Greetings card brand Umbellifer has teamed up with the horticultural charity Perennial, meaning that a proportion of profits from the sale of Umbellifer's 2020 range of Christmas cards supports the charity's important work in helping everyone who works in horticulture, and their families, when times get tough.

The 12 beautiful designs were created by artist Stephen Lennon who set up the botanical cards and prints business three years ago and has seen it flourish. Stephen says, "Perennial is the perfect fit with Umbellifer and it's a charity I feel very strongly about, having worked in horticulture myself and seen how people can struggle, financially, physically and mentally, in a business so dependent on increasingly unstable weather. My work is inspired by my love of plants and the Umbellifer range is a celebration of both garden plants and British wildflowers. Perennial helps the gardeners and garden industry workers who make British gardens world famous – what a great cause to support!”

The Garden Centre Association (GCA) and The Garden Industry Manufacturer’s Association (GIMA) has launched a new joint initiative to enable debate and communication between retailers and suppliers (July 2020).

A programme of joint virtual forums between both associations members has been created to aid healthy debate to enable a stronger, more resilient, and dynamic supply chain going forward.

Iain Wylie, GCA Chief Executive explained: “We are delighted to have joined forces with GIMA to create a space where members of both associations can come together to discuss the industry and how we move forward after the recent COVID restrictions and closures.

Garden retailers are set to benefit from one of the most lucrative autumns that the lawncare category has ever experienced – with significant opportunities to drive footfall and growth, according to Johnsons Lawn Seed.

The UK’s oldest grass seed supplier says three novel influences are set to combine, resulting in heightened potential to maximise revenue from lawncare departments: a new generation of younger consumers who discovered gardening for the first time during the spring lockdown; gardeners looking to sow and feed lawns who were unable to obtain product while garden centres remained closed in spring, and shoppers who found that their lawns were damaged by the early season drought and are seeking to repair turf before winter.

Here, Johnson’s Lawn Seed’s Consumer Manager, Guy Jenkins, looks at how Johnsons Lawn Seed is rising to the challenge of catering for a rapidly changing lawncare sector:

As a reflection on conversations between Hyve, the organiser of Glee, and the community it serves, Hyve have taken the decision that Glee 2020 will not take place this year and will return as an in-person event in 2021. 

They have listened to the Glee community and whilst the industry supports Glee, the preferred choice in 2020 is to connect in a virtual environment. 

Hyve are now working closely with our partners and clients to deliver a unique virtual forum for product discovery and interactive industry discussions that will connect the garden retail market, taking place on 15 and 16 September 2020.