At GTN we've just received the top line numbers for GTN Bestsellers up to Easter Sunday and as far as volume sales are concerned this years first Easter week was the best since 2015. We won't have data for Easter Monday until next week, when we will be able to report on the full Easter period analysis.

In the meantime, we've been asking centres how Easter was for them and their teams and did they break any trading records for Easter Monday.

Here, in aphabetical order are the responses we've had during today, Tuesday 23rd April 2019:

Andy Bunker, Alton Garden Centre, who was on BBC Radio 5 Live’s 'Wake Up To Money' programme on Easter Monday morning at 5:30am!   https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004ff3 listen from 36 minutes into the programme…

“Easter Monday was our best ever plant dept. day by + 11%, our last best was Whitsun 2017.  Overall we have just come through best ever day by over 7% and over DOUBLE on Easter last year.”

Adam Wigglesworth, Aylett Nurseries told us: “Easter was the perfect weather for trade, which resulted in strong sales throughout the weekend. All areas performed very well, with Garden furniture particularly strong.  it is still too early to predict the end result of the critical March to June period of trade, especially as May and June were so good last year, but it has been a very encouraging season so far.”

Nigel Wallis, Baytree Garden Centre reckons he did 7 miles running around the centre yesterday; “It was a bonkers weekend! Furniture sales were amazing, and the plant sales incredible, and not just summer bedding.  We only just kept up with getting customer trolleys back into the centre! I can’t believe how much compost has sold.  Weekends like this just show what a great team we have at Baytree.”

Alan Roper, Blue Diamond MD reports that “Bank Holiday Monday appears to have broken records with figures still coming in. Bicester Avenue took nearly £90K ex VAT (including the restaurant) yesterday which was a huge jump on last year. The group excluding ex-Wyevale's was up 4% during the week ending on Easter Sunday.  There was a bandwidth of individual centre performances with that of 1% to 9% up.

"Our ex-Wyevale’s were up 47%. Group up 14% overall. A number of centres have all reported record days, but a day does not a season make, never has, never will do. We have big months from last year to beat on the horizon. 

“Garden furniture was exactly 50% up for us last week but again weather just shifts timing of purchase on furniture , there’s a long season ahead.

“Gardening appears to be have been very strong yesterday, but last week with a key weekend day being missing (albeit an Easter week) the comparative sale on gardening and plants are mixed with some centres up and some down. Gardening up 4% plants up 7% overall.”

Steve Cole, manager at Blue Diamond East Bridgford added:  "We had our best day so far at East Bridgford on Easter Monday with retail sales of £97k! Our previous best was £70k’s up to Christmas and Saturday just gone.

"We used the grass bank for parking again which helped but pressure on parking from 12-4 and till queue’s were 6 deep all afternoon, with all tills open and packers there to help."

Sam Bosworth, Bosworths Garden Centres said: “It was a really strong weekend, particularly considering we were up against the first good sales weekend of last year, whereas sales have been fairly good throughout the season so far this year. 

“We were up on the week, despite being a day’s trading down on Sunday.  Good Friday was our second busiest day ever, Easter Monday our fourth.  All weekend was strong for Plants, excellent start for the bedding season.  Catering was consistent all weekend, again at the top end of our trading levels. 

“Furniture peaked on Friday, then slowed down, the customers knew the weather was coming and they wanted to get set for the weekend.  We are running out of some stock and hoping that Suppliers will be true to their word as to when our next containers are due.

“It will be good going into May with YTD figures around 27% up, as last year's May will be tough to get anywhere near, but after this weekend, who knows what is achievable?”

Graeme Jenkins, Dobbies CEO reports a record Easter weekend for the group that will be come the biggest garden centre retailer in the UK when they complete the acquisition of another 31 centres from Wyevale in June.  "Record sales for each individual day across the weekend, with Easter Monday being our biggest Easter weekend day ever," he told GTN Xtra this evening. "Plants, gardening & outdoor furniture driving performance, all recording a best ever Easter weekend.

"Our Outdoor Furniture sales were three times higher than the previous Easter record."

Justin Williams, Fron Goch Garden Centre, tells us that in North Wales; “we had beautiful weather here.

"We had an excellent week leading up to Easter, 30.9% up on the same week last year, good interest in Garden furniture and outdoor cooking.

“The fine weather did mean footfall wasn't that high over the Easter weekend with people enjoying the beaches and mountains but spending held up well.

“We've had a great start to the season, we will probably see our gains eroded somewhat as we come up against last year’s May and June. Let's see how much of it we can hold onto!

James Debbage, Green Pastures, near Norwich: “It was mental and it's been a long time since I can remember an Easter anything like this one. And of course, having to close on such a fabulous Easter Sunday meant I had a really sick feeling all day which unfortunately was nothing to do with eating any eggs!”

Julian Winfield, Haskins Garden Centres said this afternoon: “We had a record Easter Weekend (Fri, Sat and Mon) although I still think the hot weather had a negative impact.  Weather and a very late Easter helped so the sales needed to be good.  If I exclude Snow Hill figures where we are trading in a tent April is +6.5% and YTD (March and April) +22%.

“The forecast of rain this week is positive for the trade over the next few weeks, my garden is dry!

“All Haskins gardening departments have done well.  Fingers crossed for May!”

Keith Laird, Hayes Garden World in the Lake District had a very good Easter with furniture being the star performer for the company.  “We were over 120% up on furniture on the four days. The issue is now getting that stock out quickly and efficiently in the next week that will be the issue. We need to be on top of things before the next Bank Holiday comes along.

“The other category that performed was outdoor plants, with a 97% increase over the 4 days.

“We hope this continues and based on furniture I would expect a good season on barbeques too.”

Chris Francis, Hillier Garden Centres told GTN Xtra this morning: “We had 3 record days!

“Plant sales were very strong. Furniture was the outstanding performing category across the weekend.”

Boyd J Douglas-Davies, Hillview Garden Centres said: “We had a fantastic weekend across all sites; it was a record for the group. Particular highlights were garden furniture, summer bedding, hardy plants, pots & composts. Breakfast with the Easter Bunny took place at four stores on Easter Sunday and was a great success.”

David Yardley, Chief Executive, Klondyke Group has been delving into the history to report: “I have looked back over 10 years, and this has been our best Easter weekend ever by quite a margin, 2011 was our best prior to that followed by 2014. These figures are all comparing like for like in centres and excluding any centres we have sold or purchased over that period.

“The same applies to both Good Friday and Easter Monday. Outdoor Leisure was our best performer followed by plants.”

