Retailers’ Choice Awards™ at Farwest 2019 were presented to thirteen exhibiting firms for awards during a presentation on the Farwest Solutions Center. The Garden Center Group’s Danny Summers and Christina Salwitz lead the retailer search. Products were selected specifically for garden retailers in search of the best new products both live goods and hard goods for their stores. Following is a list of firms and their products receiving recognition:
Petunia Headliner™ ‘Dark Saturn’
Ball Seed
Craig Yoshida
622 Town Rd, West Chicago, IL 61085 USA Tel: 630-231-3600, Fax: 630-562-7790
www.ballseed.com
cyoshida@ballhort.com
This new introduction was a showstopper as a real show off of mounding fluorescent colors of deep velveteen purple center with creamy-yellow halo margins. Height 10-16”, Width 20-30”, Exposure: Sun.
Nepeta ‘Blue Prelude’
Ball Seed
Chris Fifo
622 Town Rd, West Chicago, IL 61085 USA Tel: 630-231-3600, Fax: 630-562-7790
www.ballseed.com
cfifo@darwinperennials.com
This beautiful Nepeta hybrid had very prominent blooms and the judges were drawn to the iris-like blooms. Darwin reports ‘Blue Prelude is a first- year-flowering on a robust plant for the landscape with large flowers and medium controlled habit. Scales to 3 ft. in the second year. Zones: 5a-9a.
Metasequoia g. Dawn Redwood ‘North Light’
Bizon Nursery
Eric Bizon
29895 SW Kinsman Rd, Wilsonville, OR 97070 USA Tel: 503-682-2435, Fax: 503-682-2758
www.bizonnursery.com
eric@bizonnursery.com
This dwarf dawn redwood is pretty amazing… it is a deciduous conifer that forms a round ball with minimal pruning needed. Irregular cream- white markings over fresh green needles. Exposure: Full sun, Growth Rate: Slow, Mature Height: 3′ in 10 years, Mature Spread: 3′ in 10 years, Zone: 5-8
Ginkgo biloba ‘Mariken’
Bountiful Farms
Todd Nelson
17280 Boones Ferry Rd. NE, Woodburn, OR 97071 USA Tel: 503-682-2435, Fax: 503-682-2758
www.bountifulfarms.com
todd@bountifulfarms. com
Retailers were drawn to this dwarf Ginkgo, called Mariken. It not only is dwarf is stature but leaves are much smaller as well. Mariken was discovered in 1995 as a witch’s broom growing in a Ginkgo tree in the Netherlands. Bountiful Farms featured this plan grafted on a standard. Extremely dwarfed and slow growing, it’s a male Ginkgo, but does not produce messy fruit. Summer foliage is soft green turning to brilliant yellow-gold in the fall. Mature size: Height: 2-3’, Spread: 2-8’, Zones 3-8.
Cretan Break cretica ‘Albolineata’
Casa Flora
Michelle Bundy
PO Box 41140, Dallas, TX 75241 USA Tel: 800-233-3376, Fax: 972-225-5210
www.casaflora.com
michellebundy@casaflora.com
Multiple Retailers found this great fern! A very popular variegated variety with a cream-white center and white lateral veins radiating into dark green fronds. Casa Flora says it is most commonly used as a table fern, in dish gardens, and European dish gardens, and as an annual in the landscape.
‘Garden Like a Girl’ Branded Gloves and Apparel
Garden Like a Girl
Mary Garlock
15 82nd Drive; Suite 160, Gladstone, OR 97027 USA
Tel: 503-882-0616
www.gardenlikeagirl.com
mary@gardenlikagirl.com
This husband and wife team are designing garden gloves and apparel under the unique “Garden Like a Girl” brand. Gloves are designed with reinforced figure tips (protecting from fingernails) and shirts and other apparel made from recycled plastic bottles. With 70%+ of garden center customers being women, this brand and uniquely designed apparel are sure to be a hit!
Pilea microphylla ‘Variegata’
Little Price of Oregon Nursery
Ryan Seely
15868 NE Eilers Rd., Aurora, OR 97002 USA Tel: 503-678-5687
www.littleprinceoforegon.com
ryan@littleprinceoforegon.com
This little gem, also called known as Tricolor Artillery Fern, was a real find for our judges. It is a most unusual plant with very tiny leaves that are green and white with a hint of pink. Growing in a mounding habit, it is great for the house, patio, or garden. Adapts to most light conditions and always in color – looks like it has just has a dusting of snow. Height: 3-6:, Spread: 12”. Zone 10.
Hollywood Hybiscus ‘Rico Suave’
McHutchison
Jason Padden
17769 NW Chemeketa Ct., Portland, OR 97229 USA Tel: 503-828-7912, Fax: 503-212-9721
www.mchutchison.com
jpadden@mchutchison.com
Introducing another in the Hollywood Series, this ultra bright gold- orange ruffled petals leads to a deep burgundy center. A constant bloomer with full body of deep green foliage, Rico Suave is a great addition to the landscape or patio.
