From the game developer perspective the new game makes perfect sense.
You have to design the game to be fun for longer than 1 summer, something that doesn't require increasingly crazy events just to engage players.
Execution is everything though.
I'm seeing lots of people hating on the idea of a Grow a Garden 2 game.
Honest take, grow a garden really had no direction going for it anymore, and like any development studio they are gonna want to make a new game. BUT, if this is just a copy and paste, then no one will play.