Disclaimer: The information and images below should not be construed as any sort of recommendation, remedy or advice. Just some cool and/or weird stuff I saw at a green industry trade show. Plus this blog needs more photos.
Was at the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS… and yes, there is a Pennsylvania version…PANTS) in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago. It’s a wonderful opportunity to visit with past students (now gainfully employed – yay!). I also get to personally thank the nurseries and other businesses that generously support our Horticulture Department and Garden. I’m more "herbaceous" so I tend to get more (professionally…and emotionally) out of the floriculture summer trade show and conference in Columbus, Ohio (OFA) If you dig hot new tropicals, annuals, and perennials – it’s THE place to be. MANTS tends to be more landscapy/woody. There are umpteen wholesaler booths filled with dormant, ball & burlapped trees and containerized shrubs. There are WAY too many Bradford pears still out there (see Bert’s post below). Honestly.
Foot traffic was good (10,000 + registrants) for the 300 exhibitors: wholesale nurseries, garden center suppliers, liner and plug growers, landscape and nursery equipment manufacturers. Also, all of the allied businesses you might not think of – inventory software, nursery insurance companies, universities and colleges, grower organizations, tag and pot manufacturers, etc., always a fascinating vertical and horizontal cross section of this business of growing and selling plants.
On with the show…
Propagation nurseries make the world go ’round.
This IS the proverbial candy shop for greenhouse and nursery growers. Each flat holds 36, 78, or 105 little plants. Two flats…would fit in my tote bag. Heh.
Succulents continue to be hot. Here’s Kalanchoe thyrsifolia ‘Fantastic’.
Fantastically awesome.
Even better…check out the pot made from (very) compressed rice hulls. Nice color, pretty shape, biodegradable. You’ll probably see more of these in the near future.
Display promoting the book "Creating a Deer and Rabbit-Proof Garden". Artificial flowers – that may be the ticket…no, wait, it’s an artificial deer, too.
WANT. My 1972 John Deere 750 is on its last legs/tires. Plus this one would fit down our blueberry rows, AND it has a cup holder. The brochure is now pinned above my desk.
Great name for a nursery:
that’s Holly, Woods, and Vines if you can’t read it.
Also the home of…
Faux moss-covered faux rocks. Intriguing.
Finally, there’s always a peek at trends in pots (pottery pots), garden art (tasteful or not) and other items coming soon to your local independent garden center…
Lots of antique and rustic looks out there, also galvanized is big.
I loved the fishy pots. Alas, one can only look, and then place an order. Minimum quantity – one pallet. Maybe if we all went in together…
Thanks Holly: you’re right – we need more photos – I’ve been kinda slack in that regard. I don’t have very good patience with the uploader!
Great post – and great idea! I’ll be at the Tacoma Home and Garden show in a few weeks, so I’ll see what treasures I can find for the blogosphere.
Question- In your opinion are Juniper Trees Invasive to the environment? Please respond either through posting or email. Thank you
I just threw up in my mouth a wee bit.
I didn’t have time to stop in to ask, but wondered if the yuccas at Holly, Woods, and Vines were collected rather than nursery grown. The trunk indicates an older plant, and for most nurseries the cost to sell nursery grown plants of this age would be prohibitive.
Great stuff! I like the look of the rice hull pot. How long do they last before they start to degrade?
Bert – yes. it took a very long time to upload five photos. Linda – thank you and yes! LynnBay – huh? a bit off-topic here. Bert, this sounds like yer gig. Jimbo: you have got to be more descriptive 😉 so what made you gag?
Dave, I misspoke – HW&V is both a garden center and nursery. They probably got the Yucca in from a Florida wholesaler (have seen rows and rows of these at Fla. nurseries). Just guessing. Sandy, I want to say about a year, hastened by busting them up.
Holly, Are you at TPIE this week? It would be fun to meet one of the Professors…
We have grown in rice hull for a couple of years, great plastic replacement! We sell succulents and CA natives in in it from 4″, liter and gallon. Really helps brand us with our customers and you have to love a compostable pot. So far shelf life of the planted pots is at least two years, including soggy tropical houseplants.
Hap, I would LOVE to be at TPIE but alas, the semester has started. Lots o’ teaching in spring. Readers, TPIE is the tropical plants industry exhibition, held each January in Ft. Lauderdale. Wall-to-wall blooming orchids, gingers, bromeliads etc.; palms galore; basically anything indoor or tropical/subtropicallandscape. I shall go one of these years… Thanks for the pot comments too. I bet they do a good job for you – most of the compostable alternatives plotz after 16 weeks or so – fine for short-cycle crops; not so good for long term stuff.
Great post. Succulents and biodegradble pots also are hot in my part of the world. I’m glad you’ve included the disclaimer, though. Otherwise I instantly would have gone out shopping. Might have ended up not only with palettes of fishy pots and a new John Deere but with a few artificial deer as well … 😉
Holly, I just have to say I love your posts. I’m sitting in my office, laughing out loud and the guys are giving me funny looks, wondering what’s so funny about some fake plants and fake deer. Good luck on procuring a new JD tractor! And thank you for the disclaimer (although I’m sad you’ve had to do that now) as I would have tried to fit two flats of plants in my handbag and then blamed it on you when I got caught! 😉
Regarding invasiveness of junipers: Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) is considered invasive in prairie ecosystems. Birds have undoubtedly always dropped seeds onto grasslands from adjacent woodlands, but suppression has increased encroachment of redcedars.
That last sentence above should read, “but FIRE suppression has increased encroachment of redcedars.”
Faux moss rocks ? Really ?? That’s more a travesty than the fake deer in fake flowers. I would, however, have loved to have some of those rice hull pots (are they perchance made in CA ?), kalanchoes, or the John Deere. SIGH. Now that’s the way to this girl’s heart – things that are green & growing.
The rice hull pots have been around for a number of years. I like them, they’re a great functional product that works well. However, at 3x the cost of plastic they’re cost prohibitive. Might be able to use them for specialty items but for general production it will be awhile before we move beyone plastic.
I’m intrigued by the plantable SoilWrap from Ball, I have to look into cost and shelf longevity yet. Neat product made from biopolymers. See here:
http://www.ballhort.com/Growers/grower_news.aspx?pressid=267#article