Plant Development Services Inc. Debuts New Retail Marketing and Sales Resources for Garden Centers

Plant Development Services Inc. (PDSI) is launching a series of resources and retail initiatives designed to help garden center partners drive sales, deepen brand affinity, and empower consumers to purchase confidently. The initiative, a combination of nation-spanning marketing initiatives coupled with store-level solutions, spotlights PDSI’s plant collections while helping garden centers drive their sell-through.

What’s Included in the PDSI Expanded Partner Program

To help independent garden centers turn consumer interest into confident purchases, PDSI’s expanded partner program offers a comprehensive suite of retail tools and activation opportunities:

• Complimentary Retail POP: High-impact brand signage and bench cards for the PDSI family of brands.
• Product Knowledge Resources: Plant fact sheets, care guides, and consumer-friendly educational materials.
• Inspiration Garden Support: Plant sponsorship and branded signage for qualifying display gardens.
• Retailer Locator Inclusion: Driving educated, highly motivated consumers directly to retail partner shelves.
• Upcoming Winter 2026 Employee Training: Equipping garden center staff with product knowledge and key selling points to make confident recommendations.
• In-Store Event Support & Local Marketing Amplification: Strategic partnerships for consumer, media, and influencer events, backed by social tagging and audience cross-promotion.

This hands-on support came to life this summer at PDSI’s 2026 Southern Living Plant Collection Traveling Front Yard Tour. Designed as an immersive pop-up “show yard” experience, the multi-city tour transformed PDSI’s partner garden centers across the Southeast into day-of destinations, offering a summer gardening showcase with hands-on activities, access to top experts and content creators, and festive refreshments.

With stops at Pike Nurseries Toco Hills in Atlanta, Bates Nursery & Garden Center in Nashville, and Creekside Nursery in the Charlotte area, the tour welcomed hundreds of consumer attendees, 30 content creators, and press. Unlike traditional media events that restrict access to an exclusive group, this open-door experience brought local shoppers, content creators, and press together for a shared day of hands-on plant encounters and fun.

The resulting coverage generated more than 100 pieces of media and social content, reaching an audience of more than 800,000. Beyond driving brand awareness, the events delivered commercial impact during a traditionally slower summer period, with one participating garden center reporting a fourfold increase in day-of sales compared to the prior year.

“Seeing shoppers eagerly gather during the hottest time of year and helping our partners connect with local media, influencers, and customers was incredibly rewarding,” says Corrina Stellitano Andrews, Director of Marketing for Southern Living® Plant Collection. “The Traveling Front Yard Tour was a fantastic first look at the kinds of events and initiatives our expanded partnership with independent garden centers will encompass moving forward.”

Independent garden centers interested in utilizing PDSI’s retail support tools, POP materials, or enrolling in upcoming webinar trainings and special initiatives can request resources by visiting https://plantdevelopment.com/retailer-support/.