Here’s our Friday digest of fun and interesting stuff from the web. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

• Small business M&A activity is at its highest point in three years.
• Phoenix housing is back on track. (via @martygrunder)
• How we pay taxes.
• Joe Calloway offers some great advice.
• We should all aspire to this level of brand loyalty.
• Modern (business) etiquette.
• Above: Mike Schwarze of Mike’s Tree Care saves a baby owl, remains awesome while doing so. (via @voiceoftreecare)

Here’s our weekly update on cool stuff we found online. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

• NPR gets really NPR-y with a story on how sound can impact plants.
• Which metro areas in the U.S. are recovering fastest. (via @UrbanLandInst)
• An apples-to-apples spreadsheet for your favorite property manager or HOA.
• Seth Godin makes the case for follow-up calls.
• A new international competition will award 15,000 Euros to the best sustainable landscape design. (via The Dirt)
• Above: Chris Heiler and our own Carolyn LaWell discuss the changes Facebook made this week and what they mean to small business owners.

About half of our team is on the road this week, covering the California Spring Trials. Two teams of editors and videographers are headed south down Pacific Coast Highway in California, reporting on the latest and greatest plant introductions from major breeders and suppliers.

For the next seven days, they’ll have the newest plant varieties for landscapes, garden centers and home gardens, and breaking news from the world of plants.

You’ll find daily coverage at our main site, and can sign up for our daily enewsletter here. You can also get up-to-the-minute dispatches on Twitter by following Greenhouse Management magazine at @greenhousemag, GM Editor Kristy O’Hara at @GMmagEditor, our new consumer-focused app A Garden Life at @agardenlife and the hashtag #springtrials.

Here’s our weekly round-up of interesting and (somewhat) relevant stuff from around the web. Enjoy!

• Landscape benefits by the numbers.
• Related: Resodding can quickly boost curb appeal. (h/t to Norm Goldenberg)
• Photos of the urban forest in New Orleans.
• The Pando is one of the world’s largest living organisms.
• The High Line could be coming to Chicago.
• Above: The Parklands, a massive new park planned for Louisville, Ky. (via The Dirt)

What do you do when you’re proud of a job? Swingle, Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care makes and shares videos.  Here’s a clinic on how its crews removed fallen trees after high winds.

YEARS from Bartholomäus Traubeck on Vimeo.

Here’s our weekly digest of fun links from around the web. Hope you like them!

• An edible urban forest is planned for Seattle.
• You can help shape the next version of LEED. (via @waterguru2)
• Nearly half of Americans now own smartphones. More than 60% of people with household income of more than $75,000 do.
• On sick days and dedication. (via @martygrunder)
• A new app to track your water footprint.
• Woman smoking meth burns down Florida’s oldest tree.
• Above: A record player that makes music from trees.

Here’s our weekly digest of interesting and informative stuff from the internet. Dig in, and have a great weekend!

• “A wall made of animals.” Why you need a good schedule, not just a great design.
• 30,000-year-old plants from the Russian permafrost.
• Chris Heiler on how to do SEO.
• A great discussion on gas prices at our Linkedin group.
• Good, short piece from Jason Cupp on customers.
• Abbot and Costello explain unemployment figures.
• Above: The first in a series of top landscape mistakes from Austin Outdoor.

Snow Circles from Beauregard, Steamboat Aerials on Vimeo.

Here’s our weekly collection of cool stuff we found online. Enjoy!

• U.S. cities lose 4 million trees a year
• Write better Twitter headlines.
• Toilet-to-tap turn you off? It’s good enough for astronauts
• New rules for H-2B.
• These Mark Awards are pretty bad-ass.
• Where is the River Volga? What Tomas Edison asked potential hires in his interview process.
• Above: The making of snow circle art by Sonja Hinrichsen at Rabbit Ear Pass, Steamboat Springs, Colo. (via The Dirt)

Here’s our weekly collection of cool stuff. This one’s got Fibonacci in it!

• A quick guide on how to calculate water use and loss.
• The forgetable equipment in your garage.
• Better than networking: connecting.
• And the next level: How to be remembered.
• Are you an idea monkey?
• Above: Spirals, Fibonacci and the beautiful math of plants. (via @aquatrols)

Here’s the latest cool stuff we found online this week. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

• A good national round-up of water headlines from @EwingIrrigation
• The difference between PR and advertising.
• The secret formula for great customer service.
• Jeff Korhan on personal vs. business social media accounts.
• Design inspiration from Burle Marx.
• Richard Restuccia will speak on how to green your grounds program next week.
• Stewcare has a pretty robust YouTube channel.
• Above: How Bill Murray, tuxedos and a network of chubby rodents made Groundhog Day a national holiday.