Let's Talk Plants - It's Cold on the Outside but Warm on the Inside

The holiday season is over, but the weather outside and the January calendar page still shout "Winter!" Yet, in greenhouses all over the country, instead of snow, they're singing "Let it Grow! Let it Grow! Let it Grow!"

Yes, it is spring for the greenhouse industry -- full tilt! Through what is sometimes referred to as "controlled-environment agriculture," greenhouse professionals are in the thick of spring preparations, preparing for the flowers and plants that will dot the landscapes of our cities and towns, our homes and businesses, all across the country.

Certainly, if you have specific needs for colors, varieties, or quantities for your landscaping projects, it's not too late to talk to your vendors to be sure those items will be available. Garden centers, landscapers, and greenhouses will surely accommodate those needs. Nurseries, too, will do their part to be sure the right trees and shrubs are available to fill your needs with a little advance notice. NOW is the time to ask, so folks have time to order, receive, and produce your special needs.

But what exactly should you ask for? Certainly these professionals will be all too happy to recommend varieties that are suited for your climate, your situations, or your particular needs. That's how they have been trained. They live, think, breath, eat, and sleep plants over the next several months, leading up to the big unveiling of spring in the landscape.

But again, I ask, what should you consider when developing plans for the landscape? I suggest you talk to your vendors about clean air, crime prevention, and stress reduction. Ask them if they know a way to reduce energy costs by providing windbreaks to reduce heating costs or shade to help control cooling costs. Perhaps they know a way to improve property values, something particularly important during these times of wavering home values. Is there a solution to help boost tourism for your city? Conceivably, your vendors might have a way to ameliorate air, soil, water, or noise pollution; something to help treat wastewater; or help control soil erosion challenges.

It really is amazing, if you think about it. These same vendors who sell beautiful plants also can help tackle all of these other issues and more! Yet, these folks, in spring, only want to talk about plants.

Stop them! Tell them you don't want to discuss these beautiful luxuries! Instead, beg them to address more basic issues, things more essential to your well-being, things that are more important to life, issues of paramount importance like carbon sequestration and oxygen production!

Of course, plants can tackle both the beauty and the life basics and everything in between, but most of our horticultural professionals get so intrigued by which plant has the reddest of red blossoms or the greenest of green leaves. Sure, there are horticultural differences between the different petunias and geraniums, the maples or oaks, and the different turf and groundcover varieties. But horticulturists and the folks that market their production often forget to talk about the essence of what they provide. An old adage tells the marketing student that "The consumer really isn't interested in the drill or even the particulars of the bits used." Instead, says the professor, "The consumer wants the hole."

So, if your plant vendors get enamored with leaf or blossom colors, with plant characteristics like petal counts, internode spacing, branching habit, or the like, please forgive them. It has to do with spring fever. Help remind them of "the hole." Tell them what you really want is the lifestyle enhancements, the environmental improvements, or the economic reinforcements that plants just happen to provide. And what a bargain these plants really are!

Note: More information on the benefits of plants can be found under the Resources tab of www.americainbloom.org.