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On Our Way to AmericanHort's Cultivate '26!
- Wendy Meadley
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
7.11.26
By Wendy Meadley
CEO, Expo 2031 Minnesota, USA
This July, I am looking forward to joining AmericanHort’s Cultivate ’26 in Columbus.
As a member of AmericanHort, I see Cultivate as one of the most important gathering places for the horticulture industry. It brings together growers, breeders, garden centers, suppliers, technology companies, educators, associations, media, and innovators from across the green industry.
For Expo 2031 Minnesota, USA, Cultivate is more than an industry event. It is an opportunity to listen.
Expo 2031’s goal is to help the world understand what this industry already knows: horticulture is not simply beautiful. It is essential.
It is essential to how we grow food, support pollinators, protect biodiversity, manage water, cool cities, strengthen local economies, improve health and wellbeing, create jobs, and imagine the future of how humanity lives with nature.
That is why Cultivate matters so much to our work.
If Expo 2031 is going to put horticulture on a global stage, we have to understand the industry as it really is, not just the beautiful public-facing version of it. Behind every plant is a larger story of labor, science, logistics, risk, regulation, inputs, technology, margins, plant health, consumer behavior, and business leadership.
Cultivate brings that story into focus.
Walking the show floor, attending sessions, and meeting with industry leaders, I will be looking through the lens of Expo 2031. What should the world see from horticulture in 2031? What innovations are ready for a global stage?
What are growers, retailers, suppliers, and young professionals experiencing right now that the public needs to better understand? And how can we make sure the green industry is not just represented at Expo 2031, but meaningfully helping to shape it?
Our theme for Expo 2031 is Human / Nature, Where Humanity and Horticulture Meet.
That theme comes alive at Cultivate.
Every conversation about plants is also a conversation about people: how we live, how we heal, how we feed communities, how we design cities, how we respond to climate pressures, how we support pollinators, and how we connect the next generation to meaningful work.
Pollinators are one of the clearest ways to help the public understand that connection. They link gardens to food systems, biodiversity to human health, and local action to global impact.
Through Expo 2031 and the Global Pollinator Network, we have an opportunity to make those connections visible, accessible, and inspiring for millions of visitors.
But Expo 2031 is not only about public inspiration. It is also about industry leadership.
The horticulture industry deserves a global platform that reflects its complexity, innovation, and importance.
Growers, breeders, retailers, suppliers, technology partners, educators, associations, and media leaders all have a role to play in shaping what the world should experience in Minnesota in 2031.
That is why we are building Expo 2031 with the industry, not around it.
Cultivate gives us the chance to begin and deepen those conversations with the people doing the work every day.
By 2031, we want visitors to come to Minnesota for gardens, beauty, food, culture, family experiences, entertainment, and discovery and leave with a deeper understanding that horticulture is essential infrastructure for the future.
It shapes healthier people.
It strengthens communities.
It supports biodiversity.
It creates economic opportunity.
It connects technology with nature.
It helps us imagine more resilient and livable places.
That is the larger story Expo 2031’s goal is to tell.
I am grateful for the leadership of AmericanHort and for the opportunity to connect with so many industry leaders at Cultivate ’26.
I look forward to listening, learning, sharing the vision for Expo 2031, and asking one question again and again:
What should the world see from horticulture in 2031?
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