WHAT IS SO RARE...

... as a day in June? Probably a day off in June. These are fast times for green industry types, with projects lurking everywhere. Shipping is still fast and furious; perhaps the infrastructure needs some maintenance TLC after the make-do, get-it-through pragmatic patches applied in winter; and those last few hoops still need a squirt of shade. Having a greenhouse means never having to say, "There's nothing to do!"

 

LOOK WHAT THE TRADE WINDS BLEW IN

It's almost July, when trade shows sprout like toadstools. Come collect your very own copy of our new catalog at the OFA Short Course, July 10-13 in Columbus OH. If you're a westerner, and Ohio's too far, check us out at the Perennial Plant Association's yearly National Symposium in Portland, OR July 19-22. We get to visit that lovely city again for the FarWest Show, August 26-28. In between comes PANTS in Oaks, PA, August 3-5.

Florida: Summer has arrived in the Panhandle. Our heat-loving, warm-season grasses are responding with gratifying alacrity and élan, filling the trays that fill our benches and finally your pots. Construction continues apace on a new propagation house. In the trial garden, Pennisetum xadvena 'Sky Rocket' PPAF (pictured right) gets more impressive every day, living up to its name with barrages of pink plumes bursting above brilliant ground-effects displays of brightly striped arching leaves. We can accept orders now, but first delivery date is January 2011.

Pennsylvania: Propagation has begun on a plethora of perennials, especially those that will grace the pages of the aforementioned new catalog. Our first batches of a great hybrid foxglove, Digitalis Goldcrest PP20937, can ship in August. Polemonium reptans 'Touch of Class' PP19768 (pictured left) is even farther along, with first availability this month. If you haven't seen this elegant sport of 'Stairway to Heaven', it really is a step up.

 

We're known for our tough stuff, i.e., ornamental grasses and perennials, but heck, we have a tender side, too. We get downright sentimental about Verbena 'Princess Dark Lavender' & 'Princess Blush' from the Southern Living collection. Bred and selected for Southern summers, they won't wimp out in basket or bed when summer brings the heat.

BTW, we're not really obsessed with royalty this month (See Tray Bon!), it just seems that way. Are plant breeders running out of names?

 

TRAY BON!

Of Napiers & Rapiers: Fit For Royalty, Priced for Commoners!

Zounds! Forsooth! Thou'rt unlikely to encounter a comelier quartet of Napier grasses than (from left to right) Pennisetum 'Prince', 'Princess', 'Princess Caroline' and 'Princess Molly', proffered for thy planting pleasure by the cunning wizards of Athens Select.  

This regal clan's noble blood endows each with beauteous dappled-purple blades, broad as a Beefeater's sword. Unlike lily-livered lesser specimens that wilt and wane in summer's fearsome heat, these handsome hues wax ever richer and deeper throughout the season's long campaign.

The royal family paints a pretty portrait with a height and heft befitting your every pot, plot and planter. Alas, all, even petite 'Princess Molly', are unjustly imprisoned. Ride to their rescue and free them from the cruel captivity of our 38 cells. Enthrone them on thy benches, that they may reign in righteousness over Zones 7-8 to 11.

 

Whoa, dude! How did people talk like that all day long? Imagine if a time warp  suddenly thrust Blackberries and iPhones into Elizabethans' hands. Picture poor Will Shakespeare texting his agent: "2b or not 2b?" Someone would be hanged as a witch in his hamlet for sure, long before the batteries died.

 

Thanks for taking a moment from your busy June to peruse our news. We really do hope you'll stop and say Hello at one of the aforementioned trade shows. Life should never get too overbooked for a little f2f visit.