Back on September 4th I wrote a post titled, “You Can’t Grow That”. It concerned Scotts/Miracle Gro, and its trade marking the phrase, “You can gro that!” The problem was it was a phrase thought up by CL Fornari, nursery women and author. I wrote, “According to her website, garden writer CL Fornari decided last October to start a campaign titled, ‘You Can Grow That’. Once a week any garden writer who wished to participate would write an article under that heading… Long story short, Scotts/Miracle Gro applied for a trademark on “You Can Gro That!”, after she had broached the idea on The Internet.” Actually, the idea was first broached by C.L. in a "closed" garden center/nursery trade group on Facebook, and not just put out for anyone to see on The Internet.

The good news today is Scotts/Miracle Gro has backed off from the trade marking, leaving CL with her phrase to do as she pleases. Here is the story. It’s quite a turn around and something I wouldn’t have expected from the company. Something tells me it was social media and the avalanche of bad PR Scotts has received over the last year. Whatever the reason it’s nice to see Scotts/Miracle Gro do the right thing. It’s also fun to be a part of something that is changing for the better how we do business in the world of horticulture.