Creative, new container ideas are always a welcome idea for folks in the garden industry. And, we all know how beneficial these creative ideas are to spark consumer interest and sales. At IGC, we were particularly smitten with Clesen Wholesale’s incredible selection of products for making beautiful containers year-round. Clesen Wholesale offers a range of seasonal plants, flowers and decorations to garden centers and professional landscapers. They company also custom grows a variety of other plants to truly offer a gamut of choices. What makes Clesen’s options stand out is not only the fact they are seasonally appropriate, but also they are an eclectic mix of plants (like vegetables), flowers and synthetic decorations.

Pictured below is a fall container from Clesen. Perfect for decorating homes, businesses, hotels, etc., Clesen’s fall selections include magnolia, oak leaves, artichoke, sorghum, yarrow, and more, all embodying fall’s classic color scheme and earthy vibe.

For those garden centers and landscapers planning ahead for winter, Clesen also has beautiful products that work in extreme weather conditions. Branches, evergreens, wreaths, garlands, and the newest introduction, snow berries make for wonderful wintry wall or door hangings, containers or beds. The snow berries are all-natural, white berries and made from a plant similar to sugarcane, yet they are tolerant of cold temperatures and wet weather. Handmade and hand dipped into red, gold or silver paints and finished with a shimmer, the berries are one of Clesen’s items that will spruce up any outdoor arrangement for those colder days that are around the corner.

For more information about Clesen Wholesale and pictures of products, and for retailers wanting to make orders, visit: http://www.clesen.com.

~ Don and Jeff

To continue our “Best of Products” from the IGC Show, we are not straying far from the topic of our last post. It was evident at the show that marketing and packaging are taking more of a front seat for garden retailers; therefore, it has become a high priority for manufacturers to re-think many options about a product’s look, container and package description. Jolly Gardener, a division of Oldcastle Lawn & Garden, has met this challenge head-on. For 2010, the company introduced the line of premium soils that would not only visually draw customers to the products, but also help them clearly understand the solutions the products provide.

According to Kevin McDonald, vice president of sales and marketing, the company conducted consumer focus groups and found that consumers are still confused when shopping the potting soil category. With this in mind, they designed the new packaging to be easy-to-understand and with high-level shelf appeal. These products all ranked high marks in our “Best of Products” series, and here’s why…

Jolly Gardener Premium Potting Mix is regionally-formulated with high quality ingredients to be the ideal base mix for indoor and outdoor containers, window boxes, and planters. The mix includes a controlled-release fertilizer that feeds plants up to four months, encouraging plant growth and continuous, beautiful flowers all season long.

Jolly Gardener Premium Moisture Mate Potting Mix contains the same quality elements as the Premium Potting Mix. It also boasts polymer crystals to help prevent over- and under-watering of plants, which is one of the biggest concerns among consumers. In addition, the mix includes plant food that feeds plants up to four months.

Jolly Gardener Premium Garden Soil is specially blended to promote strong root growth for robust fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. This mix includes plant food that feeds up to four months, encouraging growth of nutritious, edible plants and healthy, plentiful flowers.

These three mixes are but a taste of Jolly Gardener’s amazing products. We’ll keep this post live for some time, so it will be available for when “packaging” starts to show up on 2011 EdCals.

~ Sarah Kate

Just this past week, garden center retailers and industry product and service companies from many related professions flooded Chicago, IL for the 2010 Independent Garden Center Show, commonly called IGC. One company represented was Conrad Fafard, Inc., the third largest manufacturer of packaged growing media for professional ornamental growers and retail outlets in North America. Fafard, a Syngenta subsidiary, unveiled a unique brand “look and feel” at the show. Featured were transformed retail-ready packaged products. “The new bags are dramatic, distinctive and definitely differentiate us from our competitors,” said Chris Sexton, Retail Market Manager.

The fresh, new packaging illustrates Fafard’s brand position, represented by the slogan “The Science Behind the Art”, which draws on a combination of a strong science background and consistent reputation for high-quality mixes. Pictured left to right are the redesigned products: Complete Planting Mix, Organic Potting Mix, Complete Container Mix, Professional Potting Mix, and Complete Potting Mix. One of our clients, an IGC owner for more than 25 years, took one look at this photo and said his customers would be drawn to the consistent color palette and large, bold product names.

According to Sexton, the new brand positioning and renewed retail strategy inspired the renaissance of Fafard premium retail soils, which are sold exclusively in IGCs. In addition to the mixes pictured, Fafard will be releasing specialty plant mixes with a similar new brand style – Seed Started Potting Mix, African Violet Potting Mix, Cactus & Succulent Potting Mix, Orchid Potting Mix, Fafard Horticultural Perlite, Premium Top Soil, and Premium Compost. These beneficial mixes with new, simpler looks are intended to stand out in garden centers so consumers can more easily understand their applications. The new branded appearance – and the fact Fafard is working diligently to make garden product choices easier and better for consumers – left our team fully agreed to include the new packaging in our “Best of Products” series from IGC.

