• Homeowners struggle with landscapes with too much sun or shade. Many of Terra Nova Nurseries’ new plants are perfect for sun gardens, including Echinacea ‘Leilani’ and Kniphofia ‘Orange Vanilla Popsicle’. These varieties can brighten up front and backyard spaces and can stand the sun and heat. One great story idea would be to map out sun garden landscape plans utilizing a selection of Terra Nova Nurseries’ varieties. Another story idea entitled, “Let There Be Light” – with Dan’s advice on how to make an all-sun lawn or garden thrive all year. A fact-filled shade garden article is yet a third option for which Dan could be interviewed, or he could write it for you. 

• With many regions facing all-time rain level shortages, readers need must-have insights on how to keep their yards from looking dry and useless. Terra Nova Nurseries breeds hardy plants that can survive in drought-tolerant and high-heat regions. Several of the company’s 2013 varieties including Heuchera ‘Paprika’ and Heuchera ‘Spellbound’ – combined with Dan’s engaging tips – would be a perfect fit to profile in this type of story. 

• Miniature plants are one of the fastest-growing trends among home gardeners, and those who know little about gardening, too. The company’s Heuchera Little Cuties™ Series is making waves in the horticulture industry, and we think your readers will instantly fall for these sweet new mini-plants. The series features seven new miniature heucheras, which can be used in a grouping for small space and fairy gardens. As outdoor spaces are growing tighter, the need for small house plants and gardens are becoming more popular; Dan can be interviewed on the topic or assist with writing upon request.

Heuchera ‘Spellbound’

Dan’s Select Byline Article Topics:

• Hot Heuchera and their Uses: This article will be an overview of how heuchera and heucherella are used around the world. These types of plants offer homeowners the ability to maintain color in the garden all year long, even during cold winters. From vibrant red and orange foliage to deep purples and black, readers will see how these multi-use plants can be used in containers and landscape settings throughout the different seasons. 

• Container Crazy: This article will share with homeowners the key to creating beautiful container combinations for front and backyard areas as well as for small spaces. Including tips on using different plant textures such as ruffled and grassy foliage mixed with silky flowers and spiky seed heads. In this article, Dan will also provide home gardeners with ideas on how to create containers with similar and contrasting color palettes to draw attention. 

• Garden Gems: In this article, Dan could discuss the latest and most exciting perennials, tropicals and woodies in today’s market and practical tips for home gardeners they can use to beautify their outdoor spaces with bright garden gems, showcasing colorful foliage, flowers, texture, and more. 

• Other concepts available upon request. 

Editors and garden writers, if you are interested in pursuing any of our article ideas or byline articles from Dan Heims, please contact the ECPR team.

About Distinctive Mantel Designs: 

Distinctive Mantel Designs is one of the leaders in lightweight, cast-stone mantels. The company was founded in 1989 and is located in Denver, Colo. Products include mantels, over mantels, outdoor fireplaces, kitchen hoods, wall panels, firepits and fireboxes.

It is true for Distinctive Mantel Designs as it is for most other businesses, “you get what you pay for”. Distinctive Mantel Designs utilizes a custom cement mix design that has been perfected for over many years. It is the company’s guarantee that the cast limestone or travertine finish will be a perfect match for each individual customer, and will keep people raving over its products for years to come.

With designs that are suitable for old world, traditional, contemporary, modern and urban homes, Distinctive Mantel Designs has something to offer everyone.

The fireplace or surrounding wall can be one of the most important architectural features in a home; therefore, Distinctive Mantel Designs’ team members pride themselves on knowing the mantels they provide to clients will enrich their homes with timeless beauty for years to come.

Featured Products:

The Monroe Fireplace Mantel – This specific fireplace mantel is fashioned in the Modern style and is based on artistic works produced during the period extending from the 1860’s to the 1970’s. The Monroe is available in five colors including Smoke, Stoney Ground, Linen, Light Buff, and Sahara. If you are looking to add simple elegance and clean lines to a living space, this is the mantel you need! 

The Boulder Firepit – The Boulder by Distinctive Mantel Designs is made from the same effective material as the mantels, and is available in 5 colors including Smoke, Stoney Ground, Linen, Light Buff, and Sahara. It has a customizable burner and can be used with either natural gas or propane. Each firepit comes with a pan as well as decorative glass rocks as a full package. 

