BUZZ: May 2008

Hines Horticulture still hopes to stage a comeback, according to TheReporter.com. The company was delisted from the NASDAQ stock market last October. Hines has hired Miller Buckfire, a New York-based turnaround firm that handles large-scale restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and debt refinancing.

Wooden planter boxes sold at Lowe’s stores could be harboring emerald ash borer, a pest responsible for destroying millions of trees in the Midwest, the Duluth News-Tribune reported. Minnesota Department of Agriculture asked consumers to destroy the “Nature’s Own Planters,” manufactured in Indiana by Lawson Products.

Horticulture Research Institute will distribute $425,000 in grants and scholarships this year. Projects funded include development of new landscape plants, evaluation of bioplastic pots and exploration of radio frequency ID technology.

Some small businesses are canceling group health insurance and choosing to give employees a monthly stipend toward the cost of individual policies, USA Today reported. The shift is touted as a lower-cost way for employers to offer workers some kind of coverage.

The Novalis consortium added seven companies to grow for the Novalis Plants That Work by Color program: Armstrong Growers, Beds & Borders Inc., Carolina Nurseries, Peace Tree Farms, Sunbelt Greenhouses, Tanasacre Nursery and Wenke Greenhouses. Also, Bailey Nurseries is now part of the program. It will grow shrub and perennial selections as well as offering breeding.

The European Union is considering a ban on outdoor patio heaters, The Times reported. Several U.K. garden center chains have said they will stop selling patio heaters. A spokesperson for the Horticultural Trades Association told the paper that garden centers were looking at promoting greener alternatives.

Target will launch two store prototypes this year that are bigger and green certified, according to a report in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. Eco-friendly features include low-flow fixtures in the restrooms, HVAC systems that cut energy use 30 percent and light fixtures that require two low-mercury bulbs instead of the typical four.

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May 2008