The New Look GreenhouseGrower.com

With all the changes going on in the print version of Greenhouse Grower this month, we decided it was a good time to spiff up the website, too. Here are a few of the new features you'll find at GreenhouseGrower.com:

• Content areas. Production, Profit Center, Variety Central and Trends. These content areas reflect the new organization of the print version of Greenhouse Grower and this new navigation will help you find what you're looking for a little more easily. Don't miss the link in the menu bar to our Top 100 Growers section at the top of the page.
  
  
• Featured Video and Featured Content. Take a look at the top right of the home page. We've made video more visible so you can get a sample of what's available at GGTV. We'll also show you highlights of our most timely stories and programs in our Featured Content section.
  
  
• Links to Facebook and Twitter. Click on the Facebook/Twitter logo on our home page for links to Greenhouse Grower's Facebook fan page and Twitter accounts for editors Delilah Onofrey, Kevin Yanik, Pete Mihalek, Richard Jones and me.

And, of course, we have a brand-spankin' new Greenhouse Grower logo. Want to hear the story behind it? Check out a Q&A with our new logo's designer, Bill Rigo, over at Kevin's Greenhouse Angle.

Check out all the changes at GreenhouseGrower.com and click here for associate editor Kevin Yanik's take on the changes we've made in the pages of Greenhouse Grower.

Vote For Your Favorite New Variety

Voting begins today for Greenhouse Grower's Medal of Excellence Reader's Choice Award. The nominees are chosen by our panel of industry experts from all the new varieties released at this year's California Pack Trials. The nominees are:

* Caliente and Calliope geranium series, Syngenta Flowers

* Lobularia 'Snow Princess,' Kientzler for Proven Winners

* Euphorbia 'Breathless Blush,' Ball Horticultural

* Osteospermum 'Voltage Yellow,' Ball Horticultural

Click here to vote for your favorite variety and stay tuned for the winner of this year's Reader's Choice Award, announced at OFA Short Course on Monday, July 13.

You can't hide. Consumers will find you.

Here's an interesting dilemma the Internet gives us. We've been getting a lot of comments on Today's Garden Center from consumers, and they want to know where to get the new varieties that we write about.

We all ultimately want gardeners to be happy and successful with the products we sell. So how do we close this loop? Gardeners have so much more information about plants because of the Internet and it must make it twice as frustrating to find what they want. So what can we do about this?

First off, all these different names for the same plant has to stop. It is so confusing for the gardener. Enough beating on that dead horse.

Second, how much lost opportunity is out there? We've had more than 1,000 views on a Greenhouse Grower page on Benary's ptilotus 'Joey' in the last month. And the comments have been from consumers asking where they can get 'Joey.' I think mail order plant sales could make a killing now that gardeners are tuning into the same information that you, growers and retailers, are reading.

Finally, if you have information on a popular variety, put it online. The more information, the better. If a consumer can get a variety from you, tell them. Breeders, tell consumers where they can get your varieties. Fernlea Flowers's Fernlea Garden Club lets me know when its varieties are available near me.

IGCs: How can growers build a better relationship with you and get your business?

Finishing up the spring rush. Now that the hustle and bustle are dying down, how about a moment of reflection? Think about everything that's happened this spring.

Retailers: And what can growers do to ensure that they'll get your business? Do you think your business is moving to a just-in-time model and should growers be prepared to keep up with that pace? Is there a difference between how smaller growers handled this spring versus larger ones?

Growers: Did you have trouble finding the live goods you needed from brokers this spring? What were your demands like from retailers? Will this spring affect the way you'll plan for next year? In what way?

Seems like this has been a very interesting spring and may have ramifications for years to come.