Retailer fined for selling cancelled pesticide
Perfect Expressions, a garden store in Ely, Nev., was fined $14,000 by U.S. EPA for allegedly selling cancelled insecticides. The store was offering Green Light Dursban Granules, Ortho Dursban Lawn Insect Spray and Ortho Dursban. The pesticides contain the active ingredient chlorpyrifos, which has been cancelled by EPA for nearly all home uses because children may be harmed from exposure.

City-dwellers embrace vegetable gardens
More vegetable gardens are popping up in urban areas. Most gardeners are growing crops for their own tables, but some are turning the hobby into a business.
• Urban farmers. The Seattle Times
• Front-yard veggies. The Olympian Online
• Food grown on campus. Macleans.ca

The Andersons wins Stepables contest
The Andersons, a garden center and nursery in Maumee, Ohio, won Stepables' Best in Sole contest for its display of traffic-tolerant groundcovers. The garden center received $2,500 to be donated to a local charity. A check was presented to Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity earlier this month.

GCA members get exclusive introductions
Garden Centers of America members will have exclusive access to 2 plant introductions for 2008. Monrovia will offer Cordyline australis 'Torbay Dazzler,' a plant featured at the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show in Great Britain. Conard-Pyle will offer a new rose, Carefree Celebration, bred by Bill Radler, who also bred Knock Out and Double Knock Out roses. Deadline for orders is Oct. 1. Contact Shanan Molnar at GCA for details.

Novalis launches annuals program
Novalis, the grower network behind the Plants that Work brand, will launch a nationwide annuals program for spring 2008. More than 150 varieties will be part of the new Plants that Work by Color program. The quart-sized plants will be grown in Plants that Work branded pots and sold in 6-packs. Signage and point-of-purchase materials will be available to retailers.

Wal-Mart is top source for gifts
Discount department stores were the top choice for gift shoppers last year, according to a report from Unity Marketing. Wal-Mart was the favorite destination, cited by 42% of survey respondents. Target came in 2nd at 31%. The typical consumer spent $2,643 on gift purchases in 2006, according to the report. An additional $78 went toward gift cards, wrapping paper, ribbons and other accessories. The average amount spent on gifts increased 13.5% over 2005.

Tell us about your trouble spot
Dark corners, dead ends, narrow pathways. Just about every garden center has 1 area that continuously gives them headaches. We want to hear about your trouble spot. Send a description and photo of an area that irks you to Garden Center assistant editor Sarah Martinez. We'll pass along the top 3 design challenges we receive to experts and feature solutions in the March 2008 issue.

View from a blog
Plants hit the streets. Open Register

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