Tammy Woodhouse, Millbrook Garden Centres in Kent says: “We had a great Easter, our best since 2012.  We sold plenty of furniture and BBQs but the real winner was plants.  Lots of full trollies of plants, compost and gardening products.  Easter Monday was up there with one of our best ever days as a business.  Long may it continue!”

Steve Searle at Monkton Elm in Somerset reports: “The Bank Holiday weekend was one of the best ever and Monday was a record for us. Furniture and BBQ'S were going as fast as we could load them in customers cars as they wanted them for entertaining over the holiday period.

“Outdoor and bedding plants were also the big winners as customers wanted to start planting seasonal containers up.  It just goes to show you can only do so much to sell products, but the weather is the best factor for increasing our sales and you couldn't have asked it to be any better.”

Jon Bottomley, Newbank Garden Centres, was the first to let us know of their Easter success.  “We had unbelievable sales this week. Our biggest issue is that our delivery vans are all full for the next three weeks with garden furniture sales being 50% up.

“Then we had our best Easter Monday by 20% since we went Epos. Phenomenal sales across all gardening departments. The improvements we have made last year are really bearing fruit. If I hadn’t wasted time on Wyevale it could have been better!”

Colin Dale at Notcutts said: “Easter was our best ever, over Friday, Saturday & Monday. We had a very strong gardening Easter, with plants & gardening sundries taking pride of place.”

Simon Bourne at Perrywood reports from Essex and Suffolk that; “it was an amazing weekend! Just off our best ever day on Good Friday, we then beat our best ever day by £2k on Saturday and then added another £6k on top of that on Easter Monday.

“Furniture is flying out, we bought more than ever but we've started to sell out of some lines.”

Gerald Ingram, Planters and Garden King told us: “Yes Easter was a record here and Easter Monday a record day in all three centres.   That's the first time I've known all three to have the same record day. 

“Planters broke their record by a few thousand thanks to strong furniture sales and also the new plant area.  The restaurants did not have record days but that's because people were gardening not eating.  Garden King has had a very strong run on the back of Facebook deals and offers.”

Martin Breddy, Squires Garden Centres said: “The three days of Easter trading were comfortably our best ever. Five of our centres, Twickenham, Hersham, Washington, Reigate and Chertsey, enjoyed their best ever day of trading over the Easter break. Plants and outdoor living very strong across the whole group.

“We're in good shape. Maybe gardens offer people a good escape from the woes of Brexit?”

Martin Stewart, Stewarts Garden Centres said: “We had a great Easter.  Broke loads of records and hope we made loads of visitors happy. The team played a blinder and the centres still looked ready for more on Monday evening.

“So far so good for the spring season of 2019!”

From north of the border, John Stevenson of Torwood Garden Centre adds: “Easter has been fantastic with Easter Monday being our best ever day by some margin.

“Only a week ago today it was wet and very cold but then the sun came through and good Friday was sensational. Sunday, we took less money as there were no big furniture sales, we thought most must have bought Friday and Saturday to make the most of the sun, although all weekend was very busy for plants etc.

“However, furniture sales picked up again on Monday and helped make it our busiest ever for sales. The only bit of the shop that was quieter over the weekend was the café where it was too warm!

“I haven't done my sales figures for percentages yet, but up to last weekend we were 25% up YTD. Happy days!

Robert Mason, Sturmer Nurseries told us: "‘By far and away our best Easter ever. Four days of sunshine, four days of excellent trade.

"Even Easter Sunday, when we just trade from outside the shop, was brisk. A far cry from Easter Sunday 2007 when we took just £30!"

And the final word on Easter for the time being comes from Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Wyevale: “We are delighted to have enjoyed our best-ever Easter weekend with record breaking sales. Performance for the weekend was well over 100% up year-on-year and more than double our average Easter weekend takings. 

“We also significantly outperformed 2014 and 2017, when Easter fell in the same week. Customers snapped up plant ranges including early purchase of Summer bedding, in addition to a clear shift in to garden furniture and BBQ categories.”

If you'd like to add your comments about Easter trading please use the comments button below or e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

With all this glorious weather, initial feedback from garden centres this week is that we could be heading for a bumper Easter weekend.

Last week’s GTN Bestsellers sales data put overall sales at 15% up to date on 2018 and only 3.4% down on 2017. 

With Easter still to be added this year we could be looking at a record breaking first four months of the year for garden centres.

A broadcaster on Radio 2 commented last week that they couldn’t find a parking space in their garden centre on Wednesday, it was rammed. Let’s hope that has been replicated across the country.

How is Easter trading for you?  Let us know and we'll publish your comments during the week, e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Have a great Easter.

GTN Bestsellers Top 50 sales volumes compared to the same week last year (week 15)

• Garden Products – down 10%
• Growing Media – up 28%
• Wild Bird Care – up 16%
• Veg-2-Gro – up 77%
• All Plants index – up 2%
• All Items index – up 2%

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

With ranges successfully launched in Blue Diamond, British Garden Centres, Notcutts and many other independent centres, Primeur are seeing massive year-on-year sales growth with their Recycled Rubber Garden Borders and Stepping Stones.

Garden Borders have been the largest category for growth this season primarily due to their unrivalled and unique features and benefits for the user.  The borders bend to the curves of the garden, are virtually unbreakable and really easy to install, making them unlike anything else on the market. Made from recycled rubber tyres, all the products in Primeur’s range promote a strong eco-friendly story.  The many 5* reviews demonstrate how pleased customers are with the ease of use and finished effect in their gardens.

Not only have the award wins at both GIMA and Glee helped to bring awareness to these fantastic products, but the new merchandising stands have produced a more impactful display which informs the customers about the benefits of the product.

There is still plenty of time left in the 2019 season to range these items; stands and stock are readily available and can be despatch within a week.  The team will also return to Glee in September and are already working on their new products.

If you would like any more information about the products available from Primeur, please contact the team on 01274 518800 or sales@primeur.ltd.uk

Plant sales bounced back up last week with bedding plants starting to sell through in healthy volumes. After the next two Easter weeks we’ll be able to make good comparisons on previous years but we are heading for a potential record first four months looking at the last three year of GTN Bestsellers Plant sales analysis.

• Tomato plants continue to outsell flowering plants, staying at No 1 .
• All Plants volume sales change: Week on week Up 23.4%.  Year to date vs 2018 UP 20.9%, vs  2017 DOWN  3.4%.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Wyevale Garden Centres has announced changes to its Garden Club loyalty scheme which will see the collection of loyalty points replaced with an instant discount every time members shop.

The changes, which have been introduced in time for the Easter bank holiday break, will give customers an instant reward through a 5% discount at the till. The new scheme represents the same value for customers, who previously collected 5 points per £1. For customers over 60, the rewards are even greater, with 10% discount, every Tuesday.

