Photos courtesy of Ericka Axelsson and Kieran Collins
Editor's note: March is Women’s History Month in the U.S., and March 8 is International Women’s Day.
That’s why for the second year in a row, we’re focusing our March magazine on the excellent women doing great work in our industry through the GIE Media Horticulture Group's Leading Women of Horticulture article and video series.
We’ve been interviewing women at all levels of the nursery and greenhouse business about their work and experiences in the green industry. Their stories are amazing and inspiring. Enjoy these sneak peeks before you read the full articles later this month.
Ericka Axelsson, The Cloud Makers
While the large booths of legacy plant brands dominated the aisles at TPIE 2026, newcomers dotted real estate at the edges of the show floor. And among those newcomers were two women, each innovative inventors, with intriguing products that could become breakout stars in a garden center near you.
The Cloud Makers offer cartoon-inspired plastic clouds that hover above houseplants on clear stilts and “rain” down water. Each hollow cloud has capacity for four ounces of water, which is released through pinholes on the underside, creating a raining effect for up to five minutes. To increase the whimsy, each cloud also features a name and a unique face. Clara, for instance, has a smile and joyful, teary eyes, while Cooper has cool sunglasses and Carl has a mustache and a skeptical expression.
“I was stuck home during COVID, and I had a lot of houseplants,” Axelsson says. “I was going crazy one day watering one of those plants that just needs a little bit, walk away, give it a little more. I was like, oh, it’d be so cute if something would just drip on my plant. I’d already designed this cloud as a decoration in my daughter’s bedroom. Cloud, rain. Here we go.”
Made entirely in Georgia, the clouds are now available wholesale to garden centers. Along with the clouds, The Cloud Makers have also released a variety of collectable charms that help personalize their product. Proud plant parents can add holiday themed charms as well as suns, hearts and butterflies, which attach to the clouds to add even more pizzazz.
Kieran Collins, GOHA
The Leaf Sweep, the flagship tool of San Francisco-based company GOHA, looks deceptively simple. Two plastic arms are joined at a spring-loaded hinge. The end of each arm is capped with a fuzzy dust-collecting cover so that the arms can be gently clamped together and slid along a leaf, cleaning both the underside and top surface at the same time.
But the true “cool” factor is in the details of the tool. Collins explains that development of the Leaf Sweep focused on ergonomics, weight, one-handed use and durability.
“It took a lot of engineering work and design and thoughtfulness, but yeah, we’re really happy with the final product,” she says.
