June 2023 - 21

GREEN GOODS
Mixed containers with HilverdaFlorist's alstroemeria, garden
gerberas and echinacea ensure seasons of color.
surroundings. This can be easily accomplished with any
number of plant varieties for in-ground plantings or with
containers if the consumer has limited or temporary spaces
needing color and decoration; so it makes sense to offer
plant material over a longer period. Today, the retailer has
many choices that fit into off-season sales windows -
succulents, foliage and even select ornamental varieties
can work.
Delilah Onofrey, marketing director, Suntory Flowers:
The consumer receives extended enjoyment if the plant
looks great through spring, summer and fall. Plants must be
both heat tolerant and cold tolerant to achieve this.
One crop Suntory Flowers has been positioning for
three seasons of interest is Granvia bracteantha, the super
strawflower. In addition to being showy as a large plant
with large blooms, Granvia has earned garden performance
awards throughout the U.S., in the North, South, East and
West. As a bonus, consumers can harvest the flowers as
dried everlasting to make crafts.
Brad Smith, senior retail category and marketing
manager, Sakata Seed Co.: Our industry has done a great job
of providing great options for early spring, peak spring and
late spring, but we have not been as successful with defining
fall past mums or pansies. Let's drive the early fall market
and capture a whole new customer by offering better choices
for new shoppers and our existing fall customers.
L&GR: What are some of the benefits these crops offer?
Berkhout and Pennings: At HilverdaFlorist, we are all
about offering those well-needed items to let you stand
Benary's BIG begonias can be sold in the spring in 5-inch pots
and bumped up to larger containers for instant fall color.
out from the crowd and enable you to draw year-round
interest. By offering a variety of series like Garvinea garden
gerberas, salvia Salgoon, alstroemeria Summer Paradise and
echinacea MOOODZ, we ensure gardens with long seasons
full of color. These series can be planted in the garden early
in spring, hold up well during summer heat, and keep on
flowering until frost. By planting our alstroemeria, echinacea
and garden gerbera series in early fall, the soil is still
warm - which encourages strong root development -
followed by a winter rest before shining and thriving in
springtime. These perennials get even better every year! A
big additional benefit of these long-lasting, robust series is
that they become less demanding once established.
Calhoun: Most importantly, three-season plants need to
be tolerant of a wide range of environmental conditions.
They also need to provide color all season long. People don't
want a plant that can just " hang on " until fall. They want
something that can thrive.
For early spring: Of course, everyone promotes pansies
and violas, bellis, and primula - all of these have bold, earlyseason
colors and are great in beds or mixed containers.
They get your customers excited about the upcoming season.
Some less-typical, early-spring plants would be ptilotus
'Joey', which is surprisingly cold tolerant; BIG Begonias,
which can handle very cool temperatures once established,
and the calendula Bon Bon series, which has only a nine- to
10-week crop time - and you can grow-on in temperatures
in the low to mid 50s.
For late spring/summer or fall: You just can't beat the
heat tolerance and glorious color of BIG Begonias; Graffiti
LGRMAG.COM | 21
http://www.LGRMAG.COM
June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2023