If you are interested in ordering any of the products from Distinctive Mantel Designs, please visit the “How to Order” tab on our client’s website. 

Stayed tune to our social media channels for updates about a nationally syndicated article campaign we are currently executing for Distinctive Mantel Designs!

Several of our social media gurus recently teamed up to share tips and ideas for one of our editor contacts on how Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest can be maximized for branding and relationship-building purposes. 

As some of you may remember from several weeks ago, we shared our Twitter byline article from Greenhouse Grower magazine. Now our second part in this social media series has published on Greenhouse Grower’s website, and it includes tips on ways for businesses to improve Facebook return-on-investment (ROI). 

The tips in the article apply to all businesses and trades– whether in the Horticulture, Interior Design, Architecture, Building / Construction, Furniture, or other Industries. We work in all of these fields and their sectors, and we can tell you the lessons learned in this article are relevant no matter which industry category applies to you and your work. 

And, because it is the social media question everyone asks us the most, we’d like to share upfront we believe that social media ROI is not necessarily based on direct financial gain. Yes, that’s right. Having a Facebook page won’t immediately glean sales for you. Rather, the idea is built around establishing online relationships with customers. It can take some time, but by creating meaningful interactions with fans on Facebook, the result can include customer loyalty, which in turn, can equate to increased sales. It’s surely worth the effort to have the privilege of ongoing online dialog with clients, customers and those we hope will become purchasers of our products or services. 

To read our full article about Facebook, click here. Also, stay tuned for our next installment in the social media series, which will focus on Pinterest.

Our Client, Terra Nova Nurseries’ Facebook shows  the importance of posting content to make an impression  on target audiences and encourage interaction.

Our very own Don Eberly and Dominique de Bruin recently teamed up to write a byline article for our client, the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market, which is currently featured in the October issue of Casual Living, one of our favorite trade magazines dedicated to covering the casual (outdoor) furniture and accessories industry.

The International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market is the premier destination for retailers looking to find all things related to outdoor and casual living. In September, retailers, buyers and designers spent four days at the Chicago market discovering the industries’ newest, most innovative products from leading manufacturers around the world to the latest trends in color, product design, fabric patterns, and more. Part of our ECPR team was there managing the market’s public / media relations. This year’s Casual Market was a huge success and featured approximately 250 manufactures, allowing for retailers to see how a variety of trend-based products will be marketed and sold in 2013. 

For industry professionals who were unable to attend, the aforesaid article, “Tuned To Trends,” highlights the emerging trends seen at this year’s market. From our team’s first-hand experience at the show and extensive interviews with exhibitors and showroom representatives, we were able to bring the best of this year’s Casual Market to the hands of readers throughout the industry.

Not every public relations firm can enable the high-level coverage that comes with securing byline articles in trade publications for clients. However, securing and writing full articles and feature stories about and for our clients is all in a day’s work for Eberly & Collard Public Relations (ECPR). The longstanding relationships we cultivate with editors leads to the ability to obtain media coverage and article content for clients, based upon the fact the editors and publishers come to think of us as experts within the field. As a result, editors rely on us to provide the latest insider information, trends and content in the Home, Garden, Design, Furniture, Building / Construction, and Architecture Industries, just to name a few.

In addition to our team’s knowledge, editors benefit from our firm’s capability to access these industries’ thought-leaders, top designers and coveted manufactures for interviews and quotes when writing byline articles. As editors develop an appreciation and dependency on our team member’s abilities to serve as contributing writers / editors, our clients become a direct beneficiary.

Ultimately, it is the professional bond ECPR continues to build with editors, that enables us to give clients a level of coverage other firms cannot achieve. For example, when we secured a byline in Casual Living, we capitalized on the opportunity to feature more than one client. In “Tuned To Trends,” our team focused on the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market, yet still featuring Highwood USA, OW Lee, Pride Family Brands, TUCCI, and several others.

Writing byline articles for trade publications is just one service ECPR provides to clients. We also use the power of photo spreads, placed advertisements, blog posts, and social media management to enhance client’s brands. Our team is dedicated to making clients stand out among their competitors with innovative and cutting-edge strategies.

