Smith & Hawken retail expansion under way
Smith & Hawken will launch its new Renaissance stores this month in Mill Valley, Calif., and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. A company statement describes the new 10,000-sq.-ft. stores as "complete with a central skylight illuminating a lush plant room below, porcelain flooring, oversize fountain and antique-inspired fixtures." The stores will also offer special services such as potting, delivery and tool sharpening. Several additional stores are scheduled to open over the next few years, all of which will feature similar amenities. S&H also completed a makeover of its catalog in January and Web site in April.

Plant Select lists top picks
Colo. St. Univ. and Denver Botanic Gardens announced the 2006 Plant Select choices in April. The program discovers and distributes the best plants for gardeners in the High Plains and intermountain regions. This year's recommendations include Bridges' penstemon (Penstemon rostriflorus), woody fernbrush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium), giant sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) and snowmass phlox (Phlox bifida).

Web site touts retailers with hot new plants
A Web site is helping gardeners find plants featured in Garden Design magazine and local retailers that carry them. Each year the magazine publishes a "Way Hot 100" issue listing new annuals, perennials, shrubs, tropicals and vines. These picks are now posted online. Visitors can also search for local garden centers offering the new plants. Garden centers can sign up for a free listing this month. Retailers can specify which of the Way Hot 100 plants they're carrying.

States look to raise minimum wage
A dozen states are working to raise the minimum wage, according to a report in USA Today. Seven state legislatures have raised the wage this year, and efforts are under way in 6 states to put similar proposals on the November ballot. 21 states have minimum wages above $5.15. Maryland, Rhode Island, Michigan, Arkansas and Maine raised wages this year. West Virginia also raised wages, but only for a limited group. Ohio raised its minimum to match the federal wage.

Kurt Adler gets new digs
Kurt S. Adler is relocating its corporate headquarters and flagship showroom to 7 West New York, located at 7 West 34th St. in Manhattan. A grand opening celebration will take place midsummer, prior to the August New York Gift Show. "We enjoyed steady growth at our previous location for the past 40 years, and we will continue to grow our business and our customers' holiday business for the next 40 years at 7 West New York," said Kurt Adler v.p. Richard Adler.

Wilson's nominated for Innovator Award
Congratulations to the 4 finalists for the annual Garden Center Innovator Award. The finalists were selected for innovative business practices. The 4th finalist is Wilson's Greenhouse & Garden Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Imagine running a garden center where the season lasts from June to August. In a community of 250,000. Wilson's owners took the previous generation's growing facility and transformed it into a viable garden center by turning to creative product categories. The award is sponsored by Garden Market Expo.

X-Factor contest winner selected
Congratulations to Stacie Tessier of Buell's Garden Center in Hastings, Minn., who won the April X-Factor contest and received 3 nights at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta from SNA 2006.

Worth a visit
View more than 100 of the latest upscale gift and home decor products for independent specialty retailers, in the quarterly supplement Selling Elegance. Only on GreenBeam.com.