The growth of First Franchise Promotions, a sister company to First Franchise, has prompted a name change to reflect more accurately the short term promotions it brings to garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

It seems that January sales were not as good as last year despite optimism around the trade. 33 of the 54 garden centres reporting in the GCA Barometer of Trade said sales were below Jan 2011. But the trend looks positive for 2012. See more... Read more - members only

Glee’s research of over 1000 visitors showed that buyers and exhibitors now want a show focussed on garden retail. There’s a new layout, a new logo and it will be easier for buyers to see what’s new. See more... Read more - members only

Buyers from Belgium, France, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands will be waiting to talk to potential garden suppliers at the Gardenex ‘Meet the Buyer’ day next week. See more… Read more - members only

There has been a rush of garden centres to sign up for a new E-learning package to be launched this spring by the Garden Centre Association. See more... Read more - members only

Following licensing by the BBC of its magazines to independent publishers, Gardenersworld.com has been revamped to include a plant database and a forum. See more... Read more - members only

The RHS says we should expect a smaller harvest in 2012 unless there is a prolonged cold spell. Mild winters fail to give hardy fruit plants the period of chilling they need to encourage flowering. Plants can also blossom too early for the pollinators and be more vulnerable to late frosts. See more… Read more - members only

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has joined forces with online nursery www.treesandhedging.co.uk to offer 2,000 schools five free trees each, in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Read more - members only

Gardenforum's Review of 2011 tracks the year's trading and events. It also shows the high number of garden centres and nurseries that are investing despite the difficult economy. This review is open for all to read, see more... Read more - open to all

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has leased one of its London Halls to Westminster School. The £18m raised plus a further £9m expected from a major fundraising campaign, will be invested in a substantial programme of innovation and modernisation. See more... Read more - members only

The GCA has released a 5-year strategy. The headline will be ‘Better Standards, Better Business’ as the association actively seeks to expand garden centre membership and work with other trade organisations. See more... Read more - members only

Wiseweather suggests that the drier, sunnier theme to the weather seems set to continue through December, with little sign of snow for most of the country. See more... Read more - members only

A new recruitment agency dedicated to finding non-executive directors, main board directors and chairmen has been established as a sister company to More People. See more... Read more - members only

The HTA's Garden Gift Card has hit the racks of Sainsbury's and should be selling in WH Smith and Clinton Cards before Christmas. 400 garden centres are taking part. See more... Read more - members only

On Nov 30th the UK gardening press gathers for a huge lunch, where Alan Titchmarsh is to take to the platform to tell the audience of national, trade and local garden writers about Garden Re-Leaf Day. The organisers are asking urgently for examples of activities they can include. See more... Read more - open to all

The long range forecast for March from Wiseweather suggests that it will remain colder than average, there is no sign of enough rain to fill the reservoirs and there are more frosts to come. See more... Read more - members only

It seems that cultivating the best in horticulture is no longer enough for the RHS. At the London Plant and Design Show it experimented with speed dating and claimed it was a blooming success. See more… Read more - members only

Altons Garden Centre is the third Tillington member to add the Shoot plant database to its website. But they are to go one step further and participate in the Shoot online Marketplace when it is launched this spring. See more... Read more - members only

There will be events across the length and breadth of the country to celebrate the start of the gardening year. See what's happening in your region on Garden Re-Leaf Day - Tuesday 13th March. This article is open to all. See more... Read more - open to all

Two nurseries have launched online services for their customers. For John Woods it is a full online ordering system. For Golden Acres it is a complete plant list. See more... Read more - members only

Buoyant sales of Christmas and gift lines and a 34% increase in catering revenues gave GCA garden centres a strong boost at the end of the year. See more... Read more - members only

The HTA is holding a series of workshops with garden centres to show ways they can improve links with local communities and those in the virtual world. See more... Read more - members only

Sales of the new HTA Garden Gift Cards have exceeded expectations and do not appear to have had an impact on the sale of National Garden Gift Vouchers, which have experienced strong growth in the last quarter. See more... Read more - members only

The HTA will not rush to find a replacement for David Gwyther. The new president is taking time to consult with her board and senior members of the team at Theale on the future of the association before deciding what they want from a new director general. See more... Read more - members only

The GCA conference will look at ways to increase profit without massive investment. There will be examples from the best in garden retail and inspiration from experts such as Dr Hessayon, Michael Heppell, Jim Gardiner of the RHS, Mario Dolcezza, Andrew McMillan and Clare Rayner. See more... Read more - members only

3 West Country garden centres have opted to operate their EPOS systems using the concept of cloud computing, installed by G7. It reduces the cost and increases security. See more... Read more - members only

The David Colegrave Foundation is inviting students and newcomers to the industry to apply for scholarships so that they can benefit from the latest learning both here in the UK and overseas. See more... Read more - members only

Last week's planning conference revealed why Malcolm Scott believes Dobbies have a formula that will be a challenge to other garden centres. See more... Read more - members only

Two moves demonstrate the HTA’s growing influence. BOPP has agreed to join the umbrella organisation and the RHS is collaborating more closely with the HTA on plant trials. See more... Read more - members only

The forecast for November from Wiseweather suggests a generally warm month, with below average rain. But there may be some ground frost in the second week in Southern areas. There is no mention of snow. See more... Read more - members only