On Feb. 1. 2023, I received an email from Dr. Keith Wood, CEO of a company called Light Bio. Now, I receive a lot of emails, but a line in this one immediately captured my imagination: “After nearly a decade of development, we are finally releasing our bioluminescent petunia to the public.”
Bioluminescent petunia? It was exactly my kind of strange. I was on the phone with Dr. Wood that same afternoon. The result of that conversation was the first industry-focused article about the plant, published in the March 2023 issue of our sister publication, Garden Center magazine.
Dr. Wood was unequivocal about the revolution he felt his new plant would bring to the market. “What we’re doing here is creating an entire new direction to create excitement,” he told me. “And we think that excitement will certainly drive the demand for what we’re doing. This gives a chance for the growers and the retailers to tap into this new excitement and expand their businesses.”
I met Dr. Wood in person at Cultivate later that year and was able to experience his innovation. Standing in the quiet, pitch-black room off the show floor, my eyes adjusted to the light, and a ghostly cloud of flowers came into focus. The effect was extraordinary. It wasn’t like the photoluminescent glow of the hands of my watch; these flowers shone from within, as if filled with a kind of mystic vitality and life that simply couldn’t be contained. I lingered in that room, listening to visitor after visitor have the same experience. Simply put: wonder.
Nine months later, Dr. Wood’s words about creating excitement seem particularly prescient. The cover of the Nov. 11, 2024, issue of TIME magazine, highlighting the magazine’s Best Inventions of 2024, features the petunias in a crate carried by a robot (another best invention list maker). The trend we’d spotted nearly a year ago had finally hit the mainstream. And with that recognition has come a new outlet for distribution.
In this issue of Greenhouse Management, Editorial Director Kelli Rodda revisits Light Bio to learn how these glowing petunias are being produced for the garden retail industry. And while the story of how the innovative plant is finding its way into customers’ hands is fascinating, there is a deeper lesson that all of us can take from the tale.
Dr. Wood is a dreamer. He recognized the potential in something strange and wonderful and left a career in research to pursue his dream of bringing that left-field idea to the world.
The story is a reminder for all of us as we enter the new year that each of us has a potential to recognize the glow of inspiration in our lives. Yes, this is a busy season in our lives, and in fact, the bulk of this issue is concerned with surviving the spring. But that glow of inspiration can appear at any time, even amid intense production.
The question we must ask ourselves is, are we brave enough to chase that glow? Are we willing to put in the hard work to nurture it so that it’s no longer a glow, but a light so bright it cannot be ignored?
It’s a new year full of potential. I’m looking out for the glow. I’m ready to turn it into undeniable radiance. Are you?
Explore the January 2025 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
