The success of the eighth edition of Myplant & Garden

"We are very satisfied - says Valeria Randazzo, Exhibition Manager of the International Green Expo. We have collected a lot of positive feedback, both from exhibitors and visitors. Quality of the exhibited offerings, high level of buyers, value of the discussed contents, beauty of the whole, abundance of opportunities for relationships and contacts, and concreteness of business prospects are the key concepts of this edition."

Very positive balance. Growing numbers. Many innovations in the pavilions and great participation in the meetings.
Next dates: February 19-21, 2025.
"The goal is to grow".

The most important, profitable, and long-awaited fair for professionals in the horticulture- floriculture-nursery, garden, landscape, and sportsgrounds sectors has surpassed itself, reaffirming its centrality for the sectors of the industry and offering an exhibition lineup and a portfolio of contents of the highest level.

Lombardy, Veneto, Tuscany, and the Netherlands lead the ranking of the areas of origin of the exhibitors, increased by over 100 units from the previous edition and all well represented in the 9 exhibition macro-sectors (pots, nurseries, technology, services, machinery, flowers, decoration, sport & landscape, garden furniture) to present the novelties and innovations of the sector.

From Europe (Germany, France, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, Spain, and Switzerland being the most represented) and Asia (with the exploit of Japan, with 12 delegations, then Armenia, China), the most significant buyer delegations - while the number of delegates from the Middle East continues to grow - in a basket of presences that included selected buyers in collaboration with ICE and specialized agencies from (in alphabetical order) Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, France, Georgia, Japan, Jordan, Greece, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Qatar, United Kingdom, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Hungary.
Among the categories of selected buyers are companies operating in the world of landscaping, parks, nurseries, pots, machinery, maintenance, seeds and nutrients, cut flowers, as well as decision-makers from the major purchasing chains (Garden Centers, GD, DIY, Home & Garden, e-commerce) especially from France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Spain, Public Administrations, representatives of cities and European capitals (also from Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Split, Sofia, Principality of Monaco), hospitality facilities, real estate developers, and planners.

The presence of representatives and owners of villas for hospitality, events and ceremonies, historic homes, archaeological, national, regional, and local parks, agricultural and wine- growing companies, research institutes, universities, botanical gardens, thermal complexes, outlets, large gardens, museums, castles, palaces, amusement parks is constantly increasing.

Ecological transition and urban regeneration, sustainability of infrastructures, link between greenery and health - with the presentation of smog-eating plants for indoors and outdoors -, the potential of greenery for environmental protection, social well-being, and community health, the need to green cities were the themes around which the meetings at Myplant developed.

The Landscape Area, organized in collaboration with arch. Sabina Antonini-En Space network, has proven to be a precious treasure trove of appointments for landscape professionals and public and private green redevelopment. Among the participants, AIAPP, AIDI, Asso.Impre.Di.A, Minoprio Foundation, Green City Italia, gathered to discuss the evolution of urban construction and redesign territories in light of the new habitat cultures, which impose strict attention to the use of renewable energies, the use of plants and light as design elements, territorial enhancement, sustainable outdoor paving, interdisciplinary collaboration in garden maintenance. Then, the role of greenery in the current and future urban landscape, including slow mobility policies.

With PP.AA. Project, case studies of public interventions in the design, management, and maintenance of urban greenery and landscapes were compared, in collaboration with the Italian Association of Directors and Public Garden Technicians, AIAPP, ANCI, while Asso.Impre.Di.A. deepened the relationship between greenery, health, sports, and inclusivity. A relationship discussed in the discussion tables, always very crowded, organized with Assofloro, Assoverde, Confagricoltura, Coldiretti, Ispra, Bicocca University, and other partners, with a focus on fair play gardens.

With Urban Green Management, in addition to an interesting program of technical workshops, the digital transformation of green asset management was discussed, which, through a unique combination of laser scanning, machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence, allows predictive management of urban trees (decay, infestations, nutrition, health), effective fight against the effects of climatic fluctuations, and increased public safety.

Myplant was also chosen as the venue for a historic agreement between Anve and Avi with the signing of a memorandum of understanding to jointly promote the development and enhancement of Italian and European nursery gardening.
Confartigianato provided an overview of urban afforestation initiatives implemented in Italy through the NRRP. On the sidelines, and constantly recalled, practical demonstrations both in the pavilion and in the external area with Formation 3T.

