Some like it hot....

Monday and Tuesday was spent at the NNBA convention at the beautiful Skamania Lodge.  We featured our new Indoor Edibles line.

The Edibles line includes 3 herb "palates" to choose from.  Bella Cucina is focused on mediterranean cooking - and would be a great assortment to have for a pre-Thanksgiving or Holiday cooking area at a retail store.  Fresh rosemary, oregano, sage and basil would help any chef add a special touch to their meal.  Pad Thai is focused on asian cuisine. It includes a siam/thai basil, garlic chives, cilantro and a hot pepper.  Fresca Y Picante is our hispanic cuisine line.  It has cilantro, oregano, mint and a hot pepper as well.

But the real hit of the show was the "Pick Me Peppers".  This group has a snack bell pepper all the way through "Hot Carrot".  We had a pepper eating contest at the show - and a few folks dived right in.  The order we had was:

• Hot Tomato: this is a mild pepper (not as hot as a jalapeno)
• Hot Banana:  Banana peppers can range from mild when they are green to hot if you let them ripen to red, about the same heat as a jalapeno.
• Hot Salsa: this is about like a jalapeno, but with a nice spicy kick to it.
• Golden Cayenne: this is definitely hot.
• Hot Carrot: while not a Ghost pepper - our contestants were definitely feeling the heat with this one - eyes started to water, throats were burning.

Now I am not a pepper eater - but I could eat the first three, and Golden Cayenne without the seeds.  I thought that was pretty good.  Regina is more daring and she tasted the Hot Carrot. (By the way, the Hot Carrot looks exactly like a little carrot, and same with the Tomato - so keep an eye on the little ones.)

We had lots of comments about care for these plants.  They are meant to be indoors (although you could plant any of them outside come next spring).  They would prefer a bright window.  Regina did test out a pepper in our office - which gets little to no light all weekend.  In over a week, the pepper did not drop any leaves, and a pepper even ripened up.  Trust me, if it can live in our offices it will live for your customers!

Our Association

Here in the Pacific Northwest we have such a lovely climate for growing beautiful plants, for living and recreating, and for raising our children. That being said we all face daily struggles that must be dealt with head on - whether personal or in running our businesses. 

Last night I attended a Farwest Show committee meeting.  www.farwestshow.com The Farwest Show is put on by the Oregon Association of Nurseries.  In essence it is put on by all of us growers, suppliers and retailers that are members of this association.  At our meeting we talked about the many benefits of the show itself - networking opportunities with peers, learning about new products, attending seminars to learn new ideas that will help us be successful in our endeavors. But what struck me is that many of the associations members don't know that the shows success goes far beyond that.

Take a look at the OAN website ( www.oan.org )- at the Legislative issues we follow, at the marketing campaigns for our products and your stores that are happening, at the learning opprotunities that are happening every month.  None of those things are posssible without an income stream into the association.  A healthy robust Farwest show means that our workers can get drivers cards to get to work. A well attended Farwest show means that we can respond to threats to our businesses (lack of water resources, invasive pests and diseases). A fully stocked Farwest show means we can create more opportunities for learning and moving the ball forward for our industry.

Some of the key takeaways from the meeting were how many new people attended the show, and how many people were looking for new vendors.  Are you new to the industry? Are your vendors not meeting all of your needs? Do you have new needs?  Maybe you just want to keep current about what's happening in the industry.  Whatever your reason for going to the show - you benefit from being there. What's more, you benefit beyond the show.

We have been "adopted"!

Say what? Yes we have been adopted - like wayward children lost in the desert to be found by a young and nimble oasis of minds. 

The Agri-Business Council of Oregon is in its second year of the "Adopt a Farmer" program. http://www.aglink.org/programs/adoptafarmer.php  The program matches up 6th grade science classes with farmers to learn about soils, plants, environment and the rural way of life.  We think it is a great way to promote understanding between rural and urban communities, and what kid doesn't like to play in the dirt?  Visit their Facebook page to see lots of posts about other Adopt a Farmer teams. https://www.facebook.com/#!/oregonag

 

This is our first year in the program and we are excited to be adopted by Scott School in Portland.  http://www.pps.k12.or.us/schools/scott/  6th grade science teacher Carlos Laguardia and our team at F & B will be working together to study plant life cycles this year.  We are looking forward to the children coming out to the Nursery in November.  They will get a tour of the nursery and work on planting from seeds, bulbs and cuttings.  As our nursery season progresses we will be posting updates on what is happening around the nursery and how they items they planted are progressing and growing. 

