Southern Living Plants

The Southern Living Plant Collection will debut this spring with eight plants touted as "Basics for the Southern Landscape."

The collection was created through a live goods licensing agreement between Southern Living magazine and PDSI (Plant Development Services Inc.) in Loxley, Ala. Todd Carnley of Flowerwood Nursery, also in Loxley, is the new executive director of PDSI and director of development for the collection.

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The brand will be launched through a range of retail channels throughout the Southeastern United States this spring and will expand to the entire United States in the future.  

Southern Living also will feature the plants in the magazine and on its Web site.

While the first eight plants will be shrubs and groundcovers, the collection will expand to include trees, bedding plants, tropicals, ornamental grasses, seasonal plants and related green goods. The first introductions include:

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Loropetalums ‘Purple Pixie’ and ‘Purple Diamond’

Cleyeras ‘Bigfoot,’ ‘Bronze Beauty,’ ‘Spring Sonata’ and ‘LeAnn’

Hollies ‘Oakland’ and ‘Robin’

"We’re excited about the plants and the opportunities this partnership creates for participating nurseries and plant breeders nationwide," Carnley says. "Each plant in the collection represents years of plant evaluations, plant trials and consumer research."

Southern Living’s Editor John Floyd says, "Many of these plants have been developed specifically in response to landscape challenges articulated by the readers of Southern Living. Both consumers and retailers want quality plants with features like uniformity in size and appearance, low maintenance and year-round interest."

Southern Living magazine is the seventh largest consumer magazine in the United States, based on readership. The lifestyle magazine, which features travel, home, food, gardening and wellness content, reaches nearly 16 million readers each month and has a circulation of about 2.8 million.

Growers interested in the program and plant breeders with potential new cultivars can contact PDSI at 888-922-7374 or through its Web site–www.plantdevelopment.com.

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