GCPS e-ZONE

October 9, 2007

Riddle me this... I pass before the sun, yet make no shadow. What am I?
(Scroll down for the answer.)

Trends: Technology
Life in the fast lane... A little over a year ago, I was preparing a speech for a certain segment of the industry, putting the last touch on my presentation in my hotel room literally minutes before my name was to be called as "our next speaker..."

Because I believe so strongly in the power of technology, I chose not only to open my talk with a note on the subject but to focus two entire segments on the advances and effects of technology, particularly as it relates to the gardening industry. As I dotted the last "i" and crossed one more "t" at my hotel desk, I was convinced that this might be the best seminar I had ever prepared. And it might have been...

...had two-thirds of my audience not been Amish.

Yeah, my "pong" story didn’t go over nearly as well as I had hoped, and I just nixed completely the tale about my first brush with text messaging (or, m f b w/ t m, for you who speak the language).

That gaffe notwithstanding, I do believe in the evolutionary process that carried us from rotary dial to "My Faves" and from Channels 4, 5, 8 and 11 to a channel just for history (among 1,000-plus channels in all). Technology has given a sense of urgency to practically every facet of our lives — including the way we decorate our homes, inside and outside.

To that end, there’s now a Web site dedicated solely to the effects technology has on gardening. It’s called hightechgardening.blogspot.com, and it features an array of blogs about an array of technological issues gardeners can/will address. It also has notes on fancy gadgets that make gardening easier, not to mention tips on using technology to its best advantage.

In fact, I’m trying to do the same even as I type. Consider, for example, that the computer on which I am composing this e-mail is more sophisticated than the one relied upon to send our first astronauts to the moon — and it will be obsolete to some degree by the time you read my message.

So it goes with technology. And, whether you like it or not, so it goes with businesses affected by technology — gardening included.

Survey says! How last year measured up
Check our *BLOG*

Puzzling pictures
A perfect fit... One of the pictures below is a puzzle. Choose the correct one, and put the product together again. (Or don’t, and let your conscience haunt you the rest of your natural days.)

Survey says! How last year measured up
Check our *BLOG*

Pick 'n Click
Natural order... This list of links to suppliers can help you find the garden/gift items you need/want/crave/covet/kinda take a fancy to. Or if you're in a hurry, just pick up the phone!

Achla Designs:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20056

Acorn Bird Products:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20061

Alpine Corporation:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20033

ANLA:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20007

Aquascape, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20023

Art For A Cause:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20024

ATLAS Glove Consumer Products, a Div. of LFS, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20035

Bamboo Accents:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20052

Benchmaster by Structural Plastics:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20002

Braun Horticulture:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20031

Brook & Hunter:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20014

Clean Air Gardening:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20027

Collier Metal Specialties, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20062

Danove Corporation:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20068

Discount Pond Supplies, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20055

Dorothy Biddle Service:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20032

Downeast Quarries of Maine, Incorporated:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20047

DP Foods, LLC (Daniels Plant Food):
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20016

Dramm Corporation:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20004

EasyPro Pond Products:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20054

EbioExpress International:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20009

Ecological Laboratories, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20048

Fabriscape:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20018

Firestone Specialty Products:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20053

Fiskars Brands:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20034

Gardenware:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20064

Gifts That Bloom:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20036

Hines Pottery:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20017

Imperial Ponds:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20051

K&H Manufacturing:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20066

Maine Bucket Company, Inc., The:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20042

Norcross Safety Products:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20011

Novelty Manufacturing Co.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20015

Ohio Wholesale, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20001

Olds Seed Company:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20010

Outback Chair Co.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20038

Poly-Tex, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20025

Principle Plastics:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20039

Protective Industrial Products:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20043

Red Carpet Studios:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20037

Riverside Enterprises:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20012

Ruibal's Topiary Systems & Ironworks:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20013

Sherman Nursery Company:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20063

Sonne-Gro Company:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20006

Sunlight Supply, Inc.:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20030

Tierra-Derco International:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20026

Vitamin Institute:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20029

Walter E. Clark & Son:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20020

Waterscapes Aquatic Plant Nursery:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20060

WeatherPORT:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20003

West County Gardener:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20028

Winston Company:
Request info • Web site • 1-800-690-1826 ext. 20046

Survey says! How last year measured up
Check our *BLOG*

Oh, yeah, the riddle answer...
The wind

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TO CONTACT EDITOR YALE YOUNGBLOOD: yyoungblood@branchsmith.com

Reach the desktop of thousands of garden center professionals twice a month through the e-ZONE, contact Tiffany O'Kelley, tokelley@branchsmith.com, Ed Tavender, etavender@branchsmith.com, or Teresa Werner, twerner@branchsmith.com.