Plants R Us!

by Danny Summers

Not even unpacked yet and they have a plant in the room!

Does this title seem familiar? I first related it to Toys R Us. It came to mind when I was working on a presentation to share at Farwest 2022 a few weeks ago. I was looking for a graphic that represented new first-time young home buyers. Just the weekend before we had been helping our great nephew, Zac, and his wife, paint at their new home they recently purchased. They had not yet moved any furniture in but just inside the front door, next to a window, they already had a new tropical plant sitting there.

The photo above could have easily been taken right there. It demonstrates how important plants are to so many young people today.

Here's a few more photos I have found that show this growing trend (pun intended here) of young plant-lovers and their passion for plants. Whether in their homes or at work, they feel more complete when they are around plants.

While you could think when looking at these photos the title could be tweaked to be "Tropicals R Us" I believe that's just where it begins. I know Zac and his wife plan to "dig into" their landscape outside their new home next spring. The current landscape is very limited and he is already asking questions and I can see their interest developing into much more than just tropical plants inside their home.

A couple of weeks ago, Sid told me about several college students coming into a Garden Center. They were getting their dorm rooms set up and wanted to get a few plants to make the preparations complete. This was two guys and they both bought multiple plants!

Wow, how priorities have changed! A few years ago, plants would not have been on the mind of these young people as they begin to decorate their living spaces. We are now living in a time we dreamed of – not so long ago we were pondering the question of how to get young people interested in plants and into our garden center. Now that we have their attention and interest, it is vital for your Center to become an important partner with them to help them nurture their growing interests.

I expect many discussions at The Fall Event 2022 will help us focus on these opportunities and Darren Abbott's message (from Hallmark) will provide great ideas for every Center to leverage (more details below).

If you have any questions or need any help as you get ready to head to Kansas City, please give me a call, text, or email. We will be excited to see all of you and watch as this gathering of bright, creative, and motivated "GroupEs" come together!