I agree with the others.
Since I only follow a few forums it's nice to see the "news" on the right side. It grabs the eye and makes folks want to visit different forums, to branch out and join new conversations. When that space was occupied by the featured plants it looked (to my eye) like too much empty white space. This is a good change.
I was wondering something.
What do non-members see on the home page when they visit the ATP site? Is it the same thing that we see?