November/December 2023 - 15

GREEN GOODS
Left: National Garden Bureau member Crescent Garden assembled this Señorita Rosalita container. Bright and delicate, the petunia
'Black Cherry', coleus 'Dark Star' and caviar black Leyla Urn combine in gothic harmony. Center: Yucca 'Bright Star' provides a pop of
color and interest in a " zeroscape " landscape design. Photo courtesy of Monrovia Nursery. Right: Cucumber 'Quick Snack' sets fruit
without the need for pollinators and can thrive in a sunny indoor spot. Photo courtesy of Ball Horticultural.
is one way to interpret a goth garden. For others, they
might want to make their garden in a gothic manner just
for Halloween. Or for those who love dark foliage and
flowers, that's another way to present the concept. This
gives retailers many options and ways to present and sell
the theme. "
2. Weather-Wise Gardening
As weather extremes continue, home gardeners are
adapting their gardens to fit current conditions. Tamony
said they're seeing increased interest in weather-wise
gardening for a number of climate challenges - extreme
heat or cold for long periods of time, fire-resistance,
drought tolerant and even " zeroscaping. "
Zeroscaping, she said, is " a fairly new term being used by
designers and others to reference something that's different
from xeriscaping. "
While xeriscaping uses low-water plants in a landscape,
zeroscaping uses a minimal number of plants - and those
few plants that are used tend to be natives.
" It's becoming more popular in true desert areas -
really dry conditions. I've seen the term used in New
Mexico, Colorado ... becoming a little bit more popular
and understood. "
Tamony said for zeroscaping, when you have so few
plants, " you need them to be really striking, " so she
recommended garden centers point customers to varieties
that will make a statement.
" If you have mainly gravel or dirt around, but you want a
pop of something, yucca 'Bright Star' is a really beautiful
yucca that we grow and that I recommend in landscapes in
my neighborhood [in northern California], " Tamony said.
" And I see people growing it - it's a nice difference from
the agaves a lot of people grow around here, which are also
wonderful. A lot of the sedums that we grow are beautiful
options as well. "
She said natives can be good options for weather-wise
gardening, but they aren't the only options - despite what
home gardeners might believe.
She said when a Monrovia consumer survey asked, " How
would you describe a native plant to a friend? " they often
heard things like " drought-tolerant " or " waterwise, " especially
if they were living in the West.
" There's a bit of education that can happen [at garden
centers], " Tamony said. " Sometimes consumers believe
that their only choices for waterwise landscaping are
native plants.
" And while native plants can be wonderful options for
waterwise, they're not the only options. There are lots of
great cultivars and nativars that are really good for
xeriscaping as well.
" Clearly we're seeing a lot of consumer interest in the
subject, but a lot of consumers are kind of struggling to
understand what a good waterwise option is. "
She said juniper is a good waterwise shrub option that's
seeing renewed interest. " Juniper is one of those landscaping
plants that's actually coming back in vogue. People started
moving away from junipers, but there are so many different
kinds you can get for the landscape. They have a low,
mounding profile, have a lusher, richer texture, and there are
different colors of juniper. Juniper is a great, great choice for a
waterwise landscape shrub. "
3. Indoor Vegetable Gardening
No longer do customers require a plot in the backyard
to grow their tomatoes and peppers; breeders have
advanced vegetable plants to now happily grow in a raised
bed or container, in a hanging basket, or even indoors on
a kitchen counter.
" For any homeowner or apartment dweller without
access to outdoor garden space, Kitchen Minis indoor
plants is an instant solution that provides fresh
vegetables with that just-picked taste, " said Katie Rotella,
senior public relations and digital manager at Ball
Horticultural. " We've had such a positive reaction to the
launch of this collection because of the versatility of
these small-space potted veggies. Moms with kids think
they're fun to enjoy and show where food comes from;
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November/December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2023