According to a Reuters report, Visa and Mastercard have announced a revised $38 billion settlement with retailers accusing these networks of charging too much to accept their cards. The two credit companies proposed the revision in hopes of satisfying an earlier judge who rejected a previous and smaller settlement. If accepted, the proposal would end 20 years of litigation in which businesses claimed these and other banks conspired to violate U.S. antitrust laws through the collection of swipe fees.

But not so fast. Merchant groups, including the National Retail Federation and others, say the $38 billion is not enough and that the proposed settlement doesn’t address other concerns that the declining judge deemed necessary in order to settle the suit.

The proposed settlement would lower swipe fees, which range from 2%-2.5% by 0.1 percentage point for five years. Merchants would be able to choose whether to accept U.S. cards in specific categories including commercial cards, premium consumer cards including many rewards cards, and standard consumer cards. Standard consumer rates would be capped for eight years at 1.25%, a more than 25% reduction. Merchants would also get more options to impose surcharges when people pay by card. Both Visa and Mastercard claim this settlement would offer fee relief for merchants of all sizes, particularly small businesses.

The settlement offer is still under review by the judge and is not yet approved. Stay tuned!

It may be time for year-end holidays but as retailers, you need to be thinking months (sometimes years) in advance. That’s why I want you to jump ahead in your mind to elementary school winter and spring vacations. Have you planned anything to help parents occupy their children?

May I propose some of the child-focused activities you’ll receive when you become a member of the KidsGardening Content Club. As a member you’ll receive $7 to spend on downloadable resources and online courses that take learning outside—and also bring garden exploration inside.

And when you become a member, you’ll also be supporting a terrific nonprofit, one that supports parents and educators (and even yourself) who want children to benefit from the wonderful world of gardening. Here is how Content Club works:

• Pay $5 a month to KidsGardening, but get $7 to spend on downloadable resources or courses in their store.
• Credits can be used immediately or saved for up to three months. (Saving three months of codes gives you $21 to spend at once.)
• You’ll receive 10% off all KidsGardening merchandise as long as you’re a member.
• Each month, members of Content Club are entered into an exclusive giveaway of garden goodies! Who doesn’t like goodies?
• As for what resources are available to you, here are two that KidsGardening is featuring this week (i.e. they are also on sale):

Garden Bingo! Each garden bingo set includes 30 game boards and 30 game pieces full of beautiful garden-themed graphics. With black and white, color and deluxe color options, you can print out the game boards and pieces that best suit your needs. And it’s on sale through December 5 for only $5. I would totally play this game.

Farmers Market Cards. This educational card set is designed to teach kids about what they eat, local foods and how they grow. The Farmers Market Cards include fun facts about “farmers market” foods, as well as games, activities and ways to use the cards in the garden.

Join by midnight PT on Sunday, November 30, to get the December Content Club code on Monday, December 1. Check out all the downloadable resources and online courses you can access at a discount with Content Club! Learn more and join here.

Speaking of garden-related things to purchase, why not something Wave? PanAmerican Seed has launched an online merchandise store filled with handpicked, sustainable lifestyle pieces featuring the Wave brand of petunias and pansies.

Here’s just a smattering of what is available:

• Fun, colorful socks and kicks!

• Backpack, garden tote and shopper bags

• T-shirts, bucket hats and cozy sweatshirts

• Patterned apron and voile scarf accessories (love that scarf)

• Mugs, bottles and more

Want to see all of the swag and in a fashionable way? The Wave folks have posted two videos to their YouTube channel for each piece. Head over HERE to watch them both.

That scarf I love so much (and the design on the sneakers and tote bag, along with a few other things) was created via a collab with Pink Pot Ambassador Natalie Malan (@illustratorsgarden), who created an Easy Wave Pink Pearl Petunia pattern. It’s super lovely.

“It was so much fun selecting the pieces to include in the Wave storefront debut,” said Sarah Makiejus, Global Marketing Manager for PanAmerican Seed and Wave Brand Manager in a press release. “I see many uses for this online store; beyond consumer access to Wave gear to show off their brand loyalty, it makes gifting easy for our industry to reward team members or customers with a little something special.”

I agree! I know a guy who would love those socks.

Look for more Wave merch to hit the online store as the seasons roll along. The Wave folks will be exploring other artistic collaborations with popular tastemakers in the gardening and art worlds. More will be revealed as National Wave Day (May 3) approaches! Until then, load up on some holiday gifts for your crew and yourself HERE.

Considering it’s Thanksgiving in a few days, let’s talk about gratitude and its role in the workplace. A recent piece in Chief Executive revealed that a John Templeton Foundation survey found 80% of employees would work harder for a manager who shows appreciation, but just 15% say they are regularly thanked by management. In fact, 35% of those surveyed employees say their manager has never thanked them. What?

According to this piece, showing gratitude is the easiest way to improve morale, motivation and mental health. But it’s often absent in the workplace, and there’s a biological reason for it. Our brains notice threats faster and better than appreciation because a threat can harm you. Noticing good fortune was optional, in evolutionary terms.

Threats abound at work! Egos, positions, livelihood and all that are in the balance. Showing gratitude at work can be a sign of vulnerability. But its benefits are multitudinous. As the article puts it, “Each small act of appreciation recalibrates the team’s collective nervous system toward safety and cooperation. Over time, those signals accumulate into stronger relational bonds and higher-performing ecosystems.”

But like exercise, expressing gratitude only works if it’s consistent. Here are a few of the suggestions this article gave to make gratitude a practice and not just a performance review gesture:

• Start with the micro: Open meetings with a brief appreciation round. Encourage people to name one colleague who helped them recently. This small act engages the brain’s trust circuits and immediately shifts the tone toward connection.
• Pair feedback with thanks: When giving developmental feedback, include specific acknowledgment of what’s going well. Dopamine helps learning stick; gratitude makes feedback easier to receive.
• Close the loop: At the end of the week, send a quick note of thanks highlighting a meaningful contribution or effort.