All qualifying points collected on purchases made up to 16th April 2019 (15th April 2019 online) will be converted to reward vouchers and sent to Garden Club members by the end of May. This includes points earned over the recent triple points weekend, a hugely successful event held on 13th and 14th April. WGC expects to send out around 1 million reward vouchers with a face value of over £5 million, including 560,000 vouchers to Garden Club members who have not reached the minimum threshold but have been “topped up” and sent a £2.50 voucher.

Anthony Jones, Chief Operating Officer of WGC said: “Our centres are full of fantastic products as we enter the peak gardening season and our teams are ready to help. I am sure our Garden Club members will welcome the new 5% discount and we are already seeing footfall building ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend. Additionally, a record £5 million of reward vouchers, which will be sent by the end of May and valid until 31st August, should be a welcome boost for members as we move into the summer season.”

Separately WGC announces today that it will stop selling WGC branded gift cards from 17th April to focus on National Garden gift vouchers that can be redeemed in over 1,000 garden centres nationwide, including every Wyevale Garden Centres. WGC branded gift cards will continue to be redeemable in all Wyevale Garden Centres’s, including the 31 centres recently sold to Dobbies, both before and after completion of the sale of these centres.

Anthony Jones added: “With a smaller estate and therefore reduced national coverage, we have stopped selling WGC branded gift cards to focus on National Garden gift vouchers. Accepted by over 1,000 garden centres, including all of our centres, we believe this is the right thing to do for our customers.”

After months of preparations, the transportation of the floral consignment left from Keukenhof, 'Flowers for St. Peter's Square in Rome'. The Right Reverend Van den Hende, Bishop of Rotterdam, came to Keukenhof to bless the flowers before departure. Visitors from many nationalities were there to wave the floral consignment off.

The Dutch floricultural sector has been responsible for the floral decoration of the Easter celebration in St. Peter's Square in Rome for over 30 years.

Surrounded by the wonderful flower displays , Pope Francis will give the Easter Blessing Urbi et Orbi this coming Sunday. Chief flower arranger Paul Deckers is traveling to Rome with dozens of Dutch flower growers to arrange in two days.

"For me as chief flower arranger it is a challenge every year to decorate the large St. Peter's Square with Dutch flowers and plants: a metamorphosis into a floral painting," says Deckers. "When arranging the flowers for the decoration displays one has to take into account the different flowers and their symbolism."

The Great British Card Company is donating 20p from the sale of each pack of Charity Notelets to the Greenfingers Charity.

Each pack contains four blank cards of one design with envelopes.

The Great British Card Company has produced a sturdy cardboard display unit with space for six packs of each design.

GBCC has now smashed its £2,000 walk target and the current total is £2,640.00. “We've walked, held a cake sale and most recently raffled a giant Easter bunny which will be drawn today,” said Nick Adsett.

www.greatbritishcards.co.uk

When the Managing Director of Bents decided he wanted to do something a little bit different to continue the celebrations for the Centre’s success at this year’s Garden Centre Association awards, no-one expected him to suggest a rickshaw to help him reach as many colleagues as possible.  But when tackled with such a challenge, Bents’ in house team of joiners never disappoint!

The solution was a hand-made tricycle, designed and built by one of Bents’ most creative and skilled colleagues, Karl Sharples.  The trike proved to be the perfect transportation as Matthew was able to cycle around the store, stopping off in the Centre’s many different departments.

Colleagues were invited to spin the wheel and choose a gift, as a thank you for the hard work and dedication that goes into making Bents the Best Destination Centre in the UK.

Said Matthew:  “When I came up with the idea of surprising our colleagues I never imagined I would have been able to travel in such style!  We really wanted the celebrations to be a little bit different this year and the tricycle has proved the perfect answer.  It has helped me get to all corners of the centre as well as out to our warehouse and nurseries to ensure we could surprise as many colleagues as possible.

“I am always so impressed with the talents and skills of our joinery team as they never fail to deliver fantastic displays at Christmastime, but Karl has gone even further with his ability to build me an actual tricycle from scratch.  It was the perfect means of transport for my challenge and is currently parked up outside my office ready for me to hop on again and continue with my quest to surprise and thank our colleagues!”

Karl used his design and joinery skills to build the tricycle using parts from an existing bike, spare wheels and fabricated new parts to create the carrier, which was essential for all the thank you gifts. 

The David Colegrave Foundation is funding a studentship for undergraduates, as part of the Royal Society of Biology’s Plant Health Undergraduate Summer Studentship Programme for 2019.

DCF worked with RBS to select one of nine projects put forward by plant scientists that address major plant health challenges identified by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The Plant Health Undergraduate Studentship project funded by DCF is The Life cycle and biology of an emergent pest, the agapanthus gall midge, hosted by RHS, Wisley and supervised by Dr. Hayley Jones.

The agapanthus gall midge, Enigmadiplosis agapanthi, causes damage to the popular ornamental plant Agapanthus. The midge larvae form galls in the flower buds, deforming them and stopping their flowering. It was first discovered in the UK in 2014, and at that time was new to science.

It was subsequently added to the UK Plant Health Risk Register. This pest is a major concern to Agapanthus growers, both in industry and home gardens, but its novelty means there is a real lack of information about its biology and life cycle.

Working with the scientists that first intercepted the pest, this project will use field observations and laboratory rearing to answer questions about the midge including:

How deep underground do the midge larvae pupate?

Is pupation time affected by temperature?

Where and when does the female lay eggs on the plant?

How long do eggs take to hatch and the larvae take to travel into the flower buds?

This project will gather essential life cycle information. The knowledge gained will inform the development and targeting of control options, with the aim of improving the economic stability of Agapanthus breeders and nurseries, and empowering gardeners to protect their garden plants from this pest.

Supervisor, Dr. Hayley Jones comments: “This project will really contribute to our knowledge base on the agapanthus gall midge, and provide essential information to help further research on ways to control the midge. The successful applicant can look forward to learning lots of skills including insect rearing, insect morphology and project management and they will get a real feel for scientific research as a potential career. The student will come to an inspiring place – the beautiful RHS Garden Wisley is the location, alongside the plant health team and using our gardens and field research facility as part of the project.”

Students can now apply to work on this project for 8-10 weeks this summer. Successful students will receive £250 per week.

Closing date for applications is 8^th May 2019.

Visit www.rsb.org.uk/get-involved/grants/plant-health-ug-studentships

McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford announced that work has started on Europe’s largest living wall installation, which forms part of the centre’s £90 million expansion.

Made up of approximately 120,000 plants, the 25,000 sq. ft. living wall installation is set to create a striking atmosphere in the centre, with beautiful vertical gardens covering the walls of the new entry promenade, various walkways and many of the new stores.