To learn more about what ECPR can do for your business or brand, please visit our website at www.eberlycollardpr.com. And, to read the byline article in mention, click the photos in this blog post to enlarge them.

As the winter season approaches those in the landscape and gardening industries know that it is important to keep plants protected from the harsh, cold weather conditions. This can include many different tasks such as pruning plants; taking stock of the garden; spot-checking individual plants; and planting varieties that grow well in the winter time. 

Gardeners and landscape designers, we have listed below several tips that we believe are important for winter gardening and that will get you in the right mindset for the upcoming season!

• Prune Deciduous Trees and Shrubs – Winter is a great time to prune back deciduous plants because the foliage has dropped, and it is easier to see the branching structure. Several things to remember is to prune any diseased or broken limbs, remove branches that go against the plant’s natural flow and be conservative when cutting back. The natural architecture of the plant will be a guide as to what needs to be trimmed back. 

• Spot-check Plants Individually – The extreme changes in the weather can put a real toll on plants. Evergreen trees and shrubs usually get the worst of the winter months so making sure they have a fresh layer of mulch that is 3 to 4 inches deep after the first hard freeze of the season is very important. Certain perennials might need to be taken care of this time of the year as well. Try cutting back the bulk of the foliage in mass plantings of grasses while still being cautious to not damage the crowns.

• Take Stock of the Garden’s Design – This is a good time to take a look at the permanent elements of a garden landscape such as the lawn, paths or evergreens. If a garden seems empty after the first frost of the season it might be a good idea to add a mixed bed with plants that grow well in the winter. A border of potted plants works well too because they can be easily covered or moved inside if the weather is too harsh. 

• Add Plants That Grow Well in Winter – Just because the temperature has fallen doesn’t mean a garden has to go into hibernation. There are many plants that grow well in the cold winter months. The following plants look beautiful throughout the whole season. 

• Helleborus – This winter blooming perennial thrives in light shade and usually grows between 1 to 3 feet. Our client, Terra Nova Nurseries has a nice variety of helleborus that are available for purchase. 

• Lamium Maculatum ‘White Nancy’ – Its silvery colored leaves look beautiful in the winter as a ground cover to lighten up shaded beds. It also grows well in dry weather. 

• Nandina ‘Fire Power’ – The foliage on this shrub has a deep crimson hue all winter long. 

Check out these links for additional ideas and inspiration:

• Sunset Magazine: 17 Quick Winter Garden Spruce-ups

• American Horticultural Society: Winter Gardening Tips

• HGTV: Time for an Inspection

Let us know what you think. Do you have any specific tips that you use in your own garden during the winter time?

Check out these sites for inspiring designs: 

Our friends at Furniture Today have been at High Point Market all week gathering interesting coverage to share with fellow industry professionals. Below is a video hosted by Ray Allegrezza, editor-in-chief at Furniture Today, as he interviews Olson on how the new collection was designed, as well as gives a few “sneak peek” shots of the furniture pieces. 

What do you think of Highland House’s new “modern meets traditional” collection?

Coming Home: The Southern Vernacular House, by Strickland and his firm’s partners, showcases Historical Concepts’ expertise in reinterpreting the roots of southern vernacular design. Beautifully photographed, the book offers readers a range of southern inspiration through a number of homes, buildings and communities the architecture firm has designed.

Paula Deen’s book, Savannah Style, offers tips on how to bring southern charm into all aspects of the home. Hultman collaborated with Deen to design and furnish two guest cottages on Deen’s riverside estate, which are prominently featured in the book. In The Joy of Decorating: Southern Style with Mrs. Howard, the grace and elegance of Southern interior design in many stylish spaces are featured and organized by theme. Copies of the three books will be available for purchase and can be signed or personalized by the authors at the event.

As part of Bierman’s panel participation, he will offer insight from his experience driving the editorial vision, content and direction for Southern Living, the country’s seventh-largest monthly paid magazine as well as his vast knowledge of architecture and design.

We are looking forward to this event and hope to see many of our fans and followers at ADAC, Oct. 18.

Kimberly Grigg, Knotting Hill Interiors

Phoebe Howard, Mrs. Howard and Max & Company

Lindsay Bierman, Southern Living

Carolyn Hultman, Carolyn Hultman Interior Design