Time to Get Excited About Today’s Perennial Plants
March 11, 2020 As I look at grower perennial programs and plants at retail, I can’t help but be excited about the opportunities for our industry. It seems like everyone agrees that perennials are a place of growth and increased consumer interest. With added efforts in breeding, supply chain, and a focus on marketing, there is a lot to look forward to.
Big breeding houses as well as smaller breeders are continually feeding new varieties into the market. This diversity is a big part of what makes this business a growing category and gives tremendous genetic choices to growers and consumers.
Breeding Advancements Open Up Opportunities
Plant breeders have worked hard to expand their work into these varieties and are introducing improvements into the market. Examples would be plants with a longer bloom time, which increases the buying window at retail and provides an added bonus for the end consumer. Companies are also focused on launching massive advancements into an already established category.
Examples of this would be plants with increased flower size, better colors, and flower orientation. Flowers that used to face down are now oriented upward with a much showier appearance.
Breeding improvements with perennials, such as changing the way a bloom is facing, have resulted in showier plants for consumers.
Photo courtesy of Syngenta/ThinkPlants
There is also breeding work being done to decrease or eliminate the need for bulking and vernalization. This annualization of perennials means plants can be programmed like annuals. Larger annuals growers can now add perennial genetics into their annual mix and growing environment, without the need to find space to overwinter plants.
Traditional perennial growers can still fall plant, bulk, and vernalize these varieties for early-to-market color as well as continue to program these varieties well into spring. All this helps give perennials an increased ability to have long-term color and a diverse selection available for retail.
Growers can fall plant, bulk, and vernalize perennials for early-to-market color as well as continue to program these varieties well into the spring.
Photo courtesy of Syngenta/ThinkPlants
Attract a New Market Segment
Perennial plants are also a perfect way to move into the foliage and houseplant trend that has exploded within our industry. Perennials have many genera that are known for their foliage rather than their flowers. Now is the time for growers to focus on these types of foliage-forward perennials and capitalize on this trend.
Examples would be hosta, brunnera, heuchera, ferns, euphorbia, aralia — the list goes on. Consumers are clamoring for foliage, and with such a diverse mix to choose from, growers are in the perfect position to grow varieties that appeal to a larger market segment.
Houseplants and foliage plants are a hot trend right now. Take advantage of it with foliage-forward perennial selections such as brunnera.
Photo courtesy of Syngenta/ThinkPlants
Shoulder season impact is also a place to use some of the diverse mix of available varieties. With such a large assortment, growers can be early to market with spring color such as iberis, saxifrage, arabis, and bergenia. Perennials can also be some of the last color available for fall sales, with plant examples like rudbeckia, coreopsis, anemone, and helenium. A wide assortment fits well into the autumn color scheme, and many can be counted on to overwinter and perform well for the consumer the next year.
Perennials also can be some of the last color available for fall sales at retail.
Photo courtesy of Syngenta/ThinkPlants
It’s an exciting time to work with perennial planning, by building diverse programs for different regions, consumer groups, and seasons. Perennial growers have a whole world of opportunity, and the consumer can count on having an amazing show of perennial color all season long.
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