RediRoot BREATH
NurserySource
Sara Hogarth
PO Box 191, Boring, OR 97009 USA Tel: 971-386-8362
www.rediroot.com
sara@nurserysource.com
One look at this new design and you quickly know this is different. Besides being beautiful this planter is made from 100% recycled materials and provides a variety of benefits such as reduced transplant shock, airflow to the root zone, and superior drainage. The design you see on the sides are actually holes allowing airflow. Inside, BREATH features a grow bag fabric liner to hold the soil and aiding in the air circulation and drainage. This newly designed product by RediRoot is available in several colors.
Caladium Heart to Heart™ Series
Proven Winners®
Jessica DeGraaf
111 E Elm St., Ste. Sycamore, IL 60178 USA Tel: 877-865-5818
www.provenwinners.com
jessica@provenwinners.com
The new Heart to Heart™ caladium series by Proven Winners is a partnership with Classic Caladiums to bring 20 of Classic’s exclusive and most unique varieties and is available for the 2020 season. The range of color combinations gives the designer a world of opportunity.
Cercis canadensis. ‘Flame Thrower’®
Star® Roses & Plants
Joshua Long
8 Federal Road, Suite 6, West Grove PA 19390 USA Tel: 800-458-6559
www.starrosesandplants.com
jlong@starrosesandplants.com
This dramatic “eye-candy” Red Bud introduction by Dr. Denny Werner, this one has pink flowers that are followed by a most unique foliage, emerging deep burgundy-red, followed by bright yellow and green as it ages. Color display is persistent throughout the season, often showing four to five different shades on a single branch.
Height: 15–20’, Spread: 15’. Exposure: Full Sun. Zones: 5-9.
Weigela x. ‘Strobe’
Van Belle Nursery
Scott Erickson
34825 Hallert Road, Abbotsford, BC V3G 1R3 CANADA Tel: 888 826 2355
www.vanbelle.com
scott@vanbelle.com
Our retailers were drawn to this new Weigela having such a color range. It brings bright pink flowers against a changing foliage first green bronze then orange and finally red shades. Height: 3’. Width: 3’. Exposure: full sun to part shade. Zone 4.
Solenostemon scutellarioides ColorBlaze® Wicked Witch™ Coleus
Walla Wall Nursery Co.
Nicole Smith
4176 Stateline Road, Walla Walla, WA 99362 USA Tel: 509-522-9855
www.wallawallanursery.com
nicole@wwnc.net
WOW! That’s what one Retailer said when they saw ColorBlaze® Wicked Witch™ Coleus. This Proven Winners® coleus features Deep Burgundy to Chocolate foliage with a ruffled edge outlined in chartreuse with well-branched plants. Sun to shade tolerant and great in both landscapes and containers. It is late to bloom, which helps preserve the foliage presentation throughout the season. Height: 24-40”. Spread: 18- 36”. Exposure: Sun or Shade!
Sedum takesimense ‘Atlantis’™
Walla Wall Nursery Co.
Nicole Smith
4176 Stateline Road, Walla Walla, WA 99362 USA Tel: 509-522-9855
www.wallawallanursery.com
nicole@wwnc.net
This is no ordinary Sedum… Sedum Atlantis wins Plant of the Year 2019 at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, England! You can’t help but stop and stare at this beautifully variegated groundcover stonecrop from Hortech, Inc. Small, serrated leaves are dark green with very wide creamy yellow margins. From a distance, the margins are what catch your eye. You may notice that the creamy margins become tinged with pink blush tones with cold temperatures late in fall. A great choice for tucking into rock gardens or dry landscapes, or in combination container with succulents! Height: 4-6”. Spread: 10-12”. Exposure: Full Sun. Zones 4-9.
Daphne x medfordensis ‘Lawrence Crocker’
Youngblood Nursery
Cody Hahnlen
8125 Windor Island Rd., Salem, OR 97303 USA Tel: 503-390-8619, Fax: 503-390-0028
www.youngbloodnursery.com
cody@youngbloodnursery.com
This dwarf Daphine caught the eye of several judges. Its dwarf in stature, flower and leaf size. ‘Lawrence Crocker’ is a small evergreen daphne hybrid (S. arbuscula x D. collina) and is mounding to 12″ tall and as wide. It is a dense, slow-growing shrub which features small narrow, thickly-textured, dark green, evergreen leaves and fragrant deep pink flowers which bloom from late spring into summer. From the garden of Lawrence Crocker, one of the founders of the Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery in Medford, Oregon. Height: 12-17”. Spread: 12-17”. Exposure: Full Sun and Light Shade. Zones: 6-9.
A special thank you to all retailers participating in the Retailers’ Choice Awards™ selection process. The awards at Farwest 2019 was a joint presentation by Farwest Show and The Garden Center Group.
The Garden Center Group focuses on business solutions designed to help garden centers increase sales, improve operations and retain more profit. With a support team of leading industry professionals offering business management, financial, marketing, HR services and more. The Group offers retailers innovative resources to maximize their potential to succeed.
For information about The Garden Center Group and the services it provides visit http://www.thegardencentergroup.com or call Danny Summers at 678-909-7770.
For more information about the Farwest Show visit: https://farwestshow.com/ or call Farwest at 503-682-5089.