Chichester-based company, Biotecture, will be designing, growing and installing the £1.5 million living wall, which will make McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford one of the world’s greenest shopping centres.

The thousands of plants required for the project - equating to the length of 60 double decker buses - are currently growing in Biotecture’s West Sussex nurseries. The company has taken on additional nursery space to accommodate the 8,000 or so hydroponic growing panels.

The living wall has been designed as part of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford’s commitment to creating the best possible experience for its guests, with a visit to the centre providing an exciting day out with entertainment, dining and relaxation options for the whole family. According to Biotecture, there are several benefits to incorporating plants and green infrastructure within urban environments. Living walls are proven to help uplift people, reduce air pollution, aid biodiversity while meeting sustainability targets and improving performance.

The wall will include leafy greens, background foliage, plus seasonal pops of colour. Some of the plants to be featured include Fortune Spindle, Boxleaf Honeysuckle and Ivy providing year-round coverage and texture, as well as Elephant’s Ears ‘Baby Doll’, Rose of Sharon, Heuchera and Viola to provide bright hues in shades of pink, purple, lilac, yellow and white.

Peter Corr, Centre Manager of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford said: “As South East England’s leading designer outlet, and just over 30 minutes from London, our centre has seen 18 years of growth and evolution. We welcome over 3.6 million visitors every year and in response to market demand, this autumn we are launching a new phase that will elevate the whole shopping experience for our guests and the retail environment for our brand partners. This spectacular living wall installation is a key feature of this exciting expansion that will attract new shoppers locally, from London and also internationally.”

Construction on McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford’s new 100,000 sq. ft. expansion began last January, its first extension since opening in 2000. The existing 185,000 sq ft. centre, which has the world's largest tented retail structure, was designed by the renowned architect Lord Richard Rogers who is famous for the Lloyd's building in London as well as The O2 Arena.

When the expansion opens later this year, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Ashford will introduce up to 50 new premium and luxury brands, while creating 500 new jobs for Ashford’s local community. New facilities will include an events space, food piazza, interactive children’s play area and 725 new car parking spaces will also be delivered.

This second phase at Ashford Designer Outlet comes at a time of rapid growth for McArthurGlen, which opened Europe’s first designer outlet in the UK in 1995 and now operates 24 centres in nine countries. In 2018, the Group announced it would be investing €1 billion in four new centres and seven centre expansions in some of the most densely populated catchments and key tourist destinations in Europe and Canada by 2021. These projects will create more than 800 new stores to cater to the growing demand from shoppers and tourists seeking the finest retail experiences and great value for money.

The company will enter its 10th market when it opens the first designer outlet in the south of Spain in Malaga this autumn. Construction is now well underway on its seventh UK centre, a new £160 million development just 30 minutes from Birmingham in the West Midlands, which will open in 2020 with over 80 stores.

In November of last year, following over 20 years in planning, McArthurGlen obtained final approval for the first and only luxury designer outlet in the western Paris area. The €150 million centre will span 215,000 sq.ft of retail space with 100 stores and seven restaurants and is expected to attract 2.5 million visitors per year when it opens in 2021. It will also host a unique Artisan’s village, known in French as a “Maison des Métiers d’Art”, promoting the savoir-faire of French crafts and artisanship. 

Plant breeder, Kerley & Co and wholesale distributor, Ball Colegrave, are working together to bring plant sales donations to the David Colegrave Foundation (DCF) to support students studying horticulture in the UK.

Kerley & Co, will donate 50% of the proceeds from the royalties collected from Ball Colegrave of sales of Begonia Sweet Spice Bounty, to DCF for the next 2 years. The donations will be used to fund DCF’s Student Scholarships.

Specialising in breeding patio plants grown from cuttings, Kerley & Co is a growing family business based near Cambridge. Begonia Sweet Spice Bounty is a new variety of vegetatively-propagated Begonia bred by Tim Kerley, a partner in the business and also the first recipient of DCF’s Markham-Colegrave Scholarship. 

Ball Colegrave (formerly Colegrave Seeds), is the UK’s leading wholesale distributor of seed and plants to commercial growers and local authorities and was founded in 1962 by the late David Colegrave and his wife Nancy.

Tim Kerley comments: “I can testify to the importance of the Foundation in supporting horticulture students. More than 10 years ago, I was a recipient of an award from the DCF to support my work placement in the USA. Years later, the experience and contacts I gained are still important to me at Kerley & Co. We are therefore delighted to work with our longstanding friends at Ball Colegrave to make a donation to the DCF for every plant sold in the UK of Begonia SweetSpice Bounty.”

Stuart Lowen from Ball Colegrave adds: “We too are delighted to be working closely with Kerley & Co in raising funds for the DCF. This outstanding variety captivated visitors so much at the RHS Wisley New Variety Trials in 2018, it was voted winner of the People’s Choice Award. It would be nice to think that monies raised from the sale of this plant variety would go on to support the development of more experts like Tim into our industry.”

Well-known gardening writer and television broadcaster, Peter Seabrook who is a DCF Trustee adds “this is a very generous offer by Kerley & Co and Ball Colegrave for which DCF has many thanks. It will go a long way in supporting the new talent that is coming into the industry which is a priority for the sector.”

Peter describes Begonia ‘Sweet Spice Bounty’ as “a first rate introduction, with masses of fully double bicolour flowers, lovely weeping habit and delicious fragrance. Best grown in a hanging basket so the flowers are held at head height, just right to savour the perfume, but equally good in containers.”

Begonias were voted a plant favourite in the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) annual People’s Choice Awards 2018 with Begonia ‘Sweet Spice Bounty Coral’ being the New Plant Variety Winner. Visitors to RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey were asked to vote for their favourite from 84 new varieties trialled over the summer.

Begonia Sweet Spice Bounty will be on show at Gardeners World Live in June 2019 and will be available to order from Ball Colegrave’s 2020 Plant Catalogue.

Squire’s Garden Centres is partnering with Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care for its Open Gardens season 2019. This is an important fundraising event for the charity, which supports 250 patients, carers and their families every day in their own homes, at the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham, and at the Beacon Centre in Guildford. In 2019, Phyllis Tuckwell celebrates its 40^th anniversary.

This is the second year for the Open Gardens scheme whereby owners of private gardens open them to the public or host their own private garden events as a fund-raising opportunity, with all proceeds going to Phyllis Tuckwell. In 2018 over 25 gardens took part in the scheme and they are now receiving applications from eager garden owners for 2019 via an online application form: https://www.pth.org.uk/open-gardens/

Gardens of all shapes and sizes - cottage gardens, rose gardens, community allotments, woodland and larger, formal gardens, even patios - are all welcome within the scheme, as Sarah Squire, Chairman of Squire’s Garden Centres explains: “We are so pleased to work in partnership with The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care Open Gardens project.