The theme of sustainability in all its facets - economic, environmental, social, ecosystemic - appeared as a karstic river in the meetings of the Milanese three-day event, including the conference organized by Green Planner, whose focus was on soilless cultivation, between regulations, effectiveness, environmental impact, and new induced professional opportunities.

Conferences were organized on biodiversity protection and tree habitat, the future of floriculture and young people, and urban greenery with the XXIV edition of the 'City for Green' Award, organized by the publisher Il Verde Editoriale: the only national award given to municipal administrations, public bodies, private structures for public purposes, and volunteer associations that have distinguished themselves in works of realization, enhancement, maintenance, and requalification of green areas.

This edition reserved important spaces for sports themes, developed in the Sport Arena located in the center of an area with a strong identity (enriched by two golf practice areas, a putting green area, and a pickleball court in the pavilion), becoming a venue for discussion among the major institutional, associative, and organizational realities of the sports sector that for the first time gathered at a trade fair event.

During the meetings, a significant gentlemen's agreement was reached, whereby the CSI will be responsible for promoting pickleball in Italy starting from a pilot experience in the city of Brescia, with a view to urban regeneration and intra- and intergenerational socialization, as explained by ASSO Engineers and Architects.

With FIGC, Federcalcio Servizi, AITG, FIDAL, CONI Lombardia, LND Impianti, FITP, ICS, CSI, FIG - with the contribution of Kulture Multimedia and in media partnership with TSport / Sport & Facilities -, the Sports Green sector hosted a schedule of meetings with companies, leagues, unions, associations and sports federations, international grounds managers and greenkeepers, PPAA, experts and technicians, sports clubs, manufacturers, agronomists, green suppliers, maintainers, designers, and managers of sports facilities.

At Myplant, the 92nd Meeting of the Italian Golf Technicians Association was also held, as well as the conference on the UEFA Sustainable Infrastructures challenge, the new frontiers of sports facilities, the 11 policies of socio-environmental sustainability outlined by UEFA and the UEFA Sustainability Strategy 'Strength Through Unity 2030'. During the meetings, it emerged how Myplant is the essential venue for the permanent working table on these issues at the national level.

The flower / decoration sector of this edition of Myplant was able, as never before, to inspire, attract, and involve thousands of professionals. Organized in collaboration with Marco Introini and Rudy Casati around a real arena with a fascinating scenography, introduced by an important botanical colonnade curated by Bloom's ACcademy under the guidance of floral designer Patrizia Di Braida in collaboration with Flover, the Decor District was inspired by the theme of wedding ceremonies - also the subject of an important conference - and saw the alternation of compositional proposals from about ten international ateliers. Immersive sets, enchanted atmospheres, and elegant choreographies framed and contained a truly lively, sparkling, and colorful edition for the entire flower and accessory sector.

Charles Lansdorp, White Sposa, and collective of Dutch floricultural producers curated the area of novelties for wedding flowers. All with the participation of AFFI and important Italian floricultural brands.

Great feedback was declared by the companies selected for the Myplantech path, an itinerary through the pavilions that identified innovative products and solutions that are shaping the future of the sector, including digital twins of trees, hi-tech greenhouses, energy saving, circularity, recycling, soilless cultivation, hydroponics, aquaponics, mini-biofactories, new varieties of plants, flowers, and evergreens, phytosanitary control, soil and crop monitoring, lighting, sensors, environmental control, mulching, eco-toilets, leaf parameter measurement, foliage aspirators, mechanical innovations.

Innovation that is transforming the world of motorgarden, whose investments in the research of cutting-edge solutions have reached new milestones at the fair, both in the proposal of new models for hobbyists and in new professional lines. New technologies for land mapping, robotization, fast charging batteries, radio controls, performance cutting, ergonomic innovations, and flexibility of use of power tools, safety implementation systems, remote connections, interaction between battery performance and power, new services for markets, retailers, and customers, zero-emission and energy-saving products, as well as consultancy and training on the use and maintenance of tools were presented at the fair. Among the curiosities, also the new fireproof cabinet for the storage of lithium-ion batteries.

