Time To Change… My MANTS Epiphany, Part II

I like to quote Dr. Drew Pinsky (who I’ve always found quite fetching) from the very hip, cool and popular show on VH1 called Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. When asked why he’s lowered himself to have a cable show on VH1 instead of a more educational venue, he replied, “The people that need what we have are watching VH1. Not the people watching educational TV, the NPR crowd. You gotta give’em what they want so you can give ‘em what they need.”

It makes so much sense, eh? His audience (potential customers) is watching VH1 so it would be laughable if he chose to air his show on PBS.

Just as laughable to me, as a garden center that doesn’t think it has to change their marketing to sell to the new, powerful demographic that is the iGen, as well as Gen X and Y.

Wake up people. Take a big, fat whiff of that fair trade coffee.

If I can learn to Tweet, maneuver around Facebook and use an ipod and iphone at 40 just to support my online marketing presence, what makes you think you don’t need to learn and that your store doesn’t need to cater to the same kind of instantaneous, educational information stream that bombards this group?

They need to be bombarded and they need to have information accessible – often times without talking to someone – kiosks, if you will, with loads of information on specific plants and gardening. Perhaps implementing a cell phone tour kind of system instead of bench cards would be a useful tool? Museums and public gardens are doing this.

Hmm, would this be my MANTS epiphany? Dial this number and hear someone talk about this lovely plant. They would be ALL over that. I would.

I won’t even go to a gas station that doesn’t offer “punch and go” payment with a credit/debit card. And I’m actually quite social…it’s all about time and convenience. As our new city catch phrase says in Baltimore, “Get in on it!”…or get out!

Back to the MANTS show…

It was fun to see old friends. I’ve actually grown up with a few of these nurserymen/women. We were all young laborers helping to set up the displays, fresh out of college and eager to change the world of horticulture when we started. Have we? Has anything changed?

We’ve all gotten a bit older and wiser and even a bit larger in most cases, but have we changed the way things are done or are things the same today as they were when I was a wee young twenty-four year old.

I like to think I’m trying, so I hope that counts for something

While walking the show, I did see some pretty cool new plants. At the Carolina Nursery booth, and part of the Novalis Plants that Work program, there’s this new, soft leaved grape holly called Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’. It is hardy in U.S.D.A. zones 7-10 and it has the softest leaves I’ve ever seen on a grape holly. In late winter, lemon yellow panicles of blooms grace the tops of this lovely evergreen like icing on a cupcake.

I saw a display that reiterated the fact that Coral Drift (Rosa ‘Meidrifora’) from a new ground cover series of roses introduced by Star Roses is one of the best new selections to hit the market. It was even the best “forced” rose in their trade show booth. It looked as lovely at the show in early January as it did in my garden in July. That’s some good genetics there.

Having forced 1000′s of roses into bloom for trade shows while I worked for The Conard-Pyle Co., I know if a rose forces well there’s great potential for it in the garden. If they have the energy and ability to make perfect flowers in winter with no real sun, they’ll often be quite vigorous, with lots and lots of blooms in your garden. I have this one at home and I also trialed some in raised planters in Baltimore City around the Police Headquarters and they did swimmingly well in both spots with absolutely no fungicides.

I saw the scariest “gnome” – ever. As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words. Enough said – frightening!

I also talked about what’s going on in the industry – economy wise. My good friend Mark Brinsky, V.P. of Sales and Marketing with Moon Nurseries, who has also “grown up” with me in this industry, and manages a nursery with some of the best quality woody plants (shrubs and trees) that I know in this area, said “Sales were down a good bit, but we cut our costs to make up the difference, so we’re doing OK”. He also said orders are coming in for spring and summer so he’s really hopeful this will be a much better year. That was pretty much what I heard all over the show, from many different parts of the country, so people in the industry seem optimistic.

It was also nice to hear the Novalis group has decided to add our Echinacea purpurea ‘Avalanche’ to their line. I’ve been trying to sell this plant to a large nursery for years. It is a most wonderful, dwarf, single flowered selection from the brilliant breeding lines of Arie Blom of AB Cultivars.

Avalanche has been a nursery trial winner and favorite plant for container production everywhere we sent trial plants. It performed well in gardens up and down the East coast, in the Midwest, deep into the heart of Texas and in the Pacific Northwest.

In my garden, it has held up well with its long lasting, crisp white blooms and creamy yellow cone. This small statured selection is just as happy in summer containers and small urban spaces as it is planted en masse in a large public landscape.

I’m so glad they are giving this one a shot. It’s such a terrific new plant.

Until next week…

Happy Weeding.

Angela Treadwell Palmer
President, Plants Nouveau

— Angela’s Garden Notes —

IntroducingEchinacea purpurea ‘Avalanche’

The grower’s dream - Echinacea purpurea ‘Avalanche’ - a new dwarf coneflower with crisp white blooms and a habit as reliable as a pot-mum. This new selection was bred by Arie Blom of The Netherlands.

Arie’s quest for dwarf, more floriferous coneflowers with predictable habits resulted in this amazing new introduction. Prefect for smaller spaces or mid-border placement, Avalanche will amaze growers with its pot-full-of-blooms and it’s amazing, sturdy habit.

This echinacea is a dream for shipping and retail sales. Perfect for container gardening and small urban spaces, we predict Avalanche will dominate the market and eventually replace all other single-flowered white coneflowers. This plant has continuously bloomed from July to September in many garden settings.

Size: 15-18″ tall by 15-18″ tall
USDA hardiness Zones: 5(4) – 9
Sun/shade: full sun
Soil: average garden soil, well drained
Moisture: moist, but well drained to get established, once established, it is very drought tolerant
Disease and Pests: none known
Landscape use: Foundation plantings, mass plantings, commercial landscapes, front or middle of the border, urban gardens, containers
Market appeal/Uniqueness: With it’s uniform habit and pot-full-of-blooms appearance, growers and consumers will not be disappointed.  This could very well be the ‘White Swan’ replacement we have all been looking for!
Propagation methods: tissue culture, divisions
Bloom time: Early July for 8 to 12 weeks