beautiful front porch fall décor come across my Instagram feed, and even saw one Instagram reel saying that pumpkinscaping is an untapped small business opportunity. And there’s Kate doing it!

“It really started a few years ago, one of our commercial clients saying, ‘We really want to decorate for fall. How much are straw bales and corn stocks?’ And I said, ‘Well, why don't we just come set it up, and then you don't have to worry about it.’”

Kate said many of her commercial clients just don’t have time, so doing the fall decorating for them is helpful. Same goes for residential clients. “A lot of customers like to do it on their own, but some don't. They want to be gone for the day and come home and have the whole thing there. We'll ask them for a budget and then try to work within that.”  

Kate was also inspired by Scott Gensler of Gensler Gardens in the Rockford, Illinois, area. Not only does she buy in her pumpkins from Gensler, she has also benefitted from the many ideas he has shared for fall revenue streams and design inspiration. 

Pumpkinscaping benefit’s Wallace’s in two ways. First, its offers sales when sales are slow. “In the fall, it's anything you can do to just add one sale,” Kate said. Pumpkin décor to the rescue. The second benefit is about staff. Moving all these pumpkins, corn stalks and straw bales around is labor intensive, and during the fall Wallace’s typically has some labor to spare, so it works out well.

On the flipside, Kate also charges for removing the fall décor once it has worn out its welcome. Mushy pumpkins, wet bales and droopy corn stalks can be difficult to dispose of. Wallace’s has trucks and the people to make it disappear.

Are you putting your own spin on pumpkinscaping? Tell me about it and we can share your great idea with other hustling IGCs.

All photos courtesy of Kate Terrell and Wallace's Garden Center. Thanks, Kate! 

Fall is not just pumpkins, it's monarch butterfly migration time, too. They are flapping their way across the country to their winter homes in Mexico and are stopping to fuel up along the way. One of the newest monarch magnets to hit the garden center benches this year is ageratum Monarch Magic from the folks at Ball FloraPlant. To keep the thrill for this new pollinator-attractor going, the Ball FloraPlant team has launched an online photo contest.

Grab your (phone) camera, head out to the ageratum Monarch Magic in your store or in your garden, and capture monarchs enjoying a bit of lunch as they rest on this new variety. For your efforts, you could earn a prepaid digital gift card!

To take part, submit your photos and/or videos of monarch butterflies on or around ageratum Monarch Magic plants in three ways:

• Tag @ball.floraplant in social media posts on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn with your butterfly images or videos;
• Comment with a photo-upload on the Ball FloraPlant social accounts’ sweepstakes posts; or
• Enter their information and upload photos directly at the online form here.

The 2025 Monarch Magic Sweepstakes is open to everyone—gardeners, growers and retailers—and runs through Wednesday, October 1. Terms and conditions apply, and you can find those HERE. And while we’re talking about Ageratum Monarch Magic, learn more about the plant at Ball FloraPlant.

In this week’s review of Garden Media Group’s 2026 Garden Trends Report, the trend we’re addressing is gaming. Not the Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto type of video games, but the games that are calming and cozy.

The folks at Garden Media Group report that almost half of the world’s 3.4 billion gamers are women, and their average age is 36. About 67% of them indicate they play for relaxation. “Cozy games” mimic real-life experiences such as planting, caring for animals and exploring nature. These games offer small and achievable rewards that give the players satisfaction.

Just like gardening, eh?

I have to hand it to GMG for coming up with some cool ideas around how garden centers could tie into cozy gaming. For instance, they suggested:

• Creating a cozy gaming space at the store to show customers how to transform home gaming spaces into nature nooks
• Pairing plants with LEDs and tucking them into console-themed planters.
• Hosting meetups and events to provide cozy games with that “third space” they are missing in their gaming lives.
• Host in-store game nights based on the popular farming and gardening games.
• Design cozy corners for cozy gamers and host plant swaps there.

Love those last two—so much potential there. Here's the 2026 Garden Trend Report’s LINK so you can download and read yourself. Stay tuned for our deep dive into the next key trend in the next buZZ!

Since we’re talking about hosting an event, I gotta tell you about the one that Bailey Nursery hosted in New York City earlier this month. The brand activation event called Flora House was held in the Garden at Ladurée SoHo and was designed as a celebration of color and creativity. Hosted September 5-6, its timing was strategically held to coincide with the start of the fall planting season.

The doors of Flora House opened to the public from 11 to 5 each day. Visitors would step into a lush garden featuring plants from Bailey, where interactive displays, activities and educational touchpoints inspired them to discover the joys of gardening—and specifically Bailey brands. Other highlights included photo-worthy garden installations, the First Editions Plant-Sona quiz and a dried flower bookmark station.

“I had the great pleasure of attending Flora House and was wowed by the displays in the garden,” shared Gary Vogel, Managing Partner at East Coast Nurseries and grower partner for Endless Summer Hydrangeas and First Editions Shrubs & Trees. “Not only were the displays spectacular, but I also got to share garden ideas with plant lovers from the South, the Midwest, and the Northeast. What a refreshing way to celebrate the green industry and all it provides to enrich our lives.”

This event was the culmination of the data-driven marketing campaign launched in May when the brands were dazzling the Times Square billboards. This Flora House event brought that momentum full circle by delivering an experience that built awareness, engaged consumers, and ultimately drove retail conversion.

“Flora House allowed home gardeners to interact with plant brands in ways they don’t typically get to,” said Gretchen McNaughton, Communication & Content Strategist at Bailey. “By adding experiential marketing to our campaign this year, we were able to create tangible, memorable experiences for home gardeners. We met people where they were, showed them what’s possible with plants, and provided them with a pathway for how to make those garden ideas a reality. At the bottom line, Flora House allowed home gardeners to foster emotional connections to our plants and our brands and those connections will make lasting impacts on their purchasing decisions for many gardening seasons to come.”

Pop-up events like this are a fun way to get your name out to the public beyond your store's natural reach. Is there a way you can create your own store's spin on Flora House?