December 2021 - 16

MARKETING
-
2022:
Year of the
BY JASMINA DOLCE
ach year, the National Garden Bureau
designates specific crops to honor and
promote at all levels of the industry. As
part of its " Year of " program, the organization
selects one annual, perennial, shrub, edible and
bulb crop and offers downloadable literature,
presentations and graphics that industry
members can share.
In 2022, NGB is adding a new category:
houseplants! And the focus crop for this first
year will be peperomia, which is a unique foliage
crop available in various colors and textures. To
learn more about this crop category, I reached
out to some industry experts to gain insight into
peperomia development and production.
Joining me in this conversation are: Diane
Blazek, executive director of the National Garden
Bureau; Maria Zampini, president of UpShoot,
which works with Little Prince of Oregon; and
Andrew Britten, product development manager
for ForemostCo.
GPN: We are big
supporters of the NGB's
" Year of " program,
and we look forward
to finding out which
crops are selected
each year. New
for 2022 is the
houseplant
category.
Can you tell
me why the
Variegated varieties,
such as Peperomia
obtusifolia, add texture
and an interesting
element to houseplants.
ForemostCo
16 DECEMBER 2021 GPNMAG.COM
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Peperomia
E
decision was made to include houseplants in
the program?
Diane Blazek: Houseplants are certainly on
trend right now; one glance at social media will
tell you that. As an industry, many of us realize
that we " dipped our toes " into horticulture by
helping our parents garden and/or by tending
houseplants in our youth. The National Garden
Bureau Board of Directors decided that adding
a houseplant category would not only broaden
our reach to a new audience, but that audience
might just grow into full-fledged gardeners of
annuals, perennials, vegetables, etc. So yes, we
thought the category was needed since NGB is
a non-profit organization with a goal of inspiring
everyone to do more gardening or plantparenting
... whatever you choose to call it!
GPN: Maria and Andrew, are you familiar with
the NGB " Year of " program? Why do you feel
houseplants were added; was the category
needed?
Maria Zampini: Yes! A million times yes,
houseplants were needed as a " Year of "
category. Houseplants are and have been the
" it " plant among consumers, especially with
that younger gardening demographic. We're
always saying we need to connect with the next
generation, so this makes perfect sense.
Andrew Britten: I am familiar with the
program, and we do evaluate what plants
are selected and adjust our production
to compensate for this. This will
become even more important to us
now that houseplants have been
added tothe program.
I think the bigger question is why they
hadn't been included until now! Houseplants are
a mainstay in the industry and should have been
featured here for a long time; now it is finally
Houseplants
are all the rage
these days, and
peperomia is
one of the most
versatile crops
in this class.
If you're not
growing or selling
peperomia, now
may be time to
consider adding
this beauty to
your lineup.
their turn to get some of the spotlight. Many
gardeners start with houseplants before moving
into the other plant categories.
GPN: With this new designation in the
program, 2022 will be Year of the Peperomia.
In your opinion, why was this crop selected?
Diane: It was kind of hard to decide which of
the many houseplants we would promote in our
first year with this new category. We wanted
one with variety yet not too over-exposed. So
we narrowed our choices down to about five
classes, then took a vote and peperomia
came out on top. As with all of our " Year of "
crops, we wanted one that was easy to care
for, has a diverse number of varieties and has
universal appeal.
Maria: I think NGB wanted to ensure their
houseplant selection was one consumers can
be successful with. Peperomia are easy to grow
but also include a wide range of varieties. Mark
Leichty of Little Prince of Oregon told me some
peperomia are considered a succulent and for
many plant parents, succulents are extremely
desirable. I mean, if you're on
Instagram then
you know
all about
'Jitterbug'
Dümmen Orange
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2021