Fafard is a division company of Syngenta, one of the world’s leading companies dedicated to bringing plant life to full potential.

Members of the trade media, keep Fafard’s new packaging in mind for your next stories on the topic. We know we will for our next applicable byline article that touches on the benefits of consumers using the same quality mixes used by professional growers.

~ Don

Joanne Klappauf, founder of Common Ground Distributors, intimately knows the ins and outs of buying books. Speak to her, and you quickly discover she is a bibliophile through and through, and that this passion has fueled her success of providing books to retailers across the nation. “Having worked in retail bookselling in the past, I especially understand what a buyer goes through day-to-day when ordering books. Knowing the challenges of your customers is the heart of any service business,” Klappauf explains. She believes it is important to know customer expectations and needs even before one places an order. This kind of synergistic relationship cements a strong foundation for selling the right books to the right retailers.

Common Ground has been distributing books for almost 25 years from its warehouse based in Asheville, NC. The book categories the company offers are diverse, spanning a wide range of specialized interest subject-matter and a long list of publishers. Thus, the company’s name is a tell-tale of its overture. Klappauf says green titles are an emerging category of books with broad interest sought by retailers and end-consumers. Other categories include interior design, garden design, cooking, nature, children’s picture books, and gift books such as those of inspiration, humor and animals. But, in all these categories, criteria for the chosen books are simple and twofold: quality and salability, meaning, “The overall book package has to be as wonderful as the content.”

For retailers ordering books, Klappauf suggests considering the specifications such as the colors, sizes and shapes. Prior to ordering, it is helpful to visualize how the books will look in the space in which they are to be sold. Then, when the order is received by the retailer, she recommends displaying the books upright and facing outward with their covers clearly showcased for consumers to view. Other ideas for retail display include grouping like books together and cross-merchandising various books with related products. ”It’s simple and powerful; retailers can increase book sales by creating unique environments,” according to Klappauf.

Her advice rings true in Common Ground’s other location, a permanent showroom at AmericasMart Atlanta. The environment is soothing, and the books are stimulating. Klappauf had glass walls with broad, wood columns put in surrounding the space to encapsulate the area and help reduce noise. Her concept was to create a cozy sitting area for buyers to examine prospective purchases.

Hundreds of covers jump off the shelves like a colorful Dr. Suess tale in the children’s section, a new gardening title featuring magical-looking plants, a beloved Paula Deen gracing a southern recipe book hot off the presses, and a large design book boasting famous Hollywood interiors. The sections are organized in a maneuverable manner so buyers might round the shelf of books about breath-taking homes to discover a neighboring shelf lined with books about cabins, barns, tree houses, and western lifestyle.

Once retailers or designers do choose books, orders can be placed in the showroom, online through Common Ground’s website, or by phone. It could be an order for one book or 50. With no minimums or limits, Klappauf ensures the process is a solid means to match customers with the most applicable selections. Klappauf calls it hand-selling, the ability to know the books as much as possible to suggest personal favorites or trendy titles to customers. It is something on which Common Ground prides itself. “It’s one of the many fun parts of bookselling,” she says with a smile.

With books evolving in the current marketplace from e-books read on handheld devises to the surging importance of photos versus words, Klappauf believes there is still a place on the shelf for printed books. No doubt, beautifully bound books filled with engaging visuals and page-turning adventures can help retailers build desirable inventories that entice customers in ways unlike any other product.

~ ECPR Team

Here, we offer two “Best ofs…” in one post. Some plants are made for the shade; others work perfectly in mass plantings; but, these two of our favorite plants from OFA Short Course 2010 look stunning in containers and are too stylish to go unnoticed. And, as professionals in the garden industry are always searching for novel container plants, both of these beauties would showcase well in any garden retail store and on any magazine’s pages.

The Alcea Spring Celebrities varieties from American Takii boast large, semi-double to double flowers with long bloom times. Bred by Sahin, this series offers new colors – Crimson, Lilac and Pink – as well as favorites like Carmine-Rose, Lemon, Purple, White, and Formula Mixture. Hardy for Zones 6-9, these Hollyhocks like living in full sun and are quite drought tolerant. They attract butterflies and other beneficial insects. These plants are sure to grab the attention of consumers. What else would we expect from Takii? The company continues to develop some of the most garden-worthy varieties in the world. For grower cultural information, see the company’s website.By the way, our congratulations to Takii for its recent 175th anniversary. Our warmest and best wishes to Takii for another 175 years and more!

For more information, visit Takii’s website.

