The Products of Ball Publishing

For over seven decades, Ball Publishing has cultivated a charismatic, talented and experienced group, dedicated to providing the horticulture and floriculture communities with the latest, most thorough information which will help aid those businesses in improving their bottom line.

If you want information with personality, call us for an educationally good time. Through our magazines, books, conferences and Web sites, we strive to provide entertaining but balanced and unbiased horticulture and floriculture resources for breeders, growers, wholesalers and retailers.

GrowerTalks

Our flagship publication, GrowerTalks, began in 1937, when George J. Ball fulfilled the need for a culturally credible and usable publication for growers. From it’s pocket-sized format, GrowerTalks has evolved into a folksy and functional magazine-the only paid publication circulation magazine in the floriculture industry, covering bedding plants, potted plants, perennials, plugs, foliage, vegetables, cut flowers and more.

While other magazines may report horticultural happenings, former grower and veteran editor Chris Beytes, along with the rest of the editorial staff, put into context news and information, combining travel and firsthand experience to keep you atop your industry’s trends and tips. And he’s unafraid to stick his head into production machinery for a closer look.

Editor-at-Large Jennifer D. White brings with her several generations of family seedsmen, having had a greenhouse in her front yard growing up. Her real-world knowledge and inquisitiveness bring clarity and trust to the pages, captivating our audience with her passionate style.

Among our reputable columns and departments:

Acres & Acres . Witty and ardent, Chris Beytes always leaves food for thought.
SAF in the Lobby . Connecting you to Washington through the Society of American Florists.
Seeds . Provocative favorite Kerry Herndon takes a no-holds-barred approach to the industry he loves.
The Perennial Cynic . John Friel waxes eccentric on the perennial market.
Under an Acre . Small retailers who think big.
Growing Ideas. Allen Hammer has, for 20 years, comfortably bridged academia and real-world growing.
NEW! Growers Talk Business. Four progressive and insightful businessmen share thought-provoking and proven business strategies.
NEW! Growers Talk Retailing. Designed for businesses that grow their own products and sell them through their own retail operations.

FloraCulture International

A worldwide reputation with a worldwide circulation, FloraCulture International facilitates an invaluable network between industry growers everywhere. Throughout Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Asia Pacific, FloraCulture International, our staff reports on and analyzes cut flowers, flowering potted plants, garden flowers, young plants from cuttings, vegetables, cut foliage, tropical foliage, pot plants and more.

Editor Anabel Evans has a working knowledge of all facets of floriculture production and marketing.

Recently featured favorites:

Horti Fair . Coverage of hardgoods, livegoods, new crops, new products and trends from the famed Netherlands show.
Breeders’ Rights .
The Rose and Orchid Issues .
European Pack Trials . New spring and garden plants from seeds and cuttings.
Sourcebook . The only annual worldwide reference for growers, including supply companies, their subsidiaries, distributors and products.

Green Profit

As competition gets stiffer and retail garden centers of all shapes and sizes look to differentiate, it's more important than ever to stay on the cutting edge of trends both inside and outside of the industry. A combined comprehensive approach to retail with “editude” (our term for fun credibility—because nobody wants to read a boring trade magazine … nor do we want to write one.), Green Profit is the only magazine that focuses on the commonalities that bind all facets of retail.

In sharing the industry’s best ideas, we bring nearly 40 years of combined editorial experience to our readers, covering plants, flowers and the people who buy them. And because “live goods sell hard goods” our editorial will always take a look at the products and supplies available to retailers.

Editor Bill Calkins brings experience working in and writing about garden centers and growing operations, as well as a passion for sharing ideas and inspiring retail creativity. His enthusiasm is evident and you will certainly see him around - at trade shows, conferences, retail tours and maybe even in your garden center.

In addition to regular features based on firsthand travel and discussions with a wide array of retailers, Green Profit includes the following favorites:

Consumer Buzz. The facts, figures and consumer habits that face your business—a compilation first created by Green Profit.

Revitalizing Retail. Inspiration for moving merchandise.

Kerry On. Industry icon Kerry Herndon offers straightforward, undiluted commentary on issues that affect horticulture.

The Friel World. John Friel brings a hilariously creative column on all things wry and garden.

Minding Your Business. Garden center business coach Pete Bottomley tackles the management issues and challenges that face our industry.

