Cover Story

Bemis Farms Nursery: Plenty To Offer

With improved events and well-attended seminars, Ed and Tina Bemis have cut down on the number of empty-handed customers at Bemis Farms Nursery.

Slideshow: Bemis Farms Nursery

This destination garden center in Spencer, Mass., is worth the trip for garden enthusiasts of any skill type.

Bemis Farms Nursery Event: Scarecrows For Solutions

 This early fall event from the Bemises shows how a fundraising event can be quite the success with a little involvement from local not-for-profit organizations.

Garden Television: Bloomin' With The Bemises

 Ed Bemis, owner of Bemis Farms Nursery, shares how and why he and Tina, his wife, landed a local gardening show.

Features

Statuary and Garden Art: Smaller Sells

Expensive statuary and fountains were the first to feel the pain of the recession. But the category is coming back this year with a focus on smaller products with better value.

Too Hot To Hold

Just in case you couldn’t get away, Today’s Garden Center was there for two of this summer’s best garden center tours, and the ideas we brought back are too good to keep secret.

Signs Sell: Branding

When customers know your brand, they know what to expect. But for starters, do they know your brand?

Five Questions With La Crosse Floral

Getting customers in during the dead of winter at La Crosse Floral has been a little easier and more profitable with its Winter Is A Bear promotion.

Three More Questions With La Crosse Floral

 La Crosse Floral President Linda Zoerb breaks down her business' popular Boss's Day promotion.

Community Gardens: The Garden Center's Newest Element

Three garden center retailers talk about their community gardens and how you might integrate one in your own business.

Denver Broncos' Charities Get A Revolutionary Touch

Revolutionary 100 retailer Tagawa Gardens is the official garden center of the Denver Bronco's practice facility - a partnership that will benefit the entire community.

Recruiting: Building A Team

Don’t abandon your recruiting strategy during periods of high unemployment.

Spring Varieties: Bring On The Bulbs

New bulb varieties are a great way to get customers excited about spring. Check out these new options for fall sales.

Buyer's Market New Products

New products from Espoma, Liquid Fence, Primitive Planters, Magnet Works and H.C. Design.

Bradfield Organics And Olds Garden Seed: Quality Partnership

Bradfield Organics and Olds Garden Seed, both under the Land ‘O Lakes corporate umbrella, are striving to meet independent retailers’ need for solid products with quality education attached.

Staying Out Of Your Comfort Zone

By sticking with just a few “tried and true” strategies from the past, you may miss out on real-time opportunities.

Columns

Touchpoints By Pete Mihalek

Consult This

An industry consultant might be the best part-timer you've ever hired.

Strategies And Concepts By Kurt Fromherz

It's More Than A Numbers Game

As many garden centers explore the vast frontier of social media marketing, the focus seems to be the numbers. Like so many other things, more must be better.

The Revolution By Richard Jones

Are You Sustainable?

Green has gone mainstream, but it's not the type of "sustainability" you should be most concerned about.