New HTA President Stan Green opened the HTA Futures conference by passionately reminding us all that plants are our at our core and that we should make more of them.

"There is a remarkable truth in horticulture.  People genuinely love plants.  We all have a connection with them.  We have been around plants for hundreds of thousands of years.  This remarkable truth is a beautiful one.  Plants are inherently aesthetically pleasing.  To lose sight of the emotive element of what we do is to lose sight of our core and our usp. 

"The beautiful truth is that we trade in an amazing product that brings joy and comfort to so many people.  The beautiful truth is our product promotes sustainable healthy living.  When the penny finally drops I’m sure that we will all recognise the asset the beautiful truth we are all privileged to work with daily.

"Gardening hasn’t lost it’s mojo, the British people have not fallen out of love with gardening, gardening and the trade that supports it has always been unpredictable.  

Stan went on to quote Dr Alan Knight: “If gardening didn’t exist, sustainability would invent it.  Nothing else connects people with nature, provides passive exercise, reduces stress, helps wildlife, and is just good fun.” 

The HTA President then asked: "How about that as a strap line for our industry? How about that for the beautiful truth?

"I think promoting should be easy for us, what we do is all about people and plants, what we do is bring people and plants together.  Let’s lift our own horizons, let’s see what’s happening in the rest of the world.  To ignore what’s going on there we do at our peril.

"The time to promote is now.  We have a message.  Offer your time to anyone who will listen, local radio, schools."



Read more coverage from the HTA conference in this GTN Xtra Conference Special and look out for more coverage in this weekends GTN Xtra and the November issue of GTN.

Geoff Caesar has been awarded the Pearson Memorial Medal at the HTA Garden Futures Conference dinner held at One Great George Street in London in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the horticultural industry. 

Geoff, who is Managing Director of The Bransford Webbs Plant Company, has played a key role in the industry contributing in numerous ways. He chairs the HTA Ornamentals Committee, a role he has been committed to for the last six years and was also the instigator of the HTA Retail Suppliers Group and member of the Nursery Business Improvement Scheme.

A past chair of the Contact Conference, Geoff is also heavily involved in the Midland Regional Growers Group. A leading figure in this group he developed the British Plant Fair, instigated projects to encourage joint working between nurseries on logistics and helped the group obtain funding for training in association with Pershore College.

Geoff was a driving force behind the development of the successful HTA National Plant Show which brings UK growers and retailers together effectively sharing his experiences from the British Plant Fair, offering the British Plant Fair as a launch pad for the show and getting his own team to make calls to garden centres encouraging them to attend. Geoff is still an active member of the show steering group giving his time to ensure the longevity of the show.

HTA President Stan Green, who presented Geoff with his award, said: “Geoff is an extremely worthy winner of the Pearson Memorial Medal in recognition of the huge amount of work he does for the industry.  He has a totally unselfish approach and is always willing to share his experiences for the greater good of the industry. A great industry ambassador and all round good guy.”

The Pearson Memorial Medal for outstanding service to the garden industry has been awarded by the HTA on an annual basis since it was instigated in 1930 in memory of the HTA’s first General Secretary, Charles Pearson. 

Stan Green from Growforth Ltd has been elected as HTA President. He takes up the Presidency and the role of chair of the HTA Board for a two year term, replacing Caroline Owen.

“At a time of significant change for all of us, I’m sure it will be a challenging couple of years ahead," said Stan. "Perhaps most officials say that upon taking office.

"As President I am determined that you as 'the members' don’t feel distant or apart from the Association, as you are the Association. Please think not only what the HTA can do for you, but what we can all do for it, with it and within it. As a representative and active body, all of us in the HTA can certainly move our industry forward.”

The HTA AGM also saw the appointment of Caroline Owen as Immediate Past President, ratification of Richard Barnard from Hillier Landscapes and Mark Pearson as Directors of the HTA Board, along with the re-election of John Lord from John Woods Nurseries as a Director of the Board.

A new identity for the HTA National Plant Show has been unveiled at the HTA Garden Futures Conference in London.

As the show is heading towards its fifth birthday in 2014, the team wanted to refresh the brand identity to reflect its growing success and excellent reputation in the industry. The branding, including new logo, brand mark and updated strapline, delivers this whilst still keeping hold of the show’s core values.

Geoff Caesar from The Bransford Webbs Plant Company and a member of the HTA National Plant Show Steering Group, said: “The new look gives the event a modern and fresh look whilst maintaining the down to earth approach of the show.”

The HTA National Plant Show was first held in 2009 in response to demand from growers and garden retailers for a plant focussed show bringing together the best of the UK plant supply chain under one roof in a central location.

Held at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry the HTA National Plant Show takes place on 24 and 25 June 2014. To book a stand or for more information visit www.nationalplantshow.co.uk

Christmas comes but once a year, so you need to make the most of Christmas sales opportunities.  GTN Bestsellers is the answer. Every week from now until Christmas we compile and publish the Top 50 Bestsellers Christmas chart from garden centre Epos data, giving the best and most up to date garden centre trading information on the market.

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If you take out a GTN Bestsellers subscription before the end of October, we’ll send you, as a bonus, all of the GTN Bestsellers Christmas Charts for 2012 so you'll have the best view of how trends have changed and be most prepared when it comes to buying for Christmas 2014.

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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 printed newsletter and on the GTN website www.gardentradenews.co.uk.

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

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

Highlights of the GTN Growing Media Bestsellers 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.