Pantone announces 2017 Color of the Year, and garden centers and growers will love it

As it has done since 2000, the Pantone Color Institute has named its 2017 Color of the Year -- Greenery. The designation is made based on trend forecasting across a variety of industries and markets, including fashion, travel and housing. This year, it seems nature was the inspiration.

On the webpage announcing the 2017 shade, Pantone writes that Greenery represents people's "innate craving to immerse themselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world." A promotional video about Greenery suggests that even people who live in urban environments can create their own natural worlds both outdoors and indoors with houseplants. There are rooftop gardens, balconies covered with plants, succulent centerpieces and a scene showing people having a picnic outside.

Here's what Pantone had to say about this year's hue:

A refreshing and revitalizing shade, Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings.

Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

Greenery is nature’s neutral. The more submerged people are in modern life, the greater their innate craving to immerse themselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world. This shift is reflected by the proliferation of all things expressive of Greenery in daily lives through urban planning, architecture, lifestyle and design choices globally. A constant on the periphery, Greenery is now being pulled to the forefront - it is an omnipresent hue around the world.

A life-affirming shade, Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality.

Pantone is one of several color trend authorities to release a new hue of the year. Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr and other paint brands made their announcements this past fall.

Last year, Pantone broke with tradition and named two colors of the year. The last time Pantone selected a shade of green for its annual color was in 2013, when Emerald Green was the top hue.

For more, visit Pantone's website.