Now is the time for promotional product suppliers and distributors to invest in the great outdoors – or at least the backyard.

As the pandemic has kept millions of Americans home, many have turned to an activity abandoned since grade school or the dawn of food delivery services: gardening. With an abundance of time home this summer, families, friends and neighbors have slowed down to cultivate gardens in their homes or communities. People across the country have been spending time together to benefit from the natural process of nurturing flowers, fruits, herbs and vegetables. As a result, promo suppliers and distributors have received more requests for seed paper, indoor gardens and other growable products.

“We’re able to have this whole new category of ‘Safer at Home,’ ” says Don Martin, president of Bloomin Promotions (asi/40646), a seed paper distributor based in Boulder, CO. Bloomin has provided plantable, non-GMO, seed paper to the industry since it pioneered the printable product over 25 years ago. In the last few months, the products have become so popular that the company has recovered completely from a 30% decline in year-over-year sales caused by COVID-19 this spring. They have customized the paper into different shapes and colors, including one shaped like a face mask, so companies can encourage clients to keep themselves and others safe.

Bloomin Promotions’ mask-shaped seed paper

With seed paper, companies communicate their efforts toward sustainability in a tangible way and end-users receive something they can read, plant, grow and enjoy. This year, “grow products” have provided end-users a stay-at-home activity that also happens to be the “most eco-friendly and sustainable product in the promotional products world,” Martin says.

Seed paper can be planted to produce wildflowers and herbs, perfect for a kitchen, window or office garden. Customizable seed mixes are also available. And since most of Bloomin’s products are perennials, seeing wildflowers in your yard year after year provides a great reminder of the company that gave out the seeds.

Wildflowers can be planted in the fall, as they will insulate during the winter months and rise up earlier and stronger than if they were planted in the spring, said Bloomin Promotions president, Don Martin.

Fields Manufacturing Inc. (asi/54100) of St. Cloud, MN, has also noticed a “mini resurgence” in its indoor and outdoor gardening line, Sprout Tyme. “Gardening has proven to have health benefits and promote wellness,” says Matt Bertram, president of Fields Manufacturing Inc. As the company has recently received client feedback regarding concern for people’s health and wellness, Fields has responded with “grow products.”

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Requests for gardening products are sprouting up in new places too. Clients of Jornik Manufacturing Corporation (asi/63549) that don’t usually promote with gardening products – such as finance companies – have begun asking for growable promotional products. Jordie Freedman, president, attributes this to a change in end-user values toward sustainability. “End-users are looking more for this renew and reuse concept,” says Freedman, “and I believe that the grow items fall under it.”

As things eventually go back to normal, industry members believe a good part of the population will want to continue gardening, keeping a part of their new lifestyle in indoor and outdoor gardens.

“They’re looking to build their own mini-garden in their offices,” Bertram says. “Not only in their home offices, but their main offices.”

Gardening helps people slow down and appreciate their time, Martin adds. “People will have had … this moment in time where they have experienced gardening and they are going to remember it and they are going to continue to do it as they realize how easy it is and how joyful it is.”