Did I mention we are excited about this program - hopefully you will be too!

Leigh

More Basket Previews

 

This week we will be adding more baskets to the availability - including 10" Verbena.

 

 

 

 

 

Verbena Lanai Red

Verbena Lanai Purple

Verbena American Mix

Verbena Berry Mix

 

Also here are some more of the 12" Mixed Sun Combos

 

 

 

Vivid Vive 2.0

Very Berry

Vision in Violet

Calypso Brights

A Tisket a Tasket a Blue and Yellow Basket!

So for those of you who are songies (you like music) - yes the original line sung by Ella was a Brown and Yellow basket - but alas we don't have any of those.  What we do have are some lovely combos for sun and shade.

Basket fun fact: Did you know that I update the "colors" in each basket combo each year to reflect the Pantone color report?  That way the baskets should coordinate with other decor items folks are seeing out there.

For the Shady Ladies: No, not 50 shades - we don't sell that stuff!



Purple Brocade


























This year I have again tweaked the mixed shade baskets.  They are one of the most difficult things to grow at the nursery - and are constantly giving me fits.  The sunny stuff just goes to town and intermixes and generally behaves itself.  But shady stuff grows slower and is less predictable.  I think the combos came out pretty well this year - here is a look at some.



Pink Chiffon



Red Velvet

Lavender Lace

Sunbonnet Sues: You know you love the sun!

Twilight Mixed Sun

We have a totally new combination this year "Twilight" in light lavender, purple and black.  Spring Passion, Vivid Vive 2.0 and Summer Skies are some of the mixes that got updated with new colors.  Of course there are a few that don't change - like Sweet N' Sassy and Tuscan Hills.


Spring Passion



Summer Skies



Tuscan Hills



Sweet N' Sassy



Americana

Looking forward to putting a few of these in my own yard this year.  As some of you might remember, we tore out our yard at the end of summer.  Well Fred has completed a beautiful deck in our backyard (yay patio space!) and it even has a trellis!  For the first time in at least 10 years I can really have hanging baskets.  He even put a drip system in (so I can remember to water.)  I will post pictures of the progress in a future post.
 

What's happenin' hot stuff!

I thought I would give all of you a preview of some new items that will be coming up in April.  Of course, we have all the great regular stuff, but sometimes we need a little "something something" to spark our interest.

Bedding Plants:

In 3.5" we have switched over to the Bada Bing and Bada Boom series of begonias. These have strong branching and a nice flower set early season. Also new is Portulaca Happy Hour Mix.

Bada Bing Rose

In 4" Premium Annuals we have Petunia Glow Red which is a nice true red selection.

Petunia Glow Red

In 4" Geraniums we have added Calliope Lavender Rose, Calliope Burgundy and Calliope Hot Pink to the line up of interspecific geraniums.  These geraniums tolerate some shade and have great flower power all summer without the need for constant deadheading.

Calliope Lavender Rose

Towards the end of the month, we will have some early season Stock (Aida series) in gallons.

Stock Aida Blue

Veggies & Herbs:

Mighty Mato Chocolate Stripes

Back this year are the grafted tomatoes (Mighty Matos).  Look for the link on our website for a great webinar on this vigorous plants.  They make excellent choice for your customers with problem soils.

Basil Red Rubin

New for this year is Basil Red Rubin (in 3.5").

Pratia County Park

Perennials:

Look for the "Stepables" groundcovers with the foot tag.

Get off your butt & Plant Something!

So the hardworking folks at the Oregon Association of Nurseries, along with some dedicated retailers have joined the Plant Something campaign.  This campaign is targeted to consumers with fun, catchy ads.  I have a "Play Dirty, Plant Something" sticker up in my car.

The campaign is part of a nationwide effort to teach consumers all the wonderful benefits of gardening (which us plant nerds already know ;) ).  In Oregon we have our own website: http://www.plantsomethingoregon.com .  This website links up to participating garden centers, public gardens and other resources.


Here are some sample ads that retailers can use.  It is a relatively easy way for retailers to gain regional exposure for their locations.

If you are a retailer and would like more information on the program please contact Ann Murphy (Director of Marketing) at the OAN mailto:amurphy@oan.org , or visit the OAN website http://www.oan.org .  And by all means, get out there and Plant Something yourself!