Online community for ornamental horticulture
NEW AND EXCITING PLANTS FOR 2009
What plants do you think will be hot this year?
Agaves and other xeric plants?
A return to native, less-formal landscaping?
Fruit trees and vegetables?
The Antique Rose Emporium look with mixed plantings?
Agaves and other xeric plants?
A return to native, less-formal landscaping?
Fruit trees and vegetables?
The Antique Rose Emporium look with mixed plantings?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Lloyd Traven on -
We see STRONG upswings in herbs and veggies (it was a huge area of up business last year). We also are getting very strong requests for emphasis on PERFORMANCE and ease of growing. They couldnot care less WHOSE plant, just that it will work for them, and they will get value.
I'm not talking a return to the dreaded geranium, spike, vinca genre, but it has to be perfect at RETAIL, not something that you have to promise will look good much later (ie vegetative annual phlox). It has to be right now!
We're increasing succulents, instant 'gift' items like combinations, and larger potted specimens. Our heirloom begonia collection is expanding. We are also paring down our list of VARIETIES of spring vegetative tremendously, NOT THE OVERALL QUANTITY. Customers want to buy a full shelf, or a full cart of a COLOR of calibrachoa or petunia,they don't want EVERY color or hue.
Will we lose a customer because of this? Likely, but they will also be thecustomer who comes to us to fill in what they have sold out, usually retail growers. That's generally a one shot sale, and then the next week they need the red,blue, white, pink anyway. The BRAND makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. The customer is pretty simple to figure out--as Robert Hendrickson says so well," A perfect plant, every time, on time, all the time." Deliver THAT without fail, and we will weather the storm okay.
-
Permalink Reply by Lee Bloomcamp on -
We are seeing continued interest from SE growers in pest management/PGR/production info for herbs, annual vegetables, and edible landscape material like blueberries, feijoa, figs, etc. Some growers are shifting significant greenhouse production space from bedding plants to vegetable starts. Box stores and retail center orders driving change. Xeriscaping material also in demand, tied to watering restrictions, and general drought conditions over the past couple of years. Some interest in natives, but majority of property owners don't know or care, just want curb appeal and some color and variety to compliment lawn and architecture. Informal landscaping may be more of a by-product of finances rather than by design, but promotion of low-input plants has an appeal.
There is still interest in aquatics and water gardens, these are the primary big ticket landscaping projects going into existing properties, but certainly a luxury item. Most casual gardeners just want "red" or "purple", and aren't enticed by brands, or celebrity endorsements. Syngenta breeders and marketers are trying to key in on what makes people buy plants, and it is hard to define on a large scale. We sell to growers who understand the genetics and production subleties, rather than to the people who ultimately put plants in the ground.
-
Permalink Reply by Steve on -
I agree with you Lee. Vegetable plant sales demand increased last year dramatically. And that was before the gloom and doom media got started. It is only logical given the current economic climate to expect even stronger demand this year. As for Herb demand, I don't necessarily think that the increase in Herb plant sales is driven so much by our current economy as much as an influx in the number of cooking shows and show segments from the likes of Martha Stewart and the Rachel Ray's of this world. Teaching our customers how to properly use these products to cook with. There are many vegetables that consumers pass on by at the grocery store simply because the just don't understand how to properly prepare the vegetables and how to cook with them. If they are doing that at the grocery they will almost certainly have the same habits when they arrive to buy their vegetable plants. This year we will have 66 varieties of pepper plants and twelve varieties of Sweet potato plants for sale. This is nowhere near our complete list of vegetable plants. But you get the idea. Our pepper plant sales would be even higher if we could somehow educate the general public on how to best use these varieties once they start to harvest their peppers at home. I think the general trend this year will be less demand for flowers that have to be planted in the ground on more demand on Instant color bowls your customers can grab an go with. In our area Louisville, KY... we have not experienced the severe droughts over the last 2 years that the deep South has. Consequently the demand for succulents here have not been as great. (understandable).
It is funny you should mention Sygenta, In the thirty years we have been in business I have yet had a customer walk in and ask for a Proven Winner "Plant XYZ" They may walk in and ask me if I have Purple wave petunias or another particular variety of plant. But never have they ask for a Proven Winner anything. The Only brand I am interested in promoting is my own companies Brand!
Lee Bloomcamp said:We are seeing continued interest from SE growers in pest management/PGR/production info for herbs, annual vegetables, and edible landscape material like blueberries, feijoa, figs, etc. Some growers are shifting significant greenhouse production space from bedding plants to vegetable starts. Box stores and retail center orders driving change. Xeriscaping material also in demand, tied to watering restrictions, and general drought conditions over the past couple of years. Some interest in natives, but majority of property owners don't know or care, just want curb appeal and some color and variety to compliment lawn and architecture. Informal landscaping may be more of a by-product of finances rather than by design, but promotion of low-input plants has an appeal.
