Worst post title, ever. Sorry.
Attended the bazillionth annual OFA "The Association For Horticulture Professionals" Short Course in Columbus, Ohio last week. It’s a huge 1500-booth trade show with educational session featuring 150+ speakers. Of which I was one. The focus used to be strictly floriculture, but has expanded to include some woodies plus lots of garden center items and marketing options. This a "wholesale" show – attendees are mostly growers who purchase propagative materials to grow on and sell to consumers. It’s always interesting to see what’s out there…here’s a few things that caught my attention:
Sedum ‘Maestro’ from Proven Winners. They’re expanding their perennial offerings a bit, and this looks yummy. Dark foliage and very intriguing bud/flower color combo:
Every company has loads of petunia and calibrachoa in every shade imaginable. Some new introductions are notable for their subtle, almost vintage shades. All of these would be fun for combination planters:
‘Glow Mocca’ from the Dutch firm Florensis, now a partner with Ball Horticulture. Closest thing to a black and white petunia (or any flower, for that matter) I’ve seen. So new it’s not in a catalog. This little photo doesn’t do them justice.
‘Suncatcher Vintage Rose’ from Ball FloraPlant. I’m not a pink petunia person (certainly wouldn’t admit to it, anyway) but the soft rose shades and neat, small flowers were lovely.
Weird lighting in their booth makes this Ball introduction ‘Pink Suncatcher’ much more yellow than it really is – more of a straw yellow with pinkish margins.
Enough with the subtle:
This new Ecke/Dummen poinsettia didn’t catch my eyes as much as claw them out. ‘Luv U Pink’ is indeed screaming pink, which sounds gross but actually looked pretty cool with some of lime green decor around it (kind of preppy). The distinctive small overlapping bracts are because it’s not a straight-up poinsettia, rather a hybrid with some other Euphorbia species (secret recipe!).
This fluffy ornamental kale ‘Glamour Red’ is from American Takii – an AAS award winner, grown from seed. You just want to grab it and floof the foliage with both hands. Or maybe that was just me. Proof that kale can be both glamorous AND delicious…
More floofiness: Dianthus ‘Green Ball.’ From Ball, of course. An apetalous mutant for every garden!
In the "stuff" department, saw the usual assortment of greenhouse equipment, garden center supplies, etc. with one notable exception: the infiltrations of Fairies. Fairy Garden decor was everywhere. I must have missed this memo:
Hardscaping including pavers and fences; patio furniture, trellises, etc. At least you don’t need a truckload of gravel and an entire weekend to lay a fairy patio.
Fairy plants. Especially selected for…teensyness? There really was no rhyme or reason. Just a different (and named) fairy on each tag (collect ’em all!). My Little Pony meets Horticulture.
Here’s a completed fairy garden. That’s a container of Fairy Dust on the table. I think it’s the same as stripper glitter, just in a much smaller jar. Missing from this tableaux? Two tiny martini glasses.
Hope you enjoyed your brief whirl through the tradeshow!
The comment about my little fairy meets horticulture is great. Made me laugh. Where are the new exotic woody ornamentals to try? I miss different tree’s.
At the Penn Allied nursery show there was a two inch caliper Korean Sweetheart tree (Euschapis japonica) on display, past bloom, but the fruit and seed is more colorful than the flower. This isn’t a new tree, but I’ve never seen one nursery grown, and I tried to figure out how to get one for myself. There are dozens of new introductions at the show, but few are much different than the old and less improved versions.