Grower-Retailers Pick Their Favorites From Farwest 2019
Members of The Garden Center Group recognized 15 products from 13 exhibiting companies at Farwest 2019 for the Retailers’ Choice Awards. The Garden Center Group’s Danny Summers and Christina Salwitz led the search by grower-retailers, who were on the hunt for the best new products — both live goods and hard goods – for garden retailers.
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Petunia Headliner ‘Dark Saturn’ (Ball Seed)
This new introduction from Ball Seed was a showstopper as a real show-off of mounding fluorescent colors of deep, velveteen-purple center with creamy-yellow halo margins. It reaches a height of 10 to 16 inches and a width of 20 to 30 inches. Sun exposure is preferable.
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Nepeta 'Blue Prelude' (Ball Seed/Darwin Perennials)
This beautiful Nepeta hybrid had very prominent blooms, and the judges were drawn to the iris-like blooms. Darwin reports ‘Blue Prelude’ is first-year flowering on a robust plant for the landscape, with large flowers and medium controlled habit. It scales to 3 feet in its second year. Best in USDA Zones 5a to 9a.
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Metasequoia g. Dawn Redwood 'North Light' (Bizon Nursery)
This dwarf dawn redwood from Bizon Nursery is a deciduous conifer that forms a round ball with minimal pruning needed. It features irregular cream-white markings over fresh green needles. Its growth rate is slow, and it reaches a mature height of 3 feet in 10 years, and a mature spread of 3 feet. Best in USDA Zones 5 to 8.
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Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken' (Bountiful Farms)
Retailers were drawn to this dwarf Ginkgo called ‘Mariken.’ It is not only dwarf is stature, but its 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. It reaches a mature height of 2 to 3 feet, with a spread of 2 to 8 feet. Best in USDA Zones 3 to 8.
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Cretan Break cretica ‘Albolineata’ (Casa Flora)
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.
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“Garden Like a Girl” Branded Gloves and Apparel (Garden Like a Girl)
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.
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Pilea microphylla 'Variegata' (Little Prince of Oregon Nursery)
This little gem from Little Prince of Oregon Nursery, also called known as Tricolor Artillery Fern, was a real find for 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. It adapts to most light conditions and is always in color, looking like it has just has a dusting of snow. It reaches a height of 3 to 6 feet, with a spread of 12 inches. Best in USDA Zone 10.
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Hollywood Hibiscus 'Rico Suave' (McHutchison)
Another in the Hollywood Series, this ultra-bright hibiscus from McHutchison with 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.
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RediRoot Breath (NurserySource)
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 aid in the air circulation and drainage. This newly designed product by RediRoot is available in several colors.
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Caladium Heart to Heart Series (Proven Winners)
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.
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Cercis canadensis ‘Flame Thrower’ (Star Roses & Plants)
This dramatic redbud introduction from Star Roses and Plants by Dr. Denny Werner 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. It reaches a height of 15 to 20 feet, with a spread of 15 feet. Best in USDA Zones 5 to 9.
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Weigela x. 'Strobe' (Van Belle Nursery)
Retailers were drawn to this new Weigela from Van Belle Nursery having such a color range. It brings bright-pink flowers against a changing foliage, first green-bronze, then orange, and finally red shades. It reaches a height of 3 feet with a width of 3 feet. Best in USDA Zone 4.
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Coleus Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘ColorBlaze Wicked Witch’ (Walla Walla Nursery Co.)
This Proven Winners coleus found at Walla Walla Nursery features deep-burgundy to chocolate foliage with a ruffled edge outlined in chartreuse, with well-branched plants. It is 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. It reaches a height of 24 to 40 feet, with a spread of 18 to 36 inches.
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Sedum takesimense ‘Atlantis’ (Walla Walla Nursery Co.)
This is no ordinary Sedum. ‘Atlantis’ also won 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. ‘Atlantis’ is a great choice for tucking into rock gardens or dry landscapes, or in combination container with succulents. It reaches a height of 4 to 6 inches and a spread of 10 to 12 inches. Best in USDA Zones 4 to 9.
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Daphne x medfordensis 'Lawrence Crocker' (Youngblood Nursery)
This dwarf Daphine from Youngblood Nursery caught the eye of several judges. It is 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 inches tall and as wide. It is a dense, slow-growing shrub that features small, narrow, thickly-textured, dark-green, evergreen leaves and fragrant, deep-pink flowers that bloom from late spring into summer. From the garden of Lawrence Crocker, one of the founders of the Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery in Medford, OR. It reaches a height of 12 to 17 inches and a spread of 12 to 17 inches. Best in USDA Zones 6 to 9.
View all
Petunia Headliner ‘Dark Saturn’ (Ball Seed)
Nepeta 'Blue Prelude' (Ball Seed/Darwin Perennials)
Metasequoia g. Dawn Redwood 'North Light' (Bizon Nursery)
Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken' (Bountiful Farms)
Cretan Break cretica ‘Albolineata’ (Casa Flora)
“Garden Like a Girl” Branded Gloves and Apparel (Garden Like a Girl)
Pilea microphylla 'Variegata' (Little Prince of Oregon Nursery)
Hollywood Hibiscus 'Rico Suave' (McHutchison)
RediRoot Breath (NurserySource)
Caladium Heart to Heart Series (Proven Winners)
Cercis canadensis ‘Flame Thrower’ (Star Roses & Plants)
Weigela x. 'Strobe' (Van Belle Nursery)
Coleus Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘ColorBlaze Wicked Witch’ (Walla Walla Nursery Co.)
Sedum takesimense ‘Atlantis’ (Walla Walla Nursery Co.)
Daphne x medfordensis 'Lawrence Crocker' (Youngblood Nursery)
Check out the slideshow above for a closer look at the products and companies that were recognized.
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Brian Sparks is senior editor of Greenhouse Grower and editor of Greenhouse Grower Technology. See all author stories here.