Garden Center - Independent garden centers stand out from other stores selling gardening products with their high-quality products and customer service. The market continues to rebound as interest in edible and container gardening, among other trends, grows. Garden Center magazine serves retailers looking for relevant, practical business management information, as well as those looking for inspiration and out-of-the-box thinking to make their store one that customers will return to over and over.

A scenic view of the California coastline, with pink flowers, yellow sand, dark blue water and a light blue sky.

California Spring Trials

California Spring Trials returns this year with exciting new varieties and colors for the 2026-27 year.

Leading Women of Horticulture: Fairview Greenhouses & Garden Center

Leading Women of Horticulture: Standout products from TPIE 2026

A view down the center aisle of a greenhouse that's filled with flowers and green plants.

From Structure to Storefront: The Retail Greenhouse Features Worth Planning For

A graphic with green and white text on a blue background reads Spring Survival Guide: Tips, Tricks and Resources from Proven Winners Garden Centers. There are three circular photos of smiling people below the text, with additional text identifying them as Suzanne LeClair, Meagan Zerrusen and Jake Scott.

[WATCH] Fertile Ground Spring Survival Guide: Tips, Tricks and Resources from Proven Winners Garden Centers

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Plants View All

A flower with spiky, puffy purple and white petals with green leaves growing in a greenhouse.

[ARCHIVE] California Spring Trials (CAST): Live updates

Updates from past years of California Spring Trials from the Garden Center magazine and Greenhouse Management magazine teams.

A woman wearing a blue denim jacket, red shirt and pink shorts kneels in a flower bed full of purple flowers.

Growing flowers to grow confidence

A smiling man with short gray hair and wearing a green polo shirt kneels among green and pink and red and green plants with large leaves.

University of Florida ornamental breeding program unveils 50th (and 51st) caladiums

Rows of small green square plant pots with seedlings of vegetables and plant tags at the front showing various vegetables.

How garden centers can capitalize on edible gardening trend

A plant with feathered green and red leaves.

Coleus Lime Edge (Skeletal) named 2025-26 Flower of the Year in Japan

Trends View All

A large gray two-story house with a black roof and red chimney, with an elaborate garden in the front yard full of shrubs, grasses and plants.

Wild Ones expands free Native Garden Design Program

How garden centers can capitalize on edible gardening trend

Proven Winners retail survey finds plant quality and selection are top shopping considerations

A dog laying on green grass in a person's backyard.

TurfMutt Foundation release 2026 backyard trends

Tall, upright plants with purple flowers and green stems growing in a field.

Monrovia is celebrating Lavender Week May 11-17, 2026

Monrovia’s Lavender Week promotion features POP posters, with a scannable digital plant selection and care guide.

Spotted View All

Emerald Coast Growers celebrates 35 years in business

The nursery has grown to three locations, with 570,000 square feet of environmentally controlled greenhouses and 85 acres of total farmland.

A man laying in a greenhouse surrounded by green plants.

Zach Galifianakis is hosting a Netflix show about gardening

A brown wooden dish full of small red tomatoes, next to a white plate with a few of the tomatoes cut in half and one piece speared on the end of a silver fork.

Scientists develop vitamin A-enriched tomato to fight global deficiency

Two white rectangular boxes on a blue background. Blue text on the boxes reads Oasis RhizoPlug Sheet Propagation Kit

Oasis Grower Solutions launches retail Oasis RhizoPlug Sheet Propagation Kit

Oasis Grower Solutions launches Oasis Eleganz Liquid Leaf Clean, Shine and Protect

Marketing View All

How garden centers can capitalize on edible gardening trend

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Find out the 2026 Axiom Gardening Outlook Study results

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[WATCH] Beyond the holidays: Finding success with unique seasonal events

A smiling person with short brown hair wearing glasses and a black, gray and purple T-shirt sits among yellow flowers in a garden landscape.

How garden centers can use their employees as social media influencers

Flower beds with yellow, pink and red flowers along a small lake.

Think like Disney

Experience is the garden center’s greatest competitive advantage. Frankie Flowers explains why with evidence from 'The Happiest Place on Earth.'

Staffing View All

Seven smiling people pose for a photo in a greenhouse surrounded by potted plants and hanging baskets of plants.

Matsuda’s Nursery finds solution to shortage of workers

Two people looking at each other and smiling in a garden center surrounded by plants and flowers. The woman on the left is wearing an orange top and blue denim overalls and holding a tablet. The woman on the right is wearing a green top and orange overalls and pushing a silver metal cart with potted flowers.

Ask HR: Should I hire a garden center customer as an employee?

A photo of four smiling men wearing matching light blue polo shirts pose outside of a greenhouse.

How Knobloch's Greenhouse continued the family business after a sudden loss

A teenage boy and teenage girl wearing black aprons stand in a shop surrounded by flowers. They're both reaching for a pink rose.

How to motivate teenage garden center summer employees

People sitting in rows of chairs in a room with green and cream walls in front of a woman speaking to the group while holding a stack of papers.

Building team unity, ownership & engagement at Down to Earth Garden Center

Wisconsin IGC Down to Earth Garden Center has developed an employee culture centered around unity, accountability, ownership and shared success.

In this replay of Garden Center magazine's Fertile Ground Live Event, learn about color theory, shoppable displays, effective endcaps and add-on sales from Rachel Reynolds of Birds Eye Visual Merchandising.

An aerial photo of the exterior of a garden center.

Find out the story behind Petitti Garden Centers' newest Ohio location

A display at a garden center with plants, flowers and pots.

Merchandising and display ideas for small independent garden centers

Long Island Reno: Implementing the redesign at Hicks Nurseries

Long Island Reno: The Hicks Nurseries design process

Money Matters View All

People sitting at a wooden picnic table in a gravel lot full of green plants and underneath red, blue and yellow shade awnings and hanging lights.

How independent garden centers are thriving despite economic uncertainty

A store with wooden walls and tile floors, with wooden shelves with black piping holding a variety of products. Signs hanging from the ceiling above the shelves read Tea + Coffee, Honey + Spreads and Snacks. Additional signs above a wide doorway leading outside read Fresh Produce and Garden Party.

How to cultivate connections with garden center suppliers

The Garden Center Group hosting 'The Financial Basics of Garden Retailing Workshop Series'

A graphic reads Garden Center Fertile Ground Webinar Series: What Is Your End Game? Succession & Exit Planning Best Practices for the Green Industry, September 10, 2024, 2:00 P.M. ET, Chris Cimaglio, PivotPoint Business Solutions & BEST Human Capital & Advisory Group, Register.

Fertile Ground Webinar Series replay: Succession & Exit Planning Best Practices

Think like Disney

Experience is the garden center’s greatest competitive advantage. Frankie Flowers explains why with evidence from 'The Happiest Place on Earth.'

Long Reads View All

Growing flowers to grow confidence

Think like Disney

A graphic showing a kitten hanging in a tree on a black poster. Black text reads Motivational moment.

Garden Center 2025-2026 State of the Industry Report

A woman fills a plant pot sitting on a folding table with soil. She's standing in front of several people seated outside.

Autumn Hill Nursery: A return to community roots

A woman wearing a light blue denim shirt, blue denim jeans and brown boots squats down among small potted plants in a greenhouse. She's holding a small potted red plant in one hand and a tablet in the other. A man stands behind her and reaches toward hanging baskets hanging from the roof of the greenhouse.

Cool tech for garden retailers

Every tech-oriented solution Liz Lark-Riley uses in her garden center career, she's found on her own or had recommended to her by an industry peer. Here, she shares four of her favorite tools.