Marketing Ideas From Cultvate`15, New Perennials and Daylily Rust

Marketing Ideas From Cultvate'15, New Perennials and
Daylily Rust
News and commentary for the perennial market
Thursday, July 23, 2015
COMING UP THIS WEEK:
Innovative Marketing Ideas
Chick Charms
Perennials at Cultivate'15
Eye-Popping Signage
Summer Daylilies
Daylily Rust
Ball Field Day
Innovative Marketing Ideas From Cultivate‘15
Change is constant and for most growers and independent garden centers staying current or even ahead
of the curve is pertinent to the success of their businesses. There was certainly a wealth of marketing
ideas and innovations at Cultivate'15 held in Columbus earlier this month. I discussed many of these
new marketing concepts with my colleague, friend and marketing guru Susan Martin of Gardener Sue's
News. Sue was kind enough to share the following innovative marketing ideas with me.
North Creek Nurseries
Always on the forefront of creating sustainable natural habitats, the good folks at North Creek
Nurseries have long used beneficial insects and organisms as their frontline approach to preventative
pest control. You won’t find neonicotinoids on their property, which dovetails perfectly into their newest
endeavor: beekeeping. In collaboration with local legend and beekeeper extraordinaire Walt Broughton,
North Creek now employs the power of bees—1.2 million worker bees to be exact—in their growing
efforts. Walt’s goal is to increase populations of northern hardy honeybee genetic strains. North Creek’s
vision is to be a leader in the development and practice of sustainable horticulture. It’s a win-win for
everyone, including North Creek’s brand image.
Terra Nova Nurseries
The marketing team at Terra Nova is thinking outside the box by creating a new sales tool for their
broker representatives and landscape customers. Taking its cue from the paint industry, the Garden
Decorating Guide displays a colorful palette of Terra Nova’s best varieties in an easy-to-use fan deck.
Need a rainbow of heuchera? Choose one from each color swatch in this handy guide. Landscapers
looking to spec a red flowering perennial for a job can flip to the red section and take their pick. It’s
such a simple, yet brilliant, marketing idea that saves time and hassle.
Plants Nouveau
Leave it to the two hip and trendy owners of Plants Nouveau, Angela Treadwell-Palmer and Linda Guy,
to know how to connect with up-and-coming plant enthusiasts. By sharing the back stories of how new
plants are discovered around the world on a broad range of social media platforms, their followers
quickly gain a sense of their company’s down-to-earth, relatable style that makes you want to learn
more. Plants Nouveau designs a new booth each year for Cultivate. This year’s was the best yet,
modeling for retailers how their plants can be displayed and sold in a lifestyle-type setting to help
consumers envision how plants can fit into their outdoor décor.
Thank you Susan for sharing these observations and images with me and my subscribers. Follow
Susan Martin on Facebook @Gardener Sue’s News and Instagram @gardenersue or contact her by
email at gardenersuesnews@gmail.com.
What do you think? Share your thoughts and read what others have to say HERE.
Chick Charms
Speaking of cool marketing ideas, check out Chick Charms, a new marketing concept by breeder and
entrepreneur Chris Hansen. So cool, Chris received a Retailer's Choice Award at Cultivate'15.
Chick Charms is a new branded program for "collectible" hens & chicks. Chris is currently growing and
evaluating 480 varieties of sempervivum for future additions to the Chick Charms program. In 2016, 12
Chick Charms cultivars will be grown by Willoway Nurseries, Overdevest Nurseries, Prides Corner
Farms and Saunders Brothers, and made available to garden centers across the country. Look for three
to four new brilliantly colored sempervivum cultivars to be introduced each year. I look forward to seeing
the future Chick Charms collectibles.
What do you think? Share your thoughts and read what others have to say HERE.
Perennials at Cultivate'15
There was a good supply of perennials speckled across the trade show floor. I observed a number of
reliable industry standards, as well as some of the most recent introductions. Here are a few that
caught my eye.
Campanula carpatica Rapido Blue
Rapido Blue from Kieft Seeds is the earliest blooming C. carpatica cultivar on the market. With it's large
1.5- to 2-in. violet blue blooms, early flowering, excellent vigor and uniformity, Rapido Blue is definitely
worth growing. Hardy to Zone 3.
Gaillardia Fanfare Citronella
Fanfare Citronella from PlantHaven has bright yellow pinwheel flowers and virtually blooms the entire
season. Hardy to Zone 5.
Monarda Pardon My Cerise
Pardon My Cerise is an eye-catching bee balm from Walters Gardens/Proven Winners. It produces
dark, cherry pink flowers in the mid summer. The plants are compact, reaching only 14 to 18 in. tall.
Hardy to Zone 4.
Eye-Popping Signage
Who said plants can't talk? Maybe they can't speak, but they can be used to send messages. Here's a
pretty cool portrait of plants bearing the HMA name at the HMA booth at Cultivate'15.
HMA Plants is a supplier of unrooted and rooted cuttings of a number of succulents, perennials and
annuals. Click here to learn more about HMA Plants.
Have you created signage, logos or hidden messages using plants? If so, send them my way—I'd like to
use them to inspire others.
What do you think? Share your thoughts and read what others have to say HERE.
Summer Daylilies
The early blooming daylilies that are grown in massive quantities each year and are possibly overly used
in landscapes across the country are well past their peak blooming season. Mid-summer and summer
blooming daylilies are often overlooked and underutilized.
Last week, I visited the gardens and perennial trials at Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Michigan, and saw
numerous summer flowering daylilies in their prime. Check out these summer bloomers.
Black Eyed Susan
Blueberry Candy
Elegant Candy
Pewter Pink
These are merely a sampling of the wonderful summer blooming daylilies available. Perhaps there's
room in your programs to extend the shipping and sales windows of colorful hemerocallis.
What do you think? Share your thoughts and read what others have to say HERE.
Daylily Rust
As beautiful and carefree as daylilies can be, some growers and landscapers may observe daylily rust
(Puccinia hemerocallidis) infecting their plants. This pathogen is most problematic for Southern growers.
It causes lesions on the leaves that kills the surrounding foliage. The most distinguishing symptom
growers observe is the characteristic raised yellowish-orange powder pustules on the undersides of
infected leaves. These pustules easily rub off onto your skin when rubbing your fingers across them.
Generally, daylily rust doesn't overwinter in locations where the temperatures drop below 50F for
extended periods. So Northern growers luck out for the most part until plants with rust migrate north. If
you purchase daylilies from Southern locations, be sure to inspect them carefully and put them on a
preventative fungicide program.
Prevention is the best approach. I've found fungicides containing azoxystrobin, chlorothalonil and
mancozeb to be very effective at preventing rust when they're applied and rotated approximately at
weekly intervals. Once rust has been detected then shift to fungicides that specialize at controlling rust
diseases. These include fungicides containing myclobutanil, propiconazole and triademefon. Be sure to
rotate between products with differing modes of action to prevent resistance from developing.
What do you think? Share your thoughts and read what others have to say HERE.
Ball Field and Landscape Day
If you were unable to attend Darwin Perennial Day in June, here's another great chance to see the
perennials (and other great plants) at Ball. Next Friday (July 31), Ball is hosting its Field and Landscape
Day. There will be guided tours of the gardens, the seed distribution facility and the Ball Premier Lab.
Attend one or more presentations with topics ranging from Container Solutions and Plant Diseases.
Here's a video previewing the event. You can register at www.ballcustomerday.com.
I hope that you enjoyed this issue. Please feel free to drop me a line to pass your comments, suggest
topics for future newsletters or just to say hello.
Take care,
Paul Pilon
Editor-at-Large
Perennial Pulse
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