~ July 22, 2024

Our fourth year attending #Cultivate24 wrapped up last week, and the SGN Team had another wonderful experience learning and growing together! Cultivate is put on each year by AmericanHort and is one of the largest green industry conferences and trade shows in the country. We had a great time attending the educational sessions, walking the tradeshow, and exploring the city each night. We’ve enjoyed getting to continue to learn more about the green industry and make connections with people across the country! Here are some of our key takeaways from our time at Cultivate this year:

Tech and Trends on the Horizon

There is a lot of green industry tech in development and beginning to roll out! It’s always interesting to keep up with what’s coming next in the realm of tech and trends. It’s fascinating to walk through the tradeshow and see all of the different machines, robots, software programs, greenhouse tech, industry innovations and experimental products. The hot tech topic for the conference, though, was AI and its application in our businesses. From automating basic office tasks to creating and organizing social media content and internal documents, to coding a custom AI chatbot for your website this is definitely an area that is uncharted territory in the realm of the green industry. I consider myself to be relatively tech savvy and AI is something that I still don’t quite have a grasp on, like most people. The sessions we attended that discussed AI made sure to note that no – there is not going to be a sentient robot uprising happening anytime soon, but we do have to be aware of AI and its prevalence in our society going forward. We are already using AI in so many ways through auto-reply emails, Siri, photo editing, and the algorithm but AI-generated content is becoming more and more mainstream every day. Chances are if you log on to your Facebook and scroll through your feed it won’t take long for you to come across an AI-generated image or blog post. If you know what to look for you’ll start seeing it in more places! We need to learn how to adapt to this new technology while also making sure that we keep real, human authenticity and creativity at the forefront of what we do. AI will not replace humans but it’s already doing the job of many people through live chat bots and content creation. We have to make a conscious effort to remain media literate and search for those genuine human moments among the AI internet gray areas. Luckily, AI can’t grow or plant trees…yet! 

We attended the Garden Media Group’s Garden Trends session and got keyed into some of the trends for this upcoming year. Some big themes here were social retreat, lived-in nostalgia, and surprise: AI! In an increasingly connected and digital world, there is a growing trend to actually cut back on social media – not entirely, but to find niche communities that really speak to you. Rather than log on to the barren wasteland that is Twitter, (or X as it’s supposed to be called now but it’ll always be Twitter to me!) people are gravitating towards smaller social platforms and message boards on apps that are geared towards niche interests and activities. Content creators and businesses are leaning into creating a community around an email newsletter, interactive events and chat rooms, and in-person meetups to break out of the digital space into real life. After the Pandemic it seemed like we all retreated behind our screens and, while that is a great way to connect with people from far away, we really lost a lot of in person connection. Sometimes it seems like we are still stuck behind our screens, so there is a push now to dial it in, form a niche online community, and bring that digital space to real life.

Along those same lines of creating authentic community is a yearning for a sense of lived-in nostalgia. Rather than buying things new and pristine, it’s becoming more and more popular to thrift, make, buy used, and landscape spaces with plants that don’t look “cookie cutter.” There is a lot to be said about nostalgia and what we are really looking for when we look to the past, but I think people want to return to or create a sense of coziness, safety, stability, and connection in their everyday life – a sense of homeostasis. It may seem counterintuitive for a trend to be nostalgia, but when we look at it from that perspective I think it makes a lot of sense. 

And just for fun, every year the Garden Media Group announces the Color of the Year with 2024’s being…teal! Teal bridges the realms of fantasy, reality, serenity, freedom, vast skies, immersive depth, and virtual spaces. People typically associate teal with wellness and calming vibes. I thought it was particularly interesting that teal was chosen specifically because of the copper patina color that occurs as copper ages and weathers. This all brings it back to this sense of lived-in nostalgia and returning to community and connection. There is something to be said for the weathering that happens in real life as opposed to the picture-perfect edited portrayals on a screen. 

Community Around Plants

In the wake of the pandemic and an increasingly digital world, people are yearning for in-person connection now more than ever. It’s great to be able to connect with people over the internet and find community with people from anywhere in the world, however we’re finding that nothing can really replace the value of in-person community. You can’t replicate a shared meal at a table together digitally, just like you can’t recreate physical green space on a screen. It’s no secret that the pandemic and the years since have reordered our value systems from the top down. Folks have taken stock of their lives these past few years and are focusing their time, energy, and money on tangible things that are important to them, namely: their families, creative endeavors, and green spaces inside and outside of the home. Whether it’s houseplants, backyard landscaping, or public parks – the value of plants has only gone up! What an amazing opportunity to share in this green revolution! Those of us in the horticulture industry have the products and knowledge to share with people who are hungry to learn and grow more. We provide so much more than a product – we provide a set of values and vision for our customers, our company culture, and our community. How can we help others share in this love of plants and finding community among the green spaces in our lives? 

State of the Industry

One of the highlights of Cultivate is the State of the Industry report given by AmericanHort President and CEO Ken Fisher, Vice President of Advocacy & Government Affairs Matt Mika, and Chief Economist Dr. Charlie Hall. It’s fascinating to get insight into the inner workings of the green industry and the role AmericanHort plays in research, politics, and advocacy. Ken stressed that what we do together matters. We must form long-term, deep, and multigenerational relationships if we ever want to understand each other and work together for a better future. In an increasingly divided world, Ken proposed that we not just ask “what do you believe,” but instead ask, “how did you come to believe that?” He shared that he has strong opinions that are lightly held and challenged us to do the same. Heading into an already turbulent election season, now is the time to keep temperatures low, build trust, and try to understand each other. It’s always great to get Ken’s perspective on the industry, and I enjoy hearing what he has to say each year. 

I also enjoyed hearing from the new President of Advocacy & Government Affairs Matt Mika. Matt took over for the incomparable Craig Regelbrugge and has been leading the Washington, D.C. team for the last year. Having worked in Washington for his whole career, Matt brings experience and energy to the AmericanHort lobbying efforts. His team is in the room where it happens. He stressed that if we are not telling our story as business owners, farmers, retailers, suppliers, growers, etc. then how are our elected officials going to know what’s going on? We have to share about our industry to those with the decision-making power. All that being said, going into an election there will be nothing that makes it through Congress until the next President is sworn in. So buckle down for the long haul, become involved politically, and get to work! 

Finally, it’s always a joy to hear from AmericanHort Chief Economist and friend Dr. Charlie Hall! Dr. Hall leads the EAGL program out of Texas A&M that Becky completed a few years ago, and much of his data collected and presented is gathered from his EAGL cohorts. It’s pretty cool to see the numbers knowing Spring Grove Nursery contributed to his research and recommendations! Dr. Hall loves to tell people not to freak out about the economy but doesn’t shy away from recognizing that the cost of doing business has gone up 21% since 2019. He brought up that consumers are definitely doing more research on the products and services before they buy, but they’re still buying! Dr. Hall’s advice is to hold the line on price, manage your working capital responsibly, and focus on your value proposition to play the long game. 

It was wonderful attending #Cultivate24 and have the whole SGN family come along to experience the fun! We had all hands on deck to help us wrangle our busy kiddos! It’s always nice to have some backup with the kids – it definitely takes a village! While it’s tricky traveling with kids, we’ve noticed that Cultivate has been a family-friendly experience for us every year. We’ve even started to meet and connect with other parents with their littles in tow. Maybe next year there will be a Cultivate Kid’s Club 😉 We’re looking forward to making more memories next year!

– Maggie Thomas Harper