Inside Out. It's been said, "We are retailers who just happen to own a garden center." With this fresh approach, Bill Calkins will take a look at difference aspects of selling products and experiences, visiting and working in a variety of retail settings.

E-Newsletters

Acres Online – Chris Beytes’ weekly e-mail newsletter written in a lively conversational style.
BuZZ! – Bill Calkins’ weekly e-mail newsletter written as only Bill can—upbeat, thought-provoking, and always with a question or two.

Conferences

Bringing the pages of GrowerTalks and Green Profit to life, Ball Publishing offers our audience unique educational and networking opportunities. Through our targeted production conferences—plugs, perennials, bedding plants, pest and disease management – and new in 2006, garden center retailing —Ball Publishing attracts industry leaders from all over the world for five days of intense interaction.

Known for in-depth, hands-on teaching, our workshops take attendees out of the classroom and into the greenhouse, where they learn by doing, not just viewing. No matter the skill level or experience, attendees, will be educated and entertained by our roster of all-star speakers. Our trade show features exhibitors with the latest products and services. Tours to cutting-edge facilities show attendees firsthand how successful businesses tackle the challenges of today’s tough economy.

2007 Conferences

GrowerTalks’ Greenhouse Experience Join us September 9-12, 2007 at the Renaissance in Cleveland, Ohio for GrowerTalks' Greenhouse Experience and Pest Management Conference, an intensive, hands-on learning and networking event focused on every aspect of bedding plant production and pest management for the greenhouse grower. The GrowerTalks Greenhouse Experience is enveloping the former Bedding Plant Production Conference, which focuses on the latest science and trends for producing bedding plants, with two full tracks of pest management sessions. But, that’s not all, we are also adding a full day symposium on automation and mechanization, produced in cooperation with Ohio State and Mississippi State Universities. There’s something for everyone at this year’s GrowerTalks conference.

Green Profit’s Retail Experience, the industry’s premier educational event dedicated exclusively to garden center retailing, returns September 8-9, 2007, in Cleveland, Ohio. Organized by Green Profit magazine, this two-day event is designed for anyone in the garden center industry looking to gain innovative tools, tips and strategies to achieve new levels of excellence in their business. Seminars and tours cover a wide array of topics from store design and visual merchandising to profiting from organics and operating multiple locations.

Future Conferences:
The GrowerTalks’ International Plug & Cutting Conference, last held in 2005, appeals to plug producers, cutting producers and liner producers of all levels, from beginner to advanced. The next conference is slated for September 2008 and will be held in sunny Orlando, Florida.

The GrowerTalks’ Perennial Production Conference, held once every three years, focuses on all aspects of perennial production, from water, media and nutrition to marketing and promotion. Our most recent Perennial Production Conference was held in September 2006 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The next conference is tentatively scheduled for 2009.

Ball Publishing Bookshelf

By definition, books typically delve deeper into subjects than monthly publications, which is the impetus for the Ball Publishing's book program. Beginning with the Ball RedBook 75 years ago and now in its 17th edition, Ball Publishing’s book list has expanded to include in-depth horticultural titles, consumer, trade and academic titles, highlighting and detailing the latest research and trends. Our book department, headed by Editorial Director Rick Blanchette, produces four to ten new titles per year, with approximately 45 books in the backlist. In our catalog, Ball Bookshelf, you'll find more than 150 titles from which to choose. You'll also see our traveling Ball Bookstore at various horticulture tradeshows throughout the year, including the OFA Short Course, TPIE, Gulf States Horticultural Expo, ANLA Management Clinic, SNA and TNLA.

Among our newest and most popular titles:

Ball RedBook , Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Chris Beytes and Debbie Hamrick
Biocontrol in Protected Culture, edited by Kevin M. Heinz, Roy G. Van Driesche, and Michael P. Parrella
Cutting Propagation, by John M. Dole and James L. Gibson
Perennial Solutions, by Paul Pilon
Pest & Disease of Herbaceous Perennials: the Biological Approach, by Stanton Gill, Raymond A. Cloyd, James Baker, David L. Clement and Ethel Dutky
Tropical Foliage Plants, by Lynn P. Griffith Jr.
Continuous Bloom (2001 Benjamin Franklin Award Winner) and Continuous Color, by Pam Duthie
Grasses and Bamboo, by Ian Cooke