Bring On Spring!

It is getting hot out there!!! Have you looked at the temps lately? Spring is breaking down the front door.  As we get further into the planting season we thought it would be a great idea to check in with everyone and fill you in on what we’ve been up to!

Have you seen us this spring? Seth and I have been covering a lot of ground this past month telling everyone about GrowIt!

One of our latest events was the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. We had an awesome time and had the chance to make some new friends. We also had the chance to check out some new plant trends first hand.

Small space gardening was featured in many ways at the show. There were vendors selling small succulent terrariums. There was a whole display of window box gardens. There were even some planter boxes designed to get the most out of the limited space that you might have.

One of the other major themes of the show was children’s gardening. We learned that flower shows aren’t just for your grandmother anymore. The Chicago Flower & Garden Show was loaded with activities for kids. It’s not like they cornered off a jungle-gym and labeled it the “Kids Corner” either; they had multiple gardens where kids could interact and learn. Whether they were planting pansies and learning about bugs, or planting veggies and learning about the benefits of fresh food, there were smiles from ear to ear.

The smells in the building were terrific. There were hyacinths EVERYWHERE. Along with planted hyacinths and even a planted rose garden (yes it was awesome), there was also a large floral presence at the show. Mariano’s sponsored the show and had a fantastic display of cut flowers to be purchased right on the show floor. This way people could take home some color even if the temps weren’t the nicest quite yet. There were also some very interesting “tablescapes” as well. These seemed to blend a wide variety of ideals. It was like a floral type of landscaping, mixing ideas from the garden and the kitchen.

Seth and I also had the chance to talk about what’s coming in the world of gardening. The first thing that we proposed is that since after years of effort, we haven’t been able to come up with a better word to replace gardening, we just have to change the definition. Gardening isn’t just about having a backyard and a massive flower bed. Gardening refers to the act of growing any plant. Are you growing a cactus on your coffee table? Guess what… you are a gardener. Aside from trying to start a “Garden Revolution”, we also talked about how a new wave of technology was sweeping the garden world.

All in all it was a fantastic week and we met a lot of people. Keep an eye out for us this spring as we continue to travel the country spreading the colorful message of GrowIt!

-Mason, Co-founder of GrowIt!

www.growitmobile.com 

Do You Believe in Magic?!

GrowIt! Co-founder Seth Reed recently had the opportunity to go to Disney World with his family. The plants caught his eye for sure. This is what he had to say:

I’m going to take a wild guess that you’ve probably visited Disney at least once in your lifetime.  If you haven’t had the opportunity yet, you have to put it on your list.  If you have kids, wait till they are about 5, and then take them and their faces will light up in ways you could never have imagined! A few weeks ago I took my family including our 4 year old daughter, and we had a blast.

I’m from the Midwest, and the months of November through February just suck.  The weather is cold, the trees have no leaves, and generally speaking the landscape is kind of dismal – unless you’re one of those people that see 3 feet of snow as a winter wonderland.  Disney World on the other hand is in Orlando, Florida. I should have known better, I guess you could say I was expecting warmer temperatures, but the same grey landscapes. Boy was I wrong! I was pleasantly surprised how green and colorful it was for November.  Below I want to share with you a few ways that Disney makes plants magical…

1. Poinsettias in the landscape – I wasn’t expecting this to be a landscape plant, but it worked fantastically and provided Christmas color everywhere. Much better than how we use it in the Midwest. Poinsettias in large plots look way better than the lonely individual poinsettias we’re used to.

2. Amazing Green Topiarys – ok sometimes having just green creations is a bit boring, but when they are shaped as Disney characters, it brings an area to life! Too Cool!

3. Hanging Baskets – Even with limited options they tend do find something creative to show off.

4. Green is everywhere – everywhere I looked there were trees and plants to help set the mood, and transform the setting into the magical world that they want you to experience.

Perhaps Disney is already aware that plants make people calmer, or that plants provide better oxygen, or that the plant life provides a cooler temperature in the region, or that the shade extends the life of the concrete that it encompasses.  Whatever the reason, it appears that plant life is an integral part of the Disney experience, and that is all part of the magical plan.

I would love to hear comments about your own trips and the plants you saw.

-Seth Reed, Co-founder of GrowIt!

www.facebook.com/growitapp

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www.growitmobile.com

An Update on all of the Updates

We interrupt this program to bring you an update from the GrowIt! studio……

Seriously though, gears have been moving behind the scenes here at the GrowIt! laboratory, and we wanted to take a little time and tell you about a couple big changes that have already happened, or are in the works.

