The folks at USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service are apparently hungry for some numbers to crunch and they want to crunch yours. The annual Floriculture Crops Summary was put on hold in 2015 due to budget issues, but now they have some dollars in their pockets and like a teen standing outside of Taco Bell late at night, they are looking to satisfy that craving.

Like anything that goes away and comes back again, there will be a few changes to the new survey, including:

• 17 states will be surveyed instead of 15. Three states (Hawaii, Maryland, South Carolina) have been dropped and five (Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and Wisconsin) have been added.
• Seed geraniums have been dropped from the annual bedding plants category
• Perennials added are Daylily, Ferns (Hardy/Garden) and Peony
• Cut flowers added are Dahlia, Peony and Sunflower
• Cut flowers dropped are Alstroemeria, Carnation, Delphinium and Lisianthus
• Potted Flowering Plants dropped are Azalea and African Violet

Bossman Chris Beytes asked the illustrious Dr. Marvin Miller (also a salivating number cruncher) why one (that means you) should fill out the survey in the first place. Here are a few reasons Marvin came up with:

• Do your business trends match those of others in your state or across the country? Comparisons can be made for the total floriculture crops summary, for your state or region, or by crop. You can’t really know how you compare if no one (which means you) fills it out. Participation counts.
• Do you need to raise your prices? The report presents average prices, by state, for each crop surveyed. If you believe you have a particularly good crop, you should be getting at least the average price in your state, if not the average price across the country.
• Supply and demand. Economists are fond of reporting that price equilibrium is reached when supply intersects with demand. In the real world, we know this means that if there are shortages, prices will move upward to encourage growers to produce more or prices will drop to encourage growers to reduce the supply. By following the year-to-year price movements for any crop, you can gauge what is happening to this equilibrium point and forecast what growers might do in the new year.

So, in a nutshell, filling out the survey will result in giving you numbers to help you determine how many widgets, weigelas or waffle plants you should have in production, how much you should sell them for and where they’re needed. Filling out the survey will also help feed those starving number crunchers. When it arrives in the mail, which should be sometime during December, fill it out. You know it’ll be the right thing to do.  

May I direct your attention to the December issue of Green Profit magazine. It’s our fifth annual Style special edition, where all the content centers around fashion, style, colors, textures, trends and, most importantly, how it all pertains to plants.

For my “Trifecta of Fashion” article, I turned to LiveTrends’ Bisser Georgiev to get his thoughts specifically on finishes for containers. He presented his thoughts in the context of how LiveTrends is now no longer designing its products based on demographics but rather on “tribes.” You’ll recall that marketing/manufacturing to “tribes” or groups of people with similar interests was one of the five trends that Trendwatching’s Max Luthy presented as part of his keynote at TPIE last January. LiveTrends has picked up that idea and is running with it for the coming year and likely beyond. What’s uniting the people within a tribe, Bisser says, is their passion for and around the style, regardless of their age, education or economic background.

Here are the three new collections available from LiveTrends based on this tribe concept:

Minimalist: This “timeless” person loves the simplicity of design and most everything they enjoy is in blacks, whites and greys. They are inspired by modern, minimal design.

Curator: This person likes to combine different styles in an eclectic way. They are heavily inspired by nature, so this collection has many items that are rustic in color and texture such as rock, wood and bark.

Trendsetter: It’s for people who like fashion to extreme levels, Bisser says. “They are hyper-aware of fashion, and they like drop culture, meaning something that comes in [style] and then goes away.” It’s designs and styles that attract the more edgy person.

Check out the December Style issue HERE. You’ll love it!

In the last Tropical Topics I mentioned that global trend analyst Christine Boland would once again be the keynote speaker at the Tropical Plants International Expo (TPIE) coming up January 16-18 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The FNGLA folks have sent along some additional information about four trends Christine will touch on briefly in her talk, and over the course of this and the next two Tropical Topics, I will shed some light on them.

The first is called Global Arts & Crafts, and as Christine puts it, “Whilst machines and robots continue to absorb tasks from us, this is offset by a complementary rise in a need for things 'hand-made'.” Think handcrafted items made with love and attention to detail—and speaking to a contemporary population. She’s talking the bold colors and patterns of Native American and folk-art designs, tribal graphics and dramatic two-toned ethnic designs.

Want some visual representations of Global Arts & Crafts? Come to TPIE and see them at work in “trend cubes” created with fabrics, plants, pottery and home décor. They’ll be located in Lobby A and are sponsored and created by LiveTrends Design Group and Dymak.

Keep in mind, Christine will speak more to the “geo-cultural aspects of consumer life which are making these styles attractive to people,” as my FNGLA friend Linda Adams wrote. To get the full context of how Global Arts & Crafts and the other three trends are positioned in today’s climate, come to TPIE and hear Christine speak on Wednesday, January 16 at the Broward County Convention Center. More information and registration can be found HERE.  

Looking for more educational opportunities in January that also happen to be in a warm climate? The DesignWell Conference is set for January 22-23 in San Diego, California. The conference is for anyone involved in the growing field of “wellness architecture”—from architects and designers to interiorscapers and workplace analysts. Attendees will meet and listen to the top thought leaders on the subject of wellness architecture, and while they are at it, they hope to raise awareness of just how important someone’s surroundings are to their health, wellness and, from a business perspective, to workplace performance.

If you ask me, wellness as it relates to structures will become an increasingly important field. Go and learn all about it. And, thanks to GPGB (Green Plants for Green Buildings) you can save $100 on registration by using the code GPGB when you REGISTER.  

A little while ago I shared the links to the “TimTalks 2015” video, a fun interior plant spin on those TedTalks videos about everything under the sun. By the responses I’ve received and the number of views, I’d say it was a hit!

GPGB has two more LivingPlant videos ready for viewing. PART 2 and PART 3 are posted on our YouTube channel. Deadpan humor—it’s brilliant! And I’m so very glad I wasn’t there during LivingTigers day.