This past holiday season, industry groups and businesses advocated for themselves in some unique and inspiring ways. There have been some great examples of education, content marketing and feel-good press that promote the benefits of the industry and dispel longstanding myths about holiday traditions.

In an attempt to head off misinformation about poinsettia toxicity, The Society of American Florists recruited garden centers and greenhouses to help spread the word that poinsettias are safe houseplants. The Texas A&M Forest Service touted the benefits of a real Christmas tree and pointed out the environmental impacts of buying an artificial tree.

Greenhouses spread the news of their good deeds to local news outlets to show their investment in the community. From toy collections to poinsettia deliveries for healthcare workers, operations did their part to make 2020 a little bit better.

It all put the green industry in a good light and helped make customers feel good about their purchases. With Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day fast approaching, how are you planning to tell your customers that plants are the right presents? Whether it’s a blog post, a press release, a social media campaign or something else, I’d love to hear about it!

It’s the little things you do that add up to make a big impact. And I truly believe educating and advocating for the green industry is improving consumer perceptions a little bit at a time. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a year of positive change and growth for the industry.

Photo courtesy of David Torrence

Greenhouse Management: What has it been like putting together a poinsettia trial in 2020?

Amy Morris: It’s been a little different and a little challenging. I am really surprised at the amount of people that are actually coming. Many people have said ‘thank you’ for spreading it out over a couple of days. Instead of the one normal day, we spread it over three different days. My goal was to keep it under 50 people a day. We have 2 acres of room in there and that seems like a lot, but with social distancing, I felt that it was really important to keep it as spaced out as possible ... We also aren’t letting people walk through the greenhouses. We used to have the talks in the dock area and visitors could basically do whatever they wanted. This year, everything is 100% kept in the garden area. We do not want anyone to come in and make unnecessary contact with our employees.

GM: With the COVID element, how did you weigh trying to do this event in person and get the benefit of having people review the plants in person while still managing health concerns?

AM: Our industry — we all miss each other. Networking is so critical. And we are going to do the best we can to have a poinsettia trial with a virtual aspect. Breeders will be filming themselves and we’ll be putting them online so if anyone can’t attend, we will at least have a filmed portion that people can go through and people can listen about each variety. The other thing that’s different is that I proposed that each breeder has its own house. Ball has its own house, Syngenta has its own house, Dummen and so on. That way, a group can walk through one breeder, see all of those varieties and then go to the next breeder.

GM: What does the slate of poinsettia offerings look like this year? 

AM: Red is always going to be the most dominant. But, I have to admit, there is a lot of drive for color selection this year. Oranges are popping up. Some of our breeders are really doing a fantastic job on these new oranges and I’m really excited for people to see that. There’s a lot of nice new whites in the pipeline ... Another thing I’ve noticed is a few burgundy [options] coming down that look much stronger and have no delaying on them. That’s all really exciting. Breeders are trying to breed for that nicer pink that’s not salmon, but it’s more of a true pink. 

In a matter of three months, Claire Baglien realized the pandemic was going to put her next career step on hold.

Photo courtesy of Claire Baglien

In January, Baglien was accepted into the Conway School, a graduate program in Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in food justice and sustainability and had been working various green industry jobs ever since. These jobs included a role as the urban agriculture programs specialist for the city of Minneapolis, which just ended at the end of August.

The timing was going to be perfect: She’d end her stint with the Homegrown Minneapolis program and travel out east to live in Massachusetts. But as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, she grew concerned about moving out. So, too, did some of Baglien’s classmates, who eventually learned that their program had been postponed until next fall.

“I’m trying to see this as an opportunity to be flexible, and hopefully there are things that come out of this that I wouldn’t have planned on or expected otherwise,” Baglien says. “I’m trying to explore other facets of the landscaping industry, whether that’s finding part-time greenhouse work or other things.”

Of course, there’s still some disappointment. Roughly 18 students get accepted into the Conway School each year, so Baglien was about to receive in-depth education that would’ve taken her career to the next level.

But she’s taken comfort in knowing she’s not alone. Her future classmates all joined a group call after the decision was announced to postpone, and she found her concerns about doing in-person education had been echoed by her peers. The school ultimately decided that, after trying it out in the spring as a last resort for its 2019-20 students, online learning wasn’t an option. Baglien says she’s okay with that.

“I appreciated the opportunity to hear what other people were feeling. I think (the school) did a really great job processing what this looks like for everyone,” she says. “People were coming in from out of state, and so many people just felt like that’s just not going to happen with the pandemic. Ultimately, you can’t really learn landscape design online.”

Baglien says she’ll be there next year, but in the interim, she’s going to continue working about 30 hours a week at a local landscaping company. She’s still looking for work once the Minnesota snow comes in during the winter, but it’s at this company where she’s learning about the labor that goes into the design work she aspires to do in the future. Though she’s not taking any formal classes, she’s even learned some masonry since starting the part-time work.

“I think that’s really valuable,” she says. “If my goal is to be a designer, I need to understand how those designs are implemented on the ground.”

Baglien says her interest in horticulture began as an interest in climate activism in high school, and since then, she’s dedicated herself to designing environmentally responsible landscapes. After working in an urban garden, she says she realized the connection between climate change and sustainability.

Though it’s been a winding path to get here – a path that only continues to grow unclear amidst the pandemic – Baglien says she feels confident this is the industry for her.

“Doing work that was tangible really spoke to me. Since then, I’ve been looking for ways to not be in an office,” she says. “I love building something with (clients) who have dreamed about their landscapes for 20 years.”