Before you turn your gratitude toward your family and community this Thursday, harness your inner Ted Lasso and give your coworkers your authentic appreciation.

The end of the year must be the time to shuffle folks into different roles in horticultural organizations. I’ve received a number of employee announcements over the last two weeks.

Such as this one from Eason Horticultural Resources (EHR). They are welcoming Conor Foy to the organization’s National Sales Team. Conor grew up on a small farm in western Ireland, and that led him to a bachelor’s degree in Horticultural Science in Dublin. He’s worked at a number of businesses here in the U.S., including a green roof company, an arborist, a landscaping company and even at a zoo! He most recently worked as a Program Coordinator at a large grower in Ohio. EHR believes this vast array of experience will suit him well in addressing the needs of his customers.

McHutchison is bringing on Brian Snyder as a sales representative in the company’s nursery division where he will cover the Michigan, Indiana and Ohio region. Brian’s career began in his family’s wholesale nursery business before working for several major industry suppliers including Carlton Plants (now Bailey Nurseries), Van Essen Nursery and Macore Labels (now Select Impressions). Most recently, he represented Sester Farms where he sold in the same territory that he will now serve for McHutchison.

Star Roses and Plants has itself a new General Manager. Steve Ramsay, who has been Star’s General Manager for 10 years, has transitioned to a new role at the company’s West Grove, Pennsylvania, facilities where he’ll be a grower consultant for the company’s internal teams and external partners, in addition to managing several special projects.

Stepping into Steve’s formidable shoes is Alex Wharton, who has a degree in Horticulture Science from Oregon State University. Working at Star Roses and Plants since 2017, Alex has worked his way up the ranks in numerous roles with increasing responsibility. He started as a Grower Tech and progressed to his most recent role as Assistant General Manager. “Alex has shown incredible leadership and is highly respected by our team,” said Star’s President Bradd Yoder. “He also has the curiosity and desire to experiment and problem solve, which is invaluable to our company and industry at large.”

Seed Your Future, the industry non-profit created specifically to inspire tomorrow’s plant professionals, just announced a new board president, board director and a fresh group of committee volunteers.

Stepping into the role of board president in 2026 is Broch Martindale, National Nursery & Greenhouse Strategic Account Manager at Corteva Agriscience. A long-standing member of Seed Your Future’s Advisory Council and a champion of workforce development, Broch will lead the organization through its next chapter of career-awareness programming and industry engagement. He takes over from Dr. Ronda Hamm, who’s been board president since 2023.

Mari Carasquillo, Vice President of Marketing at Costa Farms, is the newest member of the board of directors. With deep expertise in consumer marketing and brand storytelling (in fact she just won an award for it), Mari will support efforts to elevate the visibility of plant-related careers and strengthen the organization’s national outreach. Stepping off the board after completing their terms are Dr. Charlie Hall and Rodd Moesel.

The new volunteers include:

• Andrew Gurka, Director of Student Programs, Longwood Gardens
• Jordan Richardson, Member Engagement & Communications Manager, CalFlowers
• Sarita Cantu, Marketing Manager, Smith Gardens
• Lauren Brown, Assistant Head Grower, Smith Gardens
• Sarah Morales, Steward, GreenWeaver Landscapes–Sustainable Landscapes
• Ella Davis, Horticulture & Marketing Communications Graduate, University of Wisconsin–River Falls

These volunteers will help drive programs, industry partnerships and outreach efforts at Seed Your Future, helping to expand career awareness and strengthen pathways for the next generation.

Jazmin Albarran remains the Executive Director of Seed Your Future. Said Jazmin of these folks, “Their collective experience and passion for developing the next generation of plant professionals will help us broaden our reach, deepen our impact and continue addressing the workforce gap facing the horticulture industry.”

Good work all around! If you want to support Seed Your Future’s ongoing efforts, especially during this time of giving thanks, visit the Seed Your Future Donation Page.

As we approach this day of giving thanks, I am very grateful that I have 28,000-plus folks who can possibly answer this question: What should I plant here?

This is the planting strip alongside my Boston condo (there’s a similar but shorter strip on the other side of those steps. For the last dozen years I’ve had perennial grasses (I forget which) in that space, emerging in mid May just as dozens of orange tulips fade away. An increasingly large Chinese lilac has shaded the spot closest to the stoop and the grasses have been a bit lackluster due to that (and my inability to remember to fertilize). Also, dogs haven’t been kind (except for this sweet pup of mine). And, frankly, grasses provide cover for those other less-snuggly city critters.

I am about to plant a calamity of bulbs here (meaning, a lot of an assortment of types) before it freezes, and I thought I’d ask your opinion about what might work before I start digging. I’d be willing to plant a few not-too-tall shrubs that would have bare trunks about a foot up (so nothing can hide behind them), but not too many because I love the spring bulb display. Perennial suggestions? Maybe some erect grasses? No annuals, as that would require watering. And of course, something the dogs couldn’t do too much damage to.

This planting bed is about 20 ft. long and 3 ft. wide. The other one is about 10 ft. long. Both face northeast-ish and get some good morning sun except across from my door where the Chinese lilac is in the sidewalk. I’m in the market for some sort of edging that could hold in additional soil. A taller edging may help with the dogs, as well.

If you have some ideas, I’d love to hear them! Drop me a note about it at ewells@ballpublishing.com. Eager to hear what you have to suggest!

I appreciate you! Thanks for reading, and enjoy a day off!