BUZZ: August 2008

Dueling maps have gardeners questioning plant hardiness zones, USA Today reported. A growing number of experts said that because of the warming climate, the 1990 USDA map doesn’t reflect a gradual shift northward of growing zones for many plants. A map published in 2006 by the Arbor Day Foundation shows marked movement of zones.

Home Depot announced this spring that it will stop selling traditional pesticides and herbicides in its Canadian stores by the end of 2008 and will increase its selection of environmentally friendly alternatives. Quebec has already banned the use of “cosmetic” pesticides, and Ontario plans to ban 300 pesticides by 2009.

As the way people shop for gifts has changed, specialty gift stores have declined in importance. In 2007, gift specialty stores accounted for 7 percent of the overall giftware market, according to a report from Unity Marketing. The number of specialty gift shops declined 21 percent in the past five years, from 75,102 stores in 2002 to 59,032 today.

Home Depot cut 1,300 jobs, closed 15 stores and shelved plans to open 50 more stores, Bloomberg.com reported. These actions will cost the mass merchant $586 million. The job cuts were Home Depot’s third this year.

Color forecasters have already predicted which hues will be hot in 2009, HGTV.com reported. Americans will opt for safe, neutral colors with touches of bright shades from crimson to acid yellow. Acid green and amethyst will also be popular accent colors.

Some garden centers in California’s Bay Area received pre-release shipments of the new Legends rose, featured on the cover of O, Oprah Winfrey’s magazine. Winfrey named the rose in honor of 25 influential African-American women. The rose is one of the largest hybrid teas ever created.

Spectrum Brands sold its Global Pet Business, which includes its Tetra and Jungle pond products, to Salton Inc. for $692.5 million in cash and almost $220 million in debt securities. Salton is best known for its George Foreman grills and Toastmaster and Farberware appliances. Spectrum will use proceeds from the sale to reduce the company’s debt load.

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August 2008