Austria has All Souls’ Day (Allerseelen), Belgians give flowers to sick people on the Day of the Ill People (Ziekendag), the Czech Republic celebrates Nameday Adam and Eve (Naamdag Adam en Eva), the Danes honor Crown Princess Mary (Verjaardag Kroomprinses Mary), the Finns dance the night away on Walpurgis Night (a spring festival with bonfires), the French have Mardi Gras (a la New Orleans), and the Germans have Thank You Day (Danke Shoen Tag).

If the voices in your head have you feeling conflicted about your 2013 Christmas container choices, don’t allow these ghosts to thwart your plans for spreading good will through your holiday displays. Follow your heart. There is a good chance your thoughts are right on trend.

This promises to be a season where many trends collide. Like never before, looks of the past, the present and the future will seem to clash, but they will all evoke the appropriate feeling for the occasion. The key is to focus on the mood needed, and then build your choices around it.

Though the first forum in January 2013 saw the business future of garden centers through a glass darkly, a follow-up session next month will dwell on paths to a brighter commercial destiny for them. The forum will be held Nov. 5-6 in Raleigh, NC, under the sponsorship of OFA and the American Nursery & Landscape Association.

Retail consultants John Stanley and Sid Raisch, who led the 2013 forum, will present new material in lectures and lead discussions at the follow-up session, which is designed to help garden center retailers develop new business plans and strategies.

AMELIA ISLAND, FL — The 70th annual Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association convention, held Sept. 22-25 at the Ritz-Carlton, here, set new records in terms of attendance and sponsorships, which were both at least 20 percent more than 2012 numbers.

Well over 300 growers, shippers and industry affiliates heard and participated in three days of debate about the issues and opportunities facing and awaiting the Florida produce industry.

They also had some fun.

The recent helium shortage cut into sales at supermarket floral departments, but the worst is over. Peak floral holidays are always the driving force behind significant push of helium sales and across the country, helium balloons account for up to 5 percent of total floral sales.

Proflora, Colombia’s biennial flower trade show, was expected to attract nearly 7,000 visitors to Bogota, Colombia’s capital, Oct. 2-4, according to Sept. 23 revised estimates by officials at Asocolflores, the flower exporters group that sponsors the show. About 1,200 of those attending were expected to be international travelers from 45 countries.