There is still interest in aquatics and water gardens, these are the primary big ticket landscaping projects going into existing properties, but certainly a luxury item. Most casual gardeners just want "red" or "purple", and aren't enticed by brands, or celebrity endorsements. Syngenta breeders and marketers are trying to key in on what makes people buy plants, and it is hard to define on a large scale. We sell to growers who understand the genetics and production subleties, rather than to the people who ultimately put plants in the ground.
-
Permalink Reply by Jen Polanz on -
I know a lot of people are seeing success with vegetables. Is there any way to break it down more specifically? Are heirlooms performing well sales-wise? Or brand new varieties? Anything in particular?
Thanks!
Jen
-
Permalink Reply by Steve on
-
When it comes to vegetable plants people tend to buy what they know works for them. There is a group that are looking for Heirlooms or new varieties but by far and large they tend to buy what has worked for them or their extended family in the past.
Jen Polanz said:I know a lot of people are seeing success with vegetables. Is there any way to break it down more specifically? Are heirlooms performing well sales-wise? Or brand new varieties? Anything in particular?
Thanks!
Jen
-
Permalink Reply by Lloyd Traven on
-
DEFINITELY true!!!! Most will still come in for the Early Girl, Big Boy, whatever. Still, we see lots of interest in heirlooms. TAGS are a tremendous issue with the heirlooms--people want to see what they look like (and it is one of the huge selling points), but the REALLY cool heirlooms are not available as a picture tag. We're figuring out how to help retail GCs market a wider selection than the "mainstream" heirlooms. Boy is that ever an oxymoron.
-
Permalink Reply by Andy Bittner on -
I'm all about "show me the money" marketing, display gardens can move product, and fast.
and yes 'low-water use plants' are still a hot item at my place in the burbs of cincinnati, with all the sedums that are avaliable its hard not to come up with a great container garden that is a no-brainer for upkeep.
on the subject of variety loyalty, I am seeing a shift in focus to heirloom everything, not older varieties per say, but plants that everyone knows and loves, rose of sharon, peony, roses in general (thanks to the knock out marketing campaign) just to name a few, i think people are seeking the comfort of the familiar with a twist of contemporary
-
Permalink Reply by Paul Brumfield on -
"i think people are seeking the comfort of the familiar with a twist of contemporary"
What a great way to put it! I agree.
-
Permalink Reply by Tom Broome on -
These plants aren't new, but I'm seeing a big demand for the first time for the more cold hardy Dyckias. They just proved to take down into the mid teens here in central Florida, they are very xeric, and even though they are a genus of bromeliad, they flower every year without the plants dying. The more colorful plants are selling out first, like 'Cherry Coke' because the plants are good sized and when grown in full sun they are very dark red. Then about mid spring they push out 4 foot tall flower spikes covered with orange and yellow flowers. When these are planted in larger groups there might be hundreds of flower spikes up all at the same time. The only draw back with these plants are the spines on the leaf edges, but the people who are buying these are also making borders to keep people from walking on the landscapes, so in this case, it is another selling point. I'm having people ask me to contract grow these for them, and if you can get people to order this way during these times, I'm all over it.
For me personally, I'm all exited about a cycad called Ceratozamia hildae. It is a cycad, but it doesn't look anything like a sago. It has an upright habit that looks like bamboo and gets about 7 feet tall. Zilkor Botanical Gardens in Austin TX had a display of these plants in the Hartman Prehistoric Garden, and when they had a freeze event going down to 12F, these plants didn't have any leaf damage. They are relatively pest free (including CAS) and actually prefer the shade. The leaflets make clusters that look like bow ties, which is rather attractive. Remember the good old days when sagos were planted everywhere because they were so easy to take care of, and last so long? Well these are even easier to take care of, they grow much faster, and don't get the scale
-
Permalink Reply by Alan Shapiro on -
Dyckias are wonderfully exotic and quite xeric. That's why I nominated them for the Florida Plant of the Year program.
-
Permalink Reply by Tom Broome on
-
I think many of the dyckias make a good choice for landscaping, but I wouldn't lump all of them together. Some are barely cold hardy into the 20s, and some are just little ratty looking plants. Some just don't have the size to be good outside plants. On the other hand, if you find any hybrid with platyphlla breeding in it, it will be very cold hardy and will almost always have a white back to each leaf, which will give a bit of contrast. Fosteriana hybrids make good plants as well but tend to be a bit smaller in size. Lat time I saw a list, I think there were around 120 different species of dyckias and countless hybrids, but I do think Cherry Coke could be a plant of the year nominee.
- Attachments:
-
-
Cherry Coke.JPG, 127 KB
-
-
Permalink Reply by Rick Brown on -
Cherry Coke looks great. How fast does it grow and multiply? Is it in TC and are there numbers available to warrant marketing for widespread use?
© 2010 Created by Sara Tambascio.