"This is a lovely opportunity to share your enjoyment of your own garden with like- minded visitors. Alternatively, you may prefer to appreciate the beauty of other local gardens and pick up inspiration to take home. This is a perfect way to way to enjoy nature while raising funds for the charity.

"My late grandfather was a keen supporter of Phyllis Tuckwell and we are delighted to continue this family link. I hope that as many garden lovers as possible will open their own gardens or come and visit some of the stunning gardens in our area to raise money for this important local service.”

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care is the designated charity of the year, chosen by staff at Squire’s in Frensham, and is supported by a number of fund-raising initiatives including this partnership.

Charlotte Quay-Barnham, Community Fundraising Manager at Phyllis Tuckwell adds: ”We are delighted to have Squire’s as our partner for the 2019 Open Gardens. As the go-to garden centres for many in our local community we are very grateful for the support they are giving to our Open Gardens campaign and the fantastic fundraising the staff at their Frensham centre are doing this year.

"The partnership with Squire’s enables Phyllis Tuckwell to raise as much as possible for Hospice Care across West Surrey and North East Hampshire; this is so important as we currently have to raise over £20,000 every single day to keep our care free of charge to our patients and families. For those who wish to visit the Open Gardens keep your eyes peeled for the Open Gardens brochure which will be arriving soon!”

GIMA has announced Wednesday 29th May as the date of the next Buyer Connect session - featuring buyers from Crocus, Wayfair and Haskins Garden Centres.

The speed networking event – to be held at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre (Madejski Stadium), Reading - will allow potential suppliers to meet with key garden retailers in timed 20-minute appointment sessions.  The buyer representatives will be attending to meet with potential new retail partners, as opposed to existing suppliers.

As well as sourcing products for www.crocus.co.uk, the Crocus team also work with their affiliates at the RHS, Waitrose and Next. On behalf of these brands, Crocus run their websites, as well as manage the range selection, pricing and distribution from its warehouse and head office facilities in Windlesham. The buyers attending the GIMA Buyer Connect event will be interested to talking to suppliers of core garden (not landscaping), and gardeners’ gifting.

As a leading online retailer, the Wayfair team is interested in meeting any potential suppliers of garden furniture, structures, sheds, garden décor, garden lighting, summerhouses.  They are not interested in machinery, tools, gloves, seeds, bulbs, fertilisers, chemicals or growing media.  Suppliers must be able to process and pack individual orders, support a supplier portal and provide regular inventory updates.

Haskins Garden Centres operates four of the largest destination garden centres in the country and has ambitious plans to expand further over the next few years.  The Haskins buying team will be interested in meeting potential suppliers of garden furniture, BBQs, garden décor, garden lighting, water features, building materials, garden lifestyle, non-plastic outdoor pots, compost, chemicals, garden sundries such as mats, watering, propagation, gardening gloves, plant support, and hanging baskets.

Supplier of garden tools and seeds are also invited to attend.  Whilst not represented at the Buyer Connect event, suppliers of pet and birdcare are welcome to attend, with feedback shared with the relevant buyer post-event.

How to get involved
Suppliers who are interested in meeting any or all of these companies should complete the relevant application forms and return them to info@gima.org.uk by Friday 10th May.

The cost for non-members taking part in the above sessions will be £145 plus VAT for the first appointment, then £35 plus VAT for any extra meetings after that. GIMA members receive the discounted price of £95 plus VAT for the first meeting and an additional £25 plus VAT for subsequent appointments.

It is anticipated that there will be a lot of interest in these sessions, so interested parties are urged to confirm their applications as soon as possible.  Applications will be dealt with on a first come first served basis, and GIMA cannot guarantee appointments for all applicants, particularly if they are received late.

Visit www.gima.org.uk/buyer-connect or contact GIMA direct via email info@gima.org.uk or telephone 01959 564947 for further information.

Other Upcoming GIMA Events

• GIMA Charity Day – Telford Hotel and Golf Resort - 6th June http://gima.org.uk/events/gima-charity-day/
• GIMA Awards Gala Dinner – Celtic Manor - 4th July http://gima.org.uk/events/gima-awards-2019/

Johnsons Seeds have pledged more than £2,900 to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust from sales of its Mixed Bumblebee Friendly Flower seeds. 25p from each packet sold goes directly to the charity, whose mission is to increase the number and distribution of bumblebees.

Tessa Brooks, Fundraising Officer at the Trust, recently received a cheque for £2,981.75 from Johnsons' Helen Clayton.

Tessa said the Trust was delighted to be receiving continued support from Johnsons Seeds and their customers. "We are passionate about saving bumblebees and the generous donations we receive from Johnsons Seeds directly supports the work that we are doing to help achieve this.

"Populations of bumblebees have decreased rapidly over the past century, with two species becoming extinct in the UK. Our hope is that by encouraging people to grow bee-friendly flowers in their own gardens, we can go some way to reverse this decline, so we would like to thank everyone who has bought the packet from Johnsons Seeds.”

The varieties in the Mixed Bumblebee Friendly Flowers are a carefully selected and well-balanced combination of more than 25 annuals and perennials. These not only attract bumblebees but many other pollinating insects, and also provide colour in the garden right through the summer months.

Helen Clayton believes gardeners can play an important part in helping bumblebees just by growing certain types of flowers. "It is great that more people are taking such an interest in bumblebees and gardening increasingly with them in mind", she comments. For further information on the Bumblebee Conservation Trust log on to www.bumblebeeconservation.org

Johnsons seeds are available from garden centres, supermarkets and leading DIY stores throughout the UK and at www.johnsons-seeds.com

Having completed the purchase of their second garden centre at Hilgay on the A10 near Downham Market the Baytree family team held their Grand Opening Event this weekend.

Baytree MD, Jutta Whitworth Biehler, told GTN Xtra: "I’ve never spent so much time cleaning as we have over the past six weeks. Getting a five star inspection this week was a brilliant result for everyone’s hard efforts."

The garden centre and farm shop has been fully stocked with all the immediately useable retail space spruced up and Baytree merchandised. Sales have been growing every week and early furniture an BBQ’s are above expectations.

The 260 seat Oak framed Barn table service restaurant is a wonderful asset - it’s fully booked every Sunday- that will enable Baytree to pull good footfall and develop increase product and plant sales.

