Bossman Chris Beytes broke this news in his Acres Online earlier this week. What follows is an edited version of his report:

By now you may have heard that LiveTrends Design Group and BotanIQ Lab by Offer Madsen are joining forces by creating a new company based in Denmark called LiveTrends Design Group Europe. Officially set to launch January 1, the new organization will begin offering products into Europe in the Spring. The BotanIQ Lab name will become a brand of LiveTrends.

Who is BotanIQ Lab? Established in Denmark in 1965, the company operated under the family name of Offer Madsen until five years ago when it was rebranded to BotanIQ Lab, Intelligent Plant Design. It was owned by Thomas Offer Madsen and offered trendy Scandinavian-influenced home décor with Scandinavian inspiration for the EU and UK.

LiveTrends Design Group, you likely know, was founded in 2013 by Bisser Georgiev. They, too, offer trendy plant-based products at more than 16,000 retailers in the U.S. and Canada. And they have A LOT—more than 500 exclusive product collections annually.

LiveTrends Design Group Europe will be owned by Bisser, Thomas Offer Madsen, Søren Offer Madsen and Martin Rasmussen, with Martin as CEO and Søren as Chairman of the Board. All employees from BotanIQ Lab will remain with the new company, with Henning Brejnholt serving as COO and leading all daily operations. The organization will continue basically unchanged at its location in Odense, Denmark.

Why Europe and why BotanIQ Lab? According to Chris’s interview with Bisser, BotanIQ Lab checked all the boxes and was a ready and willing partner. “[The Offer Madsens] saw our success and our management, and our principles of design and how we create products, and they just love it. They said, 'We cannot do it ourselves. We can use you guys,'” Bisser told Chris.

As for Europe, Bisser has been wanting to enter that market for a number of years, and found the right road there through BotanIQ. European tastes are a tad different from those in North America but, “since we produce so many designs, I’m sure we can adapt many of them to Europe,” Bisser said. "Of course, the consumer preferences are different—for instance, Germany versus the UK have different aesthetics. But at the same time, trends are global because of social media. Whatever happens on Pinterest and Instagram here is the exact same as happens there. We’re counting on that fact.”

I can’t mention LiveTrends without thinking of the upcoming virtual version of the Tropical Plant International Expo (TPIE). I wanted to give just a few updates on some of the virtual educational sessions that have caught my eye:

2021 Trends are Essential. AIFD President and award-winning designer Jackie Lacey shares the latest trends in foliage, florals and tropicals to show you what to feature, how to share it and create your social post for the best results. Wednesday, January 20, 2:00-2:45 p.m. Eastern

Shipping Foliage Plants—Part II. A follow-up to last January’s super-popular Shipping Plants session, this virtual session will provide information on more options for wholesale buyers shipping plants from Florida. Thursday, January 21, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Eastern.

Interior Designs: How Are Your Design Strategies Changing to Fit the New Dynamic Workspace? Guest speaker Bernice Boucher, JLL’s Managing Director of Workplace Strategy, will offer insight on the future of office workspaces and their new dynamics. Thursday, January 21, 1:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern.

I’m nearly certain that those sessions will be offered both live and recorded. Register for those sessions HERE. More TPIE information will be coming, so do stay tuned to the next Tropical Topics that drops into your inbox during the first part of January.

The most prolific horticulture author I know, Leslie Halleck, has another book coming out that houseplant lovers (and growers and retailers) will want to know about. It’s called “Tiny Plants: Discover the joys of growing and collecting itty bitty houseplants.” I’m not sure about you, but I myself caught the houseplant “bug” when my mom bought me a 2-in. pot of baby tears. Tiny plants are legit—and can lead to further houseplant obsessions down the road.

Leslie tells me this book is focused on the indoor plant crowd. As such, it included plants for growing on windowsills and also growing under glass, like in terrariums and such. Like any great book on plant culture, it includes botany basics, plant care, propagation and plant profiles. It’s ideal for that small-space indoor plant keeper who just can’t fit in another monstera. And as Leslie reminds us, tiny plants are “the eternal puppies, kittens, and babies of the plant world—they never grow out of their cuteness because their genetics keep them itty bitty for their entire lives.” That makes me want tiny plants even more.

The book will be officially released March 23 but is available for pre-order now from Amazon and other online book retailers. If you’d like to order as a retailer for resale, contact your Quarto sales representative.

The email that just popped into my inbox about Monrovia’s new Jazzy Jewel tropical hibiscus series makes the snow swirling outside my window seem not so bad. Jazzy Jewel is just the thing to add that touch of tropical to consumers’ outdoor landscapes, patios or small-space balconies.

The naturally well-branching shrub offers large, long-lasting (up to three days!) flowers that occur up and down the stem. With glossy, deep-green leaves, the four different colors (Gold, Amber, Opal and Ruby [pictured]) really do shimmer like, well, jewels! Hardy to Zone 10, the shrubs in this series grow 4 ft. tall and 5 ft. wide in the landscape. Northerners like me can put it in a pot and overwinter in a sunny interior. Oh, it has improved pest and disease resistance, too, including resistance to bacterial leaf spot. Limited availability for 2021, so contact your rep now.