Apr 23, 2018
Be on the Lookout By Tim Hodson

We’ve finally returned from the 2018 edition of California Spring Trials and are back to our day jobs.

I am happy to report that the breeding companies have been hard at work on some very exciting new introductions for growers and retailers in the coming year. Annuals, perennials, succulents, edibles, shrubs and so much more … are ready to make their debut to the marketplace.

As I mentioned last week, we began our journey in northern California last Saturday and concluded our trip on Wednesday in Santa Paula.

For the most part, Mother Nature behaved herself during our five-day adventure and it was nice to escape the “spring” weather that the Midwest has not been experiencing. There are rumors that we may actually see spring this week in Chicagoland.

The breeding companies have a lot in store for the coming year. So be on the lookout in the weeks and months ahead for our extended coverage of all of the new varieties and trends that we spotted during the week.

In the meantime, in case you missed it, Jasmina Dolce, GPN’s managing editor, was providing daily updates on the new intros that caught her eye in GPN’s Culture Connection e-newsletter. Below are the links to her five newsletters.

Abby Kleckler, Lawn & Garden Retailer’s managing editor, also was providing regular updates on many of the inspirational merchandising concepts that were on display during Spring Trials. Here are the links to her reports from California:

We also posted videos and photos from the different stops on the GPN Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

And, be sure to check out the social media posts from Lawn & Garden Retailer’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

Now that the 2018 California Spring Trials are in the books, we’d like to send out a big thank you to all of the exhibiting companies and the host sites for this year’s Trials. Bravo!

As soon as we finish processing everything we saw this year, we’ll need to start preparing for next year — 2019 will be here before we know it.

— Tim