Represented transversally by the Myplantech circuit, the novelties, previews, and curiosities shown at the fair were numerous. Speaking of botany, many exhibitors proposed new species both for indoors and outdoors, also re-proposing ancient varieties long disappeared from Italy or created ex novo.

Aglaonema, Philodendron, Anthurium, gerberas with incredible colors - such as 'Joybera', available from spring 2025 -, heat-resistant cyclamens, of various sizes and new persistent shades; still on the subject of cyclamens, the Petit Moulin with double flowering without stamen and with very long-lasting flowers, and the Absolu, the first scented cyclamen with wavy and two-tone flowers, with beautiful marbled dark green foliage and long flowering. Primroses with special stems, sizes, and durable flowering bouquets, then oleanders, creeping junipers, lilacs, vigorous delosperma with new colors, chrysanthemums with yellow and orange shades, sansevieria, iris, the brand new Mangave® Praying Hands, the Aloe Medivera® for interiors, the Agapanthus Everpanthus® 'Poppin Star', bicolor and starred petunias, hybridized hydrangeas, the new Hydrangea macrophylla Ever Belles, a generous flowering hydrangea with chocolate, pink, green, red colors; the American Schyzachrium scoparius 'Ha Ha tonka', appreciated in gardens for its resistance to heat and cold and for its reduced maintenance requirements, Episcia cupreata, Pilea involucrata, also known as the "friendship plant".

Space was also given to recovered varieties, including thrift, sea lavender, Helichrysum, wallflower, and aubretia, as well as bignonia, Japanese magnolia, cytisus, and black tomato to name a few. Citrus fruits, always a welcome and admired presence at Myplant, were presented with magnificent specimens of cedar, calamondin, kumquat, red lemon, caviar lemon, wrinkled bitter orange.

Other curiosities among the pavilions, increasingly fascinating terrariums and lampariums, maxi-hibiscus, centennial olive trees and the impressive millennial one, sumptuous cacti, and mega bonsai, beautiful bougainvillea, walls covered with orchids, living room algae.

The presence of major brands in the technical sector is becoming increasingly important, where new ranges of phytosanitary products, biological enhancers, lawn stimulants, natural plant activators, new soils for indoor or outdoor plants, slow-release fertilizers, new lines for plant defence and protection, new packaging for domestic products, phytosanitary products for hobbyists, mosquito control systems, moistening agents for lawns were presented. Myplant also presented the new instrument for the infusion of phytosanitary products into the lymphatic system of palm trees.

The sector of pots and technical containers offered long-sellers and new ranges of products in different colors (important references to earth colors), shapes, and materials - from the smallest to the most imposing -, increasingly the result of growing percentages of recycled materials, as a demonstration to the commitment of manufacturers to sustainability.

The new edition of Garden Center New Trend, the successful international concept that since 2016 at Myplant anticipates the evolution of garden centers, has stimulated admiration for its elegance and great curiosity for the themes raised. Curated by Erica Cherubini, ed. Laboratorio Verde and Myplant, the 2024 event has drawn up a roadmap towards the future of Garden Centers by combining sustainable beauty of indoor and outdoor green spaces with innovation, graphics and visual, products, and community.

Many prestigious guests, market insights, and cultural moments, including conferences with Mr. Plant Geek, elected by the Sunday Times among the 20 most influential characters in home gardening.

Among the highlights, the pop-up restaurant organized with the Mountain Community of Valle Camonica-La Valle dei Segni (The Valley of Signs) was very much appreciated. During the days of the event, the food area - with 500 seats - offered quality menus to thousands of people, making them appreciate the products, the places, and the authenticity of a land that is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve thanks to very environmentally friendly territorial policies.

Still about food, the outdoor area dedicated to BBQ show cooking aroused great interest. Coordinated by Oasi's BBQ Lab, an international market leader, it also saw the participation of chefs preparing special recipes.

"Every year we present a Myplant different from the previous one - comments Valeria Randazzo. Because it's richer, more interesting, and more varied. It's part of a growth path that we're all traveling together, as a great green community. Embracing new realities, channels, sectors, and horizons. We intend to further expand our spaces and reach new milestones, offer increasingly better and more profitable opportunities to companies and operators, guarantee effective training, amplify the voices of professionals, and spread a healthy green culture".

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