May 2019 - 8

Headlines/Calendar
'Diamond Mountain'
Fruit Salad
Proven Winners Announces
2020 Plants
Proven Winners has expanded its National Plant of
the Year campaign to highlight seven key categories. Its
multimedia marketing campaign is guaranteed to build
awareness and excitement.
The 2020 National Plants of the Year are:
* Annual of the Year: Diamond Collection
euphorbia - 'Diamond Frost', 'Diamond Mountain'
and 'Diamond Snow'
* Perennial of the Year: 'Denim 'n Lace' perovskia
* Hosta of the Year: 'Shadowland Coast to Coast'
* Flowering Shrub of the Year: 'Blue Chiffon' hibiscus
* Landscape Shrub of the Year: 'Gem Box' ilex
* Rose of the Year: 'Oso Easy Double Red'
* Hydrangea of the Year: 'Invincibelle Ruby'
Proven Winners also has diversified its National
Recipe Program to meet the needs of all North
American customers for 2020. Choose those that are
best suited to your region and promote them in any
season you wish. Based on careful trialing of these
Neptune
recipes in the north and south, you can be
confident they will deliver the signature
Proven Winners all-season performance.
The 2020 National Recipes are:
* Fruit Salad: 'Superbells Grape Punch'
calibrachoa, 'Superbells Lemon Slice'
calibrachoa and 'Superbena Royale Iced
Cherry' verbena
* Gloria Rose: 'Diamond Frost' euphorbia,
'Hippo Rose' hypoestes, 'Rockapulco Rose'
impatiens
* Neptune: 'Superbells Yellow Chiffon'
calibrachoa, 'Laguna Sky Blue' lobelia,
'Superbena Stomburst' verbena
* Sunglasses: 'Superbells Yellow' calibrachoa,
'Supertunia Mini Vista Hot Pink' petunia,
'Supertunia Lovie Dovie' petunia
AmericanHort and HRI
Celebrate a Million Pollinator
Gardens
By Jennifer Gray, Research Programs Administrator,
AmericanHort
AmericanHort and the Horticultural Research
institute (HRI), co-founders of the National Pollinator
Garden Network, are proud to be among 50 other
organizations that have promoted the Million Pollinator
Garden Challenge over the last three years. It was
recently announced that the goal was not only met, but
also surpassed with over 1 million gardens registered
as pollinator gardens. It's the efforts of many that
have brought to light the immense importance that
pollinators play in our lives.
In just three years, 1,040,000 gardens were
registered with the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
(MPGC) involving an estimated 8 million people,
concentrated in the U.S. and Canada with some in
Mexico, and across the globe. From tiny yards to public
gardens, the million plus gardens add up to a network
of approximately 5 million acres of enhanced or new
pollinator habitat.
Pollinator gardening hot spots, where high percentages
of the local population registered gardens, include:
the desert southwest, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Prescott
and Flagstaff, and the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale,
Arizona metro area. The Smoky Mountain region, which
straddles North Carolina and Tennessee, contributed
over 35,000 gardens. These areas, along with St. Louis,
Missouri and others, also support high bee density and
8 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | MAY 2019
diversity. Research indicates the impact of these smallscale
pollinator gardens has added significant support
to pollinator abundance and diversity.
Looking to the future, the 2019 call to action is
designed to build on the momentum of the challenge
in two ways:
* Expanding garden habitat by asking Americans
to plant at least three different pollinator-friendly
plants that bloom in three different seasons (spring,
summer and fall) to help ensure a consistent food
supply for pollinators.
* Track the outcomes of this movement, by encouraging
everyone to participate in citizen science projects that
help pollinators at SciStarter.org/PollinatorGardens.
Recent surveys by AmericanHort and the Garden
Center Group reveal that since the campaign launch,
92 percent of garden centers have seen an increase in
demand for pollinator-friendly plants and services, and
86 percent are offering more pollinator-friendly plants,
services and education. The Million Pollinator Garden
Challenge will encourage the 35 million or so Americans
who garden with flowers to " plant with a purpose " and
diversify their gardens by adding pollinator-friendly
plants that ensure blooms during three seasons -
spring, summer and fall. For more information visit
www.millionpollinatorgardens.org.
* Storm Shadow: 'Fairy Dust Pink' cuphea,
'Supertunia Bordeaux' petunia, 'Superbena
Stormburst' verbena
Proven Winners also suggest thrillers for
each National Recipe. Stay tuned for more at
www.nationalplantoftheyear.com.
CALENDAR
National Hardware Show
Las Vegas, Nevada
www.nationalhardwareshow.com
The National Lawn & Garden Show
St. Louis, Missouri
www.nlgshow.com
Darwin Perennials Day
West Chicago, Illinois
www.darwinperennialsday.com
GCA Summer Tour
Nashville, Tennessee
www.gardencentersofamerica.com
Cultivate'19
Columbus, Ohio
www.cultivate19.org
July 13-16
June 23-26
June 11-12
May 7-9
June 19
http://www.nationalplantoftheyear.com http://www.nationalhardwareshow.com http://www.nlgshow.com http://www.SciStarter.org/PollinatorGardens http://www.darwinperennialsday.com http://www.gardencentersofamerica.com http://www.millionpollinatorgardens.org http://www.cultivate19.org
May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2019
