Well, this past week, I had the privilege of joining Tesselaar Plants at the Independent Garden Center Expo 2010, held on Chicago's beautiful Navy Pier.

The show gave us all an exciting sneak peek at all the new plants, products for sale to the nation's 20,000-some independent garden centers for 2011. Here are some highlights – look for more in my next post!

First of all, here's a beautiful display of bromeliads – one of the tropical plants I've pushed in the past (like in this post) to try in the garden (even if you live in colder climates, like I do here in Zone 6a). This selection is from Rainflorest Flora, one of the largest growers and suppliers of bromeliads, tillandsias (air plants) and other exotic plants in North America.

Speaking of tropical, Monrovia featured this eye-popping gold-and-plum display of Tropicanna^® cannas, pairing the yellow-striped leaves of Tropicanna Gold with the deep-purplish-black foliage of Tropicanna Black (now in wider distribution for 2011).

And here's a shot of some of the products being featured in the new Burpee Home Gardens To Go program. I also wrote about this in an earlier post, and with vegetable gardening such a hot trend right now, I'll be sure to look into what's new for 2011.

All the stylish, colorful garden containers at the show, meanwhile, made me realize that garden design isn't just about the plants - it's about the container, too. I'd love to have one of these ceramic, glazed beauties by Alfresco Home, for instance, instead of the black plastic standbys I find shoved behind my husband's car restoration project in the garage:

These colorful, contemporary pots, meanwhile, come from German ceramics manufacturer Scheurich.

Scheurich, one of the more high-end lines of garden containers on the market, is a more European approach to container design, with the focus just as much on the pot as on the plant or flower within (often one flower or bloom, or a simple element repeated several times).

Outside, we also got a chance to see all the lovely landscape installations along the Navy Pier. This one features Festival Burgundy cordyline light purple scabiosa and calibrachoa and coleus in red, orangeish-gold and purple.

Tesselaar colleague Laurie Riedman and I had a lot of fun on the Navy Pier and in the city of Chicago. Here we are in a bicycle rickshaw (a very eco-friendly way to travel) riding back to the hotel. I also tried a Chicago-style hot dog for the first time (after seeing them on the Food and Travel channels) and we took a trip to the world-famous Garrett's gourmet popcorn for a gigundo tub 'o love … Good thing I didn't have time to make it to the American Girl store, or I know I would've blown a ton of money buying a Bitty Baby and matching jammies for my 3-year-old daughter!

Well, that's certainly enough for this post – the next one will feature some more of the videos I took. In the meantime, check out some of the other blogs on the IGC show, at Garden Rant, Garden Girl and the Blogging Nurseryman by Trey Pitsenberger.

"Green Thumbs Make Better Thinkers."

That was the headline of a featured article in this past Sunday's (Aug. 8, 2010) edition of Australia's Sunday Herald Sun. It was sent to me by Anthony Tesselaar, head of Australia's Tesselaar Plants (developer of Flower Carpet^® roses, Tropicanna^® cannas, Bonfire^® begonias and more):

"Spending time gardening," read the feature, "is linked to improved reading, writing and numeracy skills in children, reports a new United Kingdom study."

According to the study – in which researchers surveyed 1,300 teachers and looked at 10 schools to examine the impact of gardening on kids – teachers who encouraged students to get involved in school gardens as part of their education said the children who did so displayed more independence and were better at problem-solving.

The report also claimed that the changeable nature of gardening projects – where weather and plant disease can affect outcomes, for instance – encourages children to become more flexible and better equipped for problem solving.

School garden participants (image courtesy www.isles.org):

Who knew?

Us gardeners did, I suspect.

And I would add, after writing a newspaper story (for the Democrat and Chronicle, a Gannett newspaper in Rochester, NY) on the impact of school gardens on at-risk youth, that gardening also develops confidence, compassion, healthy eating and a respect for the environment. Those I interviewed for the stories, for instance, said that they were able to indirectly teach the concept of nurturing without having to be preachy. Their kids also reported liking vegetables (many of which they'd never tried before) and wanting a food garden at home. The kids understood, they added, that food came from the world around them instead of just magically appearing in the store and that this fostered a sense of greater connection to their world. The responsibility and ownership of their part of the project, meanwhile, instilled in them a sense of pride and contribution to something larger. This, in turn, set them up for success.

So the next time someone kids you about puttering around with posies, be proud of your Plant Nerd status! Just tell them: Green Thumbs Make Better Thinkers!