SPEED

If you’ve updated the app recently, you might have noticed a couple things. The most obvious change is that it no longer takes years for plants and images to load! Recently we’ve upgraded our back-end servers (Tech Jargon for “we’ve done some computer coding stuff”) to make your GrowIt! experience much more expedient and enjoyable. Our upgrading process allows your phone to load more pictures at a faster rate than ever before. We understand that your time is valuable, and that nobody wants to spend hours waiting for pictures to load.

QUALITY

This is something that you might not have noticed, but the pictures that GrowIt! captures when you use your camera in the app are better than ever! We’ve upped the resolution of the photos that the app can use. We understand that pictures need to be as clear as possible to show the beauty of the plants you love!

UPCOMING: ANDROID!!!??!?!

The transformation process has begun! Our developers have already shown us multiple screens for an Android version of GrowIt! We’re learning that there can be “translation” difficulties when taking an app from one operating system and formatting it for another; however, we are striving to create an app that offers stellar performance for both iPhone and Android users. Our fingers are crossed (when they aren’t typing furiously) but we’re hoping GrowIt! should be available in the Google Play market in the next few months!

We hope all is well with all of our GrowIt! fans out there. Hopefully the snow hasn’t hit you too hard yet.

Just remember when times get cold; Spring is only a few months away, you can make it, and if you need to see something green to brighten your winter days, GrowIt! has you covered.

– Mason Day, Mustachioed CoFounder of GrowIt!

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New Friends in the Freedom City

Unless you’re a robot, you probably have a soft spot somewhere in your heart for plants.

There may be plants that you don’t like. Posion Ivy, and Stinging Nettles can be a pain.

Mowing the lawn takes precious time out of your day and those gardens won’t plant themselves.

All of that might be true, but we can all agree plants, for the most part, make the world a better place.

However, it seems that today people are less and less interested in planting things. We are too busy waiting in line for the next gadget, or working our weekends away, and our communities are suffering because of it! We must find a way to resurrect the garden, but who will champion this cause?!!?

This past weekend while Seth was in Des Moines, Iowa celebrating the grand opening of the Greater Des Moines Botanic Garden, I was in Philadelphia, The Birthplace of Freedom, for a gathering of minds. I was lucky enough to be invited to the America in Bloom Symposium. America in Bloom is an organization that works with communities to use flowers to improve cities and towns across this great nation.

    

I was representing GrowIt!, and spreading the news of what we are doing to help get more people interested in veggies and flowers. It was fantastic to be able to share passions and talk with people that have the same goal: More plants in the lives of more people!

There were mayors and city planners from hundreds of communities sharing ideas on how to make America a more beautiful place. Though everyone seemed to have the same overarching goal, there were all sorts of ideas and concepts on how to achieve it. Some felt that we had to reach out to the children in education. Others championed the cause for community gardens, and some felt that the best way to get people involved was through ecological restoration processes with native plants.

I got to tell my story and meet so many people. We talked about using GrowIt! to get community members involved in community plantings. We talked about cities having their own profiles to inspire people to branch out and grow something themselves, or as a means to receive feedback on the items that they had planted.

Overall the weekend was a lot of fun, and we left with some great ideas on how to add some flavor to America.

Learn more about America in Bloom Here: http://www.americainbloom.org

~Mason Day – Co-Founder, GrowIt!

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Why GrowIt!?

We’ve covered the “What” and the “Who” of GrowIt!

It only seems logical that the next step would be to talk about the Passion behind GrowIt!

In order to dig into the subject, we have to ask:

As I touched on in the last post, Seth and I both came from jobs in the commercial horticulture industry. Think of it this way: when it comes to gardening we were brokers of the raw materials. We could describe it further but you’d be asleep by the end of this senten…. Sorry dozed off there!

We were working in an industry that makes the world beautiful. However, one thing Seth and I noticed was that younger generations were missing out on the beauty of plants and the benefits they provide. Kids from the Eighties and Nineties didn’t grow up in the garden like previous generations did. Because of this, plants and the concept of “growing” don’t come natural to most younger people.

Rather, than admit defeat and accept the future of a colorless world, Seth and I set out to find a way to get plants in front of more people. Rather than try to bring young people to the garden, we wanted to bring the plants to them. The Average American now spends around 3 hours a day using apps on their phone, so naturally that had to be our platform.

We see GrowIt! as a way to introduce people to plants and other gardeners. It’s a community where the experienced gardener can share their expertise and knowledge, but also a place where plant rookies can obtain the most basic plant information. It’s our job to connect people of every growing level.

If you want to see how plants are important to you and society, all you have to do is Google “benefits of plants” to see what I’m talking about. We’re discovering new benefits every day. That’s where the real passion behind GrowIt! is. Sure, it’s a fun app to share your photos and brag about your garden, but at the end of the day the goal is to inspire people to get growing. Plants are amazing, and we want to make sure more people know that.

– Mason Day, Co-founder of GrowIt!

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www.facebook.com/growitapp