The car park has already been resurfaced and extended, a new Entrance is being constructed off site to add some theatre at the front door. With other buildings that can be used for retail along with a coppice and grass paddock on the 10 acre site Hilgay could quickly become another destination venue for the Baytree team.

See GTN Xtra's photo tour of the centre taken on Friday afternoon as the team completed their set up work for the Grand Opening Weekend.

What would you expect from a Hillier centre? Authoritative ranges of products and plants, crisp merchandising, and expert staff. That’s exactly the delivery at Botley plus there’s the Rosemary and Thyme restaurant concept that is now being rolled out across the Hiller estate of centres. This classy, counter ordered but table served concept will be a huge benefit when the Wyevale centres just purchased get an upgrade from their current Garden Kitchens.

Out in the Planteria the customer care extends to trees where the team retain the use of their Christmas tree netting equipment to net all trees purchased to help customers get their valuable trees home safely.

In garden care they were selling plenty of grow houses with displays that included the Veg Trug wooden version at £99. At Botley they were still to sell one of the Veg Trug versions when we visited at the start of April - it’s a spot on Hillier customer product but time will tell to see if people want a more expensive wooden framed grow house.

See GTN Xtra's Photo Tour taken at the start of April 2019

Billed as "Farnhams Favourite Garden Centre", Forest Lodge has loads of competitors around them so it’s no surprise they are giving themselves an edge by stocking wide ranges of products - really deep gardening ranges and plants with the extra dimension of Garden Style plants where large specimens can be bought by gardeners and landscapers alike.

In garden furniture Forest Lodge report good early sales, particularly the small corner weave sets and the metal framed lower couch style furniture from Life “it’s appealing to the younger audience looking for some style on their patio”

The extended Forest Lodge restaurant has a wonderful conservatory feel overlooking the extensive Planteria. With friendly staff and a great menu no wonder this is a favourite destination for many.

See GTN Xtra's Photo Tour, taken at the start of April 2019.

Alan Roper welcomed staff and suppliers to an evening event on Monday 15th April at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre to celebrate the completion of the refurbishment from a Wyevale Garden Centre that they bought last summer to a Blue Diamond Centre that is ready and raring for Easter 2019.

"Welcome to Bicester. The new Bicester. The best manifestation of Bicester in its history since it was built, I think you'll agree. We've been refurbishing many of the ex-Wyevales:  Cadbury has been going through some refurbishment, Nailsworth, my old centre has been completely finished and Endsleigh in Devon is being done currently.  It's about to start at Weybridge with a new restaurant and at Melbicks. We're working on all the ex Wyevales to get them to a standard."

See GTN Xtra's photo tour of the refurbished centre below

Value House Stores operate 2 retail outlets in North Devon with a high reliance on Gardening. 

We are looking for an experienced plants/horticulture person. 

A successful candidate will need to have detailed plant knowledge and a strong customer focus in a very busy Garden Retail environment. 

Your main duties will include:

• merchandising and moving stock
• watering
• plant care
• customer service.

Ideally, we are looking for someone with previous retail experience but this is not essential.

Team leading and management duty opportunities are also available. Salary will reflect level of experience.

Please send your CV to:

Annette Huxtable

Value House Stores

Clovelly Industrial Estate

Clovelly Road

Bideford

EX39 3HN

Van Hage has an exciting job opportunity within our family-owned company. We value our employees and are committed to their development whilst also growing our business. We have ambitious plans so it’'s a great time to be joining us.

We are currently seeking a Category Manager for Horticulture, who will play a vital role in group purchasing, achieving a strong stimulus for sales growth.

Key points

• Sourcing innovative product ranges and identifying key trends in the market place
• To target and improve on sales and margin trends in line with industry and best practice
• To analyse sales, reacting to information and taking appropriate action
• To support and influence the creation of inspirational displays at each site

Must haves

• Excellent communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Excellent negotiating skills able to respond quickly to trends
• Have a good relationship with suppliers to secure the best possible products & terms
• Able to optimise sales and profitability through store layout and design
• Happy to travel across the UK and abroad as required

Please send your CV with a covering letter to: Liz Whale - liz.whale@vanhage.co.uk

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While sales volumes of the GTN Bestsellers Garden Products Top 50 increased week on week this was another week where the sales volumes were less than last year. 

Perhaps the cold wind is stopping people thinking about garden decoration and other activities just yet. 

Highlights were:

• Smart Solar Martini Stake Light 3 lumens moved up 12 places to No 2 in the chart behind Tomorite.
• Fountasia’s Chick Springer was a new entry at No 15. Bunny Springer also entered the chart at No 39.
• Evergreen Garden Care Roseclear Ultra, Ready To Use, 1 litre climbed 20 places to No 11.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Dave Everett, an industry expert for many years in ePOS, Retail Management and Online Trading has now joined the NedFox-UK team.

Dave has chosen to join NedFox Ltd, to further his career as well as his aim to introduce new and cutting-edge technologies to the garden centre industry. The cloud-based RetailVista solution of NedFox fits seamlessly into this objective, by providing a completely open and future proof system that fully integrates with online sales, card payment solutions, marketing & loyalty, accounts, catering as well as virtually any other third party you can think of. He is a family man, born and raised in Kettering, Northamptonshire and lives there with his wife Lauren and their 9-year old son, Riley.

Martin Tank – Co-Owner of NedFox, said he was delighted to welcome Dave to the team to cover not just sales but also for his technical knowledge and his knowledge about the industry.

Eimert de Graaff – UK Sales Executive of NedFox stated that he was also “very pleased to get the extra support that we now need, to cover the UK (and Ireland) after a very successful Glee and installation roll-outs, this autumn and spring”.

For further information or to contact NedFox visit www.nedfox.com

With Easter still to come, let’s hope everyone has plenty of growing media stock ready for the weekend.

Last week’s sales were the highest of the year to date and were just above the levels for the same week in 2017 which was the first Easter week that year.

Highlights were:

• Traditional Multipurpose composts, most likely on multi-buy deals, lead the way in the GTN chart with Evergreen Garden Care Levington Multipurpose + John Innes 56 litres at No 1, closely followed by Westland Jack’s Magic All Purpose Compost 60 litres at No 2.
• Westland John Innes No 1 Young Plants, 35 litres is the highest chart climber, up 27 places to No 16.
• Evergreen Garden Care Levington Bark Bale, 100 litres, re-enters at No 33.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Harriet Andrews from May Hill in Gloucestershire has recently joined one of the largest, family-run wholesale nurseries in the UK as a Sales Trainee.

Nineteen-year-old Harriet is currently developing her knowledge of the stock at Wyevale Nurseries and is working on sales related tasks within the cash and carry team. 

