Editor Patrick Alan Coleman on the August 2025 issue of Greenhouse Management

Why would Mother Nature make a plant so fuzzy that it was almost impossible not to touch it? That was the question burning through my mind when I received an email about the new moss wall that had been installed in the upstairs flex space at our office here in Valley View, Ohio. A portion of that email follows. Subject? Moss wall.

“If I could ask of everyone while admiring the moss wall installation upstairs — if you could refrain from touching it, we’d appreciate it. It is fragile and easily damaged, as pieces will fall on the floor and leave gaps.”

Look, it’s nobody’s fault. And I swear I never touched that wall. But the textural, fluffy intrigue of the swirling moss varieties on the living art piece are temptingly pettable. They are also visually stunning. The various hues of nearly glowing green offer a kind of primordial peace that you can feel at the back of the brain. Looking at it can make you feel like a small woodland creature that just needs to curl up and nap in the bosom of an ancient forest. Then again, that might just be me.

But I don’t think I’m the only one who has fallen in love with moss. Bryophyta sensu stricto is having a moment. So, it makes sense that a business might want to capitalize on the plant’s popularity. But building a moss farm in the Canadian bush? That’s a risky venture — and one we explore with the principles of Mossify, whose tale of moving from supplier to grower is the core of this month’s cover story.

There might be something to chasing the trend. As we discuss in the article, consider that moss was a star attraction in two award-winning gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year.

But moss trends are just one of many in the garden industry, and we explore even more in our coverage of the Garden Media Group’s 2026 Garden Trends Report that premiered in July at Cultivate’25 in Columbus, Ohio. Among the new trends predicted by the marketing group are the rise of “cozy gaming” and its connection to the plant world, purpose-driven gardening that ties buying with philanthropy, gardening with pets, precision gardening with its ties to precision healthcare, building “botanical bento” boxes and my favorite: the personal museum.

I think if I had a personal museum, it would definitely include a lot of moss. And not just because it’s lovely to look at. Because in my personal museum, I make my own rules. And chief among them? Pet the moss as much as you want. Mother Nature wouldn’t have made it so fuzzy, irresistible (and thankfully toothless and non-deadly) if she didn’t want you to pet it.