New Colors

With new technology and more propagation techniques, comes new improved plants.

A summer trip to the Ohio State and Cornell University Annual Test Gardens shows some great new plants. So let's take a moment away from the snow and look toward spring and summer.

Supertunia® Pretty Much Picasso™ (Proven Winners)

Photo Supplied by Proven Winners

Shock Wave™ Denim (Pan Am Seed)

Photo at Ohio State Test Gardens

Voltage™ Yellow Osteospermum (Ball Seed)

Photo at Cornell University Annual Garden

Snow is not really a nasty four letter word.....

Whew!

That's what most of us are saying regarding the major snowstorm that went through the Mid-Atlantic states, completely staying south of Western New York.

Phrases like "Hate that white stuff", "So happy I didn't have to shovel", "Let somebody else deal with that mess", were tossed all about the past couple of days. Granted, I am very happy we didn't receive 2-3' of snow also, but......what are your plants thinking?

"BRRR, its cold, where's my blanket, I'm freezing" might exactly be what your beautiful perennials and shrubs are thinking (ok, plants don't think, but imagine if they did). Snow, when it naturally falls and is left undisturbed, is the best winter protection your plants can have!

What? Is this writer nuts? Well, that could be a topic for another day, but on this topic I'm perfectly grounded. Snow is nature's insulation blanket on plants and their root systems. When we have bare ground and those cold temperatures, and more importantly those sub-zero wind chills, many plants become stressed. Without the snow blanket, the soil surface is exposed to all those cold, drying winds. And even with mulch, the roots of your plants are more exposed to damage. Shrub stems and branches are equally vulnerable to the winds. Come Spring, the winters where we have prolonged open ground and snow cover bring the most visable die back, and even fatality, with plants vs. the winters of "the good ole days" when we had a snow blanket the entire winter season.

So, while I'm not wishing a storm of 30" of snow all at once, a good 6-12" snow, 3 or 4 times, with no thaw in between, is exactly what was on your landscape plants' Christmas wish list. I guess now that wish is on their Valentine's Day wish list.

Plants Deliver Reasons To Believe

Its a sunny February afternoon. Forget it's winter. Forget it's February. Take note that it's Sunny! Time for an imagination journey.



Turn off the TV.
Turn off the radio.
Open your favorite magazine.
Now don't read the articles, just flip through and look at the pictures for a few moments........................



I'll bet the pictures you viewed varied in types. Food, nature, buildings, people. Now do you remember your favorite picture(s)? It's very likely that the common theme on those pictures were that were full of color and you really felt like you could touch the objects in the picture or transport yourself right into the middle of the setting.



This past weekend, Garden Center and Landscape Company Owners and Managers met in Louisville, KY and one of the events was a review of many of the new plants that were going to be available for our customers this summer. The plants in the NMPro Plant Pavilion were in all category types: shrubs, perennials, trees, tropicals, and annuals. The 30+ plants on showcase all had a common theme...they were special because of their fantastic colors! We oohed and aahed while reviewing them and could imagine their glory in our gardens.



What does this event have to do with you? Well, just like the Garden Center and Landscape Industry professionals, you also dream of a brighter time of year. The Spring with its glorious displays of color. By dreaming now, you also plan for the planting season.



As humans, many of us use plants as an escape into a world of peace and paradise. Plants are living things that don't care about what the different news organizations critique and write about. Plants don't care if people are grumpy on a certain day. Plants give us color and joy....and hope.



While thinking and planning on what new garden area (whether it's 1 new plant or 50) you are going to create, how about brightening your office or home? Just 1 plant, in a home or office, with a colorful flower can bring that warm feeling of spring one step closer.



So are you a pink person; or maybe a blush white; or lavender, blue, yellow or red? Bring a flower home now and watch your winter blahs 'bloom' into a pre-spring euphoria.



Oh, and you are wondering what plant was voted as the winner of The NMPro Plant Pavilion for 2010? It was the Candy Store Series of Garden Phlox. The variety 'Bubble Gum' is pictured below. Plant and photo credits to Novalis Group.