Harriet said: “I am delighted to have joined Wyevale Nurseries as a Sales Trainee. I know I have a lot to learn and I’m very eager and excited about this opportunity.

“Prior to my role at Wyevale Nurseries, I worked at Fleurie Nursery in Chichester as a stock control and sales support assistant. I also attended Pershore College and gained a Level 3 extended diploma in Horticulture.”

In her spare time, Harriet enjoys horse riding and being out and about in the countryside.

Andy Johnson, Managing Director of Wyevale Nurseries in Hereford, said: “As a company, we’re keen to encourage young people into the horticulture sector. We believe in giving opportunities to young and enthusiastic people, with the aim of developing them towards a great career within the industry.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Harriet to our team. She is very passionate about plants and we’re sure she will go really far in her career with us.”

Wild Bird Care sales had a good performance last week, improving on 2018 levels by 16%.

Perhaps the continuing cold Easterly winds persuaded more gardeners that their wild birds needed some extra care and attention.

Highlights were:

• Gardman’s Paint Your Own Nest Box was the highest GTN Chart re-entry, back in at No 14, perhaps a precursor to Easter holiday children’s activities.
• The Jacobi Jayne Flutter Butter Buggy 330g was only one place behind, re-entering at No 15.
• Gardman No Net Fax Snax Bag, 25 plus 20% Extra Free, were the highest chart climber, up 22 places to No 18.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Perennial has appointed Phil Swainston as Corporate Development Manager to develop its partnerships within the industry. Phil joins Perennial from the HTA and will focus particularly on building new relationships with manufacturers and suppliers to the sector with a view to raising funds and awareness of how the charity helps people in horticulture. 

This year as Perennial marks its 180th anniversary, it aims to reach more people than ever before and to help make that happen, it has strengthened its team with further new appointments within its marketing and fundraising team. James Burns has been appointed Community Fundraising Manager and will lead the initiative to set up a network of community groups across the country, increasing Perennial's volunteer base at a local level. James worked previously at Help for Heroes where he was Regional Manager for London and the South East.

Perennial has also welcomed Claire Humphries as Events Assistant. She will support the events team in organising the growing number of networking and fundraising events the charity offers including the annual Party for Perennial and Festival Dinner, along with its popular programme of garden tours and challenge events.

Phil Swainston comments: "I am looking forward to working with the growing team at Perennial and forging links with even more businesses and organisations that can help us spread the word. In a similar vein to what I have been doing for the past three years at the HTA, I will be looking at the many different ways that we can work with companies including garden centres, growers and suppliers. In the coming months I will be getting out there and talking to as many people as possible. We need support from across the industry to promote a better understand of what Perennial does and to raise money so that we can keep providing the individual, tailored support to the increasing numbers of people that need our help."

Perennial helps anyone who creates or maintains gardens, parks, sports facilities and other green spaces. If you work with plants, trees, gardens, parks or grass, Perennial is your trade charity. Its free and confidential advice, support and financial assistance is often described simply as a 'lifeline'. As the charity celebrates 180 years of helping people in horticulture it is building awareness and support for future.

For more information about Perennial visit: www.perennial.org.uk

It was a bumper week for veg plant sales last week with volumes up 77% on last year and matching 2017 levels. 

Highlights were:

• Quantil Tomato Gardeners Delight 8cm continues to be the No 1 choice for home veg growing.
• Quantil Tomato Tumbler 8cm is the highest chart re-entry at No 24.
• Quantil Patio Pepper Balconi New 8.5cm is a new entry at No 41.

To subscribe to GTN Bestsellers email karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

Award-winning garden designer Paul Stone has been appointed Head of Horticulture at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

With a 30-year record of building gardens, twice winning best in show at the Hampton Court Flower Show and four times winning gold at the Chelsea Flower Show, Paul is a well-known face in the horticulture world.

In his new role, Paul is in charge of a team of 50, working within the Eden Project’s Rainforest and Mediterranean Biomes, the outdoor gardens, 250-acre outer estate and the Eden nursery at nearby Pentewan.

Paul has been part of the Eden horticultural team from the beginning, initially supervising the manufacture of the 83,000 tonnes of top soil made from recycled waste for the global garden based in a former clay quarry.

He stayed with the project to oversee the building of the Eden landscape, including one of the biggest challenges - the complex planting of the Rainforest Biome.

Paul said: “From the start, I knew that this was going to be the best landscaping project in the UK and I was thrilled to be part of it.”

Looking forward to leading the team, he said: “I am so proud to be part of an expert team of horticulturists and scientists. We have a robust five-year garden development plan of unique displays with a clear message about the essential interaction between plants and people.”

Over his career designing and building high-quality private gardens and RHS show gardens, Paul has managed landscape companies throughout the South of England including Squires in West London and his own companies in Brighton and Falmouth.  He moved to Cornwall in 1998.

With a number of exciting projects coming up, such as the first Korean garden in the UK opening in Spring 2020, a carnivorous plant display in the outdoor garden, as well as building a new South African Veld Garden which is opening in 2022, Paul is passionate about Eden telling stories through plants in a way that no other garden does.

Mike Maunder, Eden’s Director of Life Sciences said: “I have huge respect for Paul and I look forward to working closely with him as we unroll a set of new gardens and landscapes at Eden.”

As the announcement came out on Wednesday about the 31 Wyevale Centres sold to Dobbies, the GTN team were checking their list to update the ones still to be sold and it's a good job we didn't print our speculation as to which ones Dobbies would be snapping up.  We'd have only go 60%!  How did you do?

Now after the biggest single deal of the Wyevale "Sale of the Century" there are 59 still to be sold ranging from Tunbridge Wells at £5 million to Wimborne at £200,000.  

We saw reported in the financial press that the Dobbies deal may have been worth £135m which means there may be some bulk discounts on offer as the "Offers based on" price as listed by Christie & Co for the 31 centres totalled £163m.

At the "Offers based on" price Terra Firma have now achieved sales of £357 million for their investors in the TFCPIII fund.  That's just £3 million short of the deal when they bought Wyevale Garden Centres back in 2012.

The big question now is what will happen to the remaining centres, listed below.  Do let us know your views on the future of Wyevale Garden Centres, e-mail: trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk

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Alan Roper welcomed staff and suppliers to an evening event on Monday at Bicester Avenue Garden Centre to celebrate the completion of the refurbishment from a Wyevale Garden Centre that they bought last summer to a Blue Diamond Centre that is ready and raring for Easter 2019.

"Welcome to Bicester. The new Bicester. The best manifestation of Bicester in its history since it was built, I think you'll agree. We've been refurbishing many of the ex-Wyevales:  Cadbury has been going through some refurbishment, Nailsworth, my old centre has been completely finished and Endsleigh in Devon is being done currently.  It's about to start at Weybridge with a new restaurant and at Melbicks. We're working on all the ex Wyevales to get them to a standard.

