12 Retailers Choice Award Winners From Farwest 2022
August 30, 2022 A group of garden retailers presented 10 companies with awards for 12 amazing plants and products during the 2022 Farwest Show last week. The Retailers’ Choice Awards were a joint presentation by Farwest Show and The Garden Center Group, which focuses on business solutions designed to help garden centers increase sales, improve operations, and retain more profit.
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Check out the slideshow above for a closer look at the products that were recognized (links to each company/product are below).
Hydrangea ‘Little Hottie Panicle’ (Bailey Nurseries)
Judges said this will be one of the best-selling Hydrangeas in coming seasons. A compact hydrangea with great branching, deep-green leaves, and late summer flowers that are initially green and open to a creamy white, which are held up on sturdy stems. Click here for more information.
Crapemyrtle ‘Shadow Magic’ (Bailey Nurseries)
A crapemyrtle with dark, rosy blooms and dark-purple leaves, offering disease resistance and compact size (7 to 9 feet tall and 5 to 7 feet wide). More information here.
Rudbeckia ‘Goldblitz’ (Ball Seed)
A strong, low-maintenance variety for borders and landscapes, featuring tight foliage with shiny, dark-green leaves that hold back weeds and flower abundantly from summer well into fall. Golden yellow horizontal petals contrast nicely with the black center disc. More information here.
Styrax japonicus ‘Nightfall Snowbell’ (J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co.)
Nightfall Snowbell was chosen by the Retailers’ Choice Awards Judges but also as the Best in Show winner during the 2022 Farwest Show’s New Varieties Showcase. The plant, bred by Keith Warren and introduced by J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., combines the deep-purple foliage of Evening Light Snowbell with the gratefully weeping form of green-leafed cultivars such as Fragrant Fountain. It features purple emerging leaves with green undertones, which contrast with pearly white flower buds in spring. They open to reveal creamy white, bell-shaped blooms. The leaves darken as the season continues.
Wood Tag and Bamboo Plant Stakes (Hip Labels)
This eco-friendly tag breakthrough offers a smaller carbon footprint than plastic tags, and it is fully recyclable. It has a water-based, solvent-free coating for water resistance. To complement this new Wood Tag, Hip Labels offers a bamboo tag holder in three sizes. More information here.
Bendable Plant Poles, Trellis, and Mistr (Mossify)
Mossify was quite busy for their first appearance at Farwest 2022 as they introduced their new bendable coir and moss plant poles that are completely bendable. Available in two thickness (diameter) with one with smaller coir covering and the other larger with moss, each available in three sizes. The company is also offering a new wooden trellis as well as a cordless plant mister (Mossify Mistr).
Weigela ‘Midnight Sun’ (Proven Winners)
A neat and tidy bun-shaped weigela with glossy, blazing orange and red summer-autumn foliage, it works well at the front of borders. It bears pink flowers in spring; however, this plant’s form and colorful summer through autumn foliage are its standout element. More information here.
Bushel and Berry Scarlet Belle Strawberry (Sester Farms)
This addition by Bushel & Berry is an ornamental and edible strawberry plant that is beautiful and delicious. Remember typical strawberry blooms are white with yellow center? Scarlet Bell has unique scarlet-red blooms with yellow centers that produce berries all season long, and is ideal for patio pots, hanging baskets, or garden beds. More information here.
Pieris ‘Glowing Hearts’ (Sidhu & Sons Nursery)
The color is what caught the eyes of judges. This glossy Pieris shrub has glossy evergreen foliage that emerges in strikingly brilliant, glowing scarlet hues. More information here.
Velveteeny Smokebush (Sidhu & Sons Co.)
This smokebush has silky smooth, deep burgundy foliage with large, feathery plumes of dove gray to pink blooms, and a compact form, maturing at 4 feet. More information here.
Gaillardia ‘Fanfare Showtime’ (Walla Walla Nursery Co.)
If you have trusted Fanfare then you will love this new offspring with more color. This gaillardia has the same pinwheel flowers you know and love, but now in bold fire tones, with a compact mounding habit of 21 inches tall by 16 inches wide. It goes well in containers, beds, and borders. More information here.
Leprechaun Arborvitae (Woodburn Nursery and Azaleas Inc.)
A compact selection of T. ‘Green Giant’, this is hardy to Zone 4 and holds excellent green color through the winter. It was discovered by Frank Kogut of Kogut Nursery in Connecticut, and matures at 10 to 12 feet. More information here.
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