Coastal Current  

May 2012   Issue #29

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Camelot
In Camelot, May is that lovely month when everyone goes blissfully astray. In horticulture, it's that exhausting, exhilarating month when everyone gets back in the black, if they survive it; that "shocking time of year" when you have to come up for air occasionally and remind yourself that there are worse things than being insanely busy. 

 


DOWN ON THE FARMS

Florida

We're nailing down loose ends and sanding rough edges on our new 2012-'13 catalog, coming soon to America's mailboxes and trade shows with over 100 new introductions in 30-plus genera. A few are ready already. In perennials, as I type, our Availability shows Agastache 'Summer Sunset' and Delosperma Fire Spinner. And Cortaderia 'Splendid Star' brings a new look to your pampas grass offering.

 

Cortaderia selloana Splendid Star       

Pennsylvania

Record numbers of our Mid-Atlantic customers are taking advantage of our no-cost pickup of Florida-grown material at our PA location this year. Also, we've got the prettiest Aquilegia, Tradescantia and Heuchera liners you've ever seen. So why are they on our benches and not yours? C'mon over and take some home already!

 

PA Customer Pickup      

BLOOMS & BOOMS

We hope spring has you scrambling to keep up with sales. But when you get a second, take a look ahead to summer trade events like (is my prejudice showing?) the Perennial Plant Association's national Symposium in Boston, July 4-10. As usual, PPA attendees will be privy to industry-leading presenters (plus me). Tours will include not just public gardens but private paradises you'd never see on your own. This year's festivities kick off with a bang: A fireworks cruise on the Charles River!  

 

For the program   To register   For more info  See you there!

  

Boston

   

The ECG Road Show

After the PPA Symposium, we'll be gripping & grinning at our usual summer haunts:

OFA Short Course, Columbus OH: July 15-17: JF speaks! The ECG catalog debuts!

PANTS, Oaks, PA, July 31 - August 2.

FarWest Show, Portland, OR, August 23-25.

 

 Heuchera

RANDOM USELESS FACTS DEPT.

Heuchera: Where Hairy Meets Airy

Heuchera with hairy leaves probably have H. villosa blood in them, while those with silvery leaves or veins usually have H. americana in their DNA. The silver look is caused by air trapped between the leaf membranes.

 

 

WHAT'S HOT

What's hot is also what's cool: namely, the soothing hues of our many blue-toned grasses. We've got a veritable bluesfest for your planting pleasure. Meet our frontman, Elijah -- Festuca 'Elijah Blue', to be formal about it. Years of skillful picking make our liners the bluest you can get. And Elijah's just one way to bring cool blues and hot licks to your perennial grass line. He's backed up by Carex 'Blue Zinger', Leymus 'Blue Dune', Panicum 'Dallas Blues' and 'Dewey Blue', and the little bluestem brothers Schizachyrium 'The Blues', 'Prairie Blue', and 'Blue Heaven'. You don't have to suffer to dig these blues. Call our booking agents. Tell 'em Jake & Elwood sent you.

   

Festuca glauca Elijah Blue  


HORTISCOPE

Taurus: Don't worry, you'll be back in charge on Wall Street soon. We're all getting tired of the dancing bear act. Sharpen those horns!

Gemini: I was once in a play with identical twin sisters. In rehearsal, one flubbed her lines. The director scolded her as the other looked on. I said, "Hey, be nice. Can't you see the poor girl's beside herself?"

Sedum Color Mix   

 

TRAY BON!

Sedum "Color Mix" & Sempervivum "Chicks Mix"

So your customers demand a good selection of succulents, but you don't have room for 50 of any variety? We hear you. By popular demand, we now offer two assortments. "Color Mix" does for Sedum what our popular "Chicks Mix" does for Sempervivum. Each tray contains 10 starters each of five varieties. Look for it in our new catalog.   

 

 

Whether your personal May is a shocking time of year or a re-stocking time of year, or both, we wish you a marvelous, magical, monetized month. See you on the trade show trail. Stay sane.

 

John 'Arthur' Friel   

 

John Friel  

Marketing Manager    

[email protected]  

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