"Their level of turnover when we bought them was around £38 million.  When all the work's complete over the next two to three years they will be around £82 million. That's the uplift that we're looking for. Currently they are 50% up on themselves in terms of turnover and they're heading on the right path.

"Both the staff here and the customers have been really positive about the changes that we're bringing into the centres.

"It's a big pressure on my team. They're looking exhausted. It's been a lot of work for all of them for all the centres.  I was here two weeks ago, this is the first day I've been back and the work they've put in the last two weeks is phenomenal.

"We've got Jazz Edwards as the manager of Bicester and she's been ably supported by Nick Jones who's been working long hours and keeping the team here together. I'd like to thank Nick for everything that he's been doing here. We have Max who has been working on the shop fit along with Helen Taylor, who's been with me for 20 years, and Adam has been working with me on the design.

"There's a lot of the team are here tonight and they've done a great job. It's a good looking centre.

"The next phase here is at the end of April when we're building an Atrium that will link the main building with the next building along the Avenue. We'll be taking the wall down between the restaurant and the Atrium and that will become an extension to the restaurant with trees and a nice seating area. Then in the building next door to the Atrium we're putting in a gin distillery where we'll be making our own gin for sale across all the centres.

"We've also developed a new concept cafe called Kipling. As you can see from the prose on the wall Kipling wrote about making a cake a couple hundred years ago which is where the connection with Kipling and cakes came from. You can also see my new concept for a sweet shop. We're going to get some rock made with people's names through the middle so you can choose your name.

"From tomorrow we'll be launching on social media and shouting about Bicester. Thank you for coming this evening. You are our partners. You're very important to us. I'm glad so many of you turned out and we look forward to doing plenty of business with you through Bicester and the other centres of which we have some more coming up in the pipeline. So, thank you all and enjoy the evening. Thank you."

See GTN Xtra's photo tour of the refurbished centre below

Garden suppliers and retailers are being warned to watch out for a bank account email scam.

The scam was brought to the attention of LifestyleGarden, highlighting new bank account details. The company’s Paul Cohen believes that other suppliers have been subject to the same scam.

Whilst most retailers will be wise to such emails, Paul wanted to flag it up to make sure the industry is vigilant of such emails.

The advice from Paul and his team would be to contact your accounts point of contact should you have any concerns.

Bulb buyers from Ayletts, Notcutts and Hillview garden centres joined over 500 Daffodil enthusiasts at Taylors Bulbs in Holbeach last week for their Daffodil Day to celebrate the centenary of the company.

Organised in conjunction with the RHS Bulb Committee the event was probably the biggest gathering of people for a bulb event since the RHS Daffodil Exhibition at Chiswick in 1890.

Speakers at the event included Brian Duncan and Christine Skelmersdale who gave talks about the history of Daffodils and ideas for using bulbs in the garden.  The auditorium was packed for every session and included in the audience Lord Gardiner, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Bio Security plus members of the press from The Sun and Garden News along with a host of bloggers and other media.

Notcutts Head of Horticulture, Colin Dale said “That has certainly given us plenty of inspiration to do more with bulbs in store this autumn.”

The event was a huge success with many compliments being paid to the Taylors staff for their brilliant organisation, for their centenary, and for the opportunity to see and celebrate Daffodils.  Among the many thoughts left by visitors included: "Without exception the staff were a credit to Taylor’s Bulbs.  Their energy and enthusiasm for their work, and their obvious commitment to their Company, shone through from start to finish.  They were so welcoming in each area and we had some lovely conversations and learnt such a great deal."

Out in the fields at the end of the day, Adam Taylor told GTN Xtra: “When we started planning for the day we thought 100 people coming would be good.  To have over 500 people here, all smiling and enjoying the wonderful Daffodils is truly amazing.  I have to say a big thank you to all of the Taylors team.”

Read the history of Taylors Bulbs here

See GTN Xtra's photo gallery from the Daffodil Day below

GTN's owners, Potting Shed Press, have signed a new agreement with ITE Events to publish the Glee Catalogue and Glee Daily News until 2022 which will mark the 20th year that GTN Team have been the Official Media Partner for Glee.

The agreement will see GTN publishing on behalf of ITE Events the Glee Planner which gets sent to all registered visitors ins advance of the show, the Glee Catalogue that is given away free to all visitors at the event, the Glee Daily News e-mail newsletter which had over 171,000 page views in 2018 and the organising of The Glee New Product Showcase and Awards.

Glee's Event Director, Matthew Mein, said: "We are really pleased to have secured the continued involvement of the GTN Team as our Official Media Partners. Over the years the Glee Catalogue, under GTN's direction, has become one of the definitive guides to the UK gardening market each year and the development of Glee Daily News as an e-mail newsletter has delivered more Glee news to more people than ever before."

Trevor Pfeiffer, Director of Potting Shed Press, added: "Our aim has always been to be the most useful media provider to the UK garden retailing market and the Glee Publications are a key component of that. We look forward to continuing to provide an excellent service to Glee and all of the Glee Exhibitors for the next four years."

Every week GTN receives and analyses epos data from a number of UK garden centres to produce the GTN Bestsellers charts and weekly bestsellers sales tips.

The full charts which provide useful insight into product sales peaks, new trends and new link sales opportunities are published in the weekly GTN Xtra newsletter.

As the year goes on we give sales volume comparisons with 2016 as well as 2017 to allow your teams to see variations over a three year period.

Access is by subscription only.  For £145.00 per year you and your team can have access to the most up-to-date gardening sales analysis that has already helped many UK garden centres increase their sales.  To subscribe call 01733 775700, e-mail karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or buy on-line using this link.

Highlights of the GTN Garden Products Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Garden Plants Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Wild Bird Care chart for this week are here

Highlights of the GTN Veg-2-Gro chart for this week are here

WARNING the GTN Bestsellers Charts seriously improve the business of our subscribers.  Invest 15 minutes each week in improving your sales using the GTN Bestsellers charts and your turnover and customer satisfaction will improve too.

Get the GTN Bestsellers charts in full every week in the GTN Bestsellers newsletters for only £145.00.

GTN Bestsellers is the only industry source of weekly garden centre sales information, collating Epos data from centres with an aggregate turnover in excess of £120m.

Use the weekly Garden Products and Growing Media Top 50 sales volumes charts to plan your hotspot and other promotions and ensure you have the right products in stock to satisfy the needs of your customers.

For further information contact karen.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call 01733 775700.

Buy your subscription today and start receiving the GTN Bestsellers charts this week.