The outlook for holiday greens growers and shippers is optimistic, I believe. It appears that our economy will slowly continue to improve and consumers will stay with the traditional customs of Christmas and decorate with fresh and fragrant greens.

Colors and designs will change, but the aroma of fresh cut holiday greens will always be a reminder of a once-a-year gathering of family and friends for a joyous holiday season. In good times and bad, this is one tradition that has always prevailed.

There are three important things to know about holiday floral selling (and real estate): location, location, location! You will be selling a lot of plants and arrangements for Thanksgiving and Christmas and you need the real estate in the store to do it. Start planning early with your store management teams to create the space needed to display all your holiday products to your guests.

A Philadelphia Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. customer has won a rose-naming contest that drew 16,000 entries, receiving a bouquet of orange roses, a new variety she named Tangelic — combining tangerine, the color of the rose, with what she described as an angelic appearance. She also won $5,000 in grocery gift cards.

Lane DeVries, head of Sun Valley Group in Arcata, CA, is a man on a mission. And when Mr. DeVries speaks, as he did at the recent International Floriculture Expo in Miami Beach, the breakfast table conversations stop and people listen.

Technology bloomed in the massive exhibit hall at the International Floriculture Expo in Miami Beach, FL, last month. Booths were drawing curious groups of visitors to view time-lapse videos of tulips growing from bulbs to full flower in 90 seconds, 60-second videos in living color on the care and handling of spray roses, and a virtual decorating program that allowed guests to place virtual plants around a living room to see how they would look.

“It’s been a tough year. We’ve tried to keep our heads down and develop some new strategies. We’ve right-sized and re-thought our operations, and we’re going to reemerge at WF&FSA (the Wholesale Florist & Florist Distribution Association conference in Miami Oct. 24-26) with a new look-new products and a new marketing campaign.”