Known for their “magical” breeding abilities, the folks at Terra Nova Nurseries have created the world’s first trailing Heucherella. Two plants in the new Falls series, ‘Redstone Falls’ and ‘Yellowstone Falls’, debuted at OFA as exciting new options for garden centers and nurseries to consider for their busy spring 2011 seasons. With classic Heuchera-style, lobed leaves made more delicate through a mix of Tiarella, these leafy plants are sure to make a statement when planted in a tall or uplifted container.

For culture details and other insights, check out the website. Keep up the incredible breeding work, Terra Nova. You never cease to amaze us and the grower industry.

Part of Our “Best of NHS Products & Innovations” Series…

The National Hardware Show in May was home to thousands of companies showcasing new or innovative products, and one such product caught our eye. It is called The Original Adjustable Door Hinge, and it’s distributed through EGS Hinge LLC. Created to solve the problem of doors that stick when being opened or closed, The Original Adjustable Door Hinge has the ability to adjust a left- or right-handed door up or down and side to side. This truly is a simpler solution than unhinging, sanding, planning, re-painting, and re-hanging a problematic door, which is something all of the contractors out there have been seeking all along.

Doors can stick in the frame or against the floor for a number of reasons: a house is settling, expansive soil conditions, foundation concerns, humidity, poor craftsmanship, new floor installation, a remodel, or even too many layers of paint. Affordable and practical, The Original Adjustable Door Hinge is worth its salt as it can be adjusted anytime to rectify any of these problems. The difference between this product and a typical door hinge lies in The Original Adjustable Door Hinge’s threaded bolt – instead of a smooth pin – allowing the door to be adjusted by the hinge. And, this product is crafted out of high-quality steel or stainless steel and is available in five interior finishes and four exterior finishes.

We think this product is a perfect fit, in more ways than one, for home improvement and trade-based magazines’ “Best Products” sections for 2010 and 2011. For more information about The Original Adjustable Door Hinge, feel free to leave a comment below or visit the company’s website.

~ Jeff

Trestle, drafting, card, coffee, dressing, dining, farm, library, tea, console, and buffet are but a taste of the types of tables homeowners have come use for practicality as well as pure decoration. “Who can enumerate the countless shapes and fashions of modern tables?” is a line that we came across doing research for this blog post. The quote comes from an author of a New York Times article entitled “Tables and Table Linens: History of the Table as a Household Necessity” published in 1882. How appropriate a topic for the media back then and even more so now for all the editors today. Readers nowadays enjoy understanding the reasoning behind design and the story behind furniture pieces. This knowledge makes investing in a large or small furniture item worthwhile as the piece becomes a treasured, focal point in any room.

Well, three popular types of tables not on the aforementioned list are side, hall and the highly regarded occasional. All integral design elements for a home, these types of tables are staple purchases for interior designers and homeowners alike. And, Englishman’s Fine Furnishings, a client of ours, carries beautiful lines of all three types. Pictured below are three new tables for 2011 that we captured at Englishman’s showroom in Atlanta: a mahogany Hepplewhite side table, a mahogany Hepplewhite hall table and a mahogany Pembroke drop leaf table with drawer.

Editors, we consider the possibilities for story ideas about the history of these types of tables to be a great concept for your readers. How the occasional table played as much a part in Roman households as did the dining table. Or, how useful side tables were to English royalty that the tables themselves were nicknamed, Queen Anne tables for example. Couple that kind of information with styling advice and beautiful high-resolution photos that we can gladly provide from Englishman’s for a story any reader could enjoy.

Feel free to leave comments or contact us for more information.

~ ECPR

As the summer months continue to be hotter, there is a delicate balance act between spending joyous time in the sunny outdoors and succumbing to the heat. A client of ours, Shade Pergolas, provides the perfect solution that marries the structural beauty of a pergola with the functionality of a retractable canopy system to help attain that balance for homeowners to enjoy summer. For outdoor space designers, this translates to a new category of shade product that can be specified in exterior design plans.

We are proud to share coverage from two trade magazines we obtained that spotlight the irrefutable benefits of Shade Pergolas, Landscape Contractor and Fabulous Floors. The articles delve beyond simple product details into Shade Pergolas’ creative use as an outdoor room feature. Click on the photos below for a closer read of the two articles. And, we hope everyone enjoys them!

Cover of Landscape Contractor’s July issue

This article focuses on using Shade Pergolas to create the perfect outdoor room where homeowners and guests can retreat from sun and summer rainstorms or enjoy the space with the canopy pulled back.

Shade Pergolas are a great resource for trade professionals, such as contractors, designers, or landscape architects.

Cover of Fabulous Floors’ Summer issue

As seen in this article, Shade Pergolas are completely customizable, from size and shape of the pergola to color of the wood and shade canopy.

Another perk about Shade Pergolas is that they can be built attached to a house or building as well as freestanding.

~ Sarah Kate

With so much hype buzzing around the gardening world right after OFA Short Course last weekend, we didn’t want this wonderful tidbit of news about Terra Nova Nurseries to get lost or forgotten. So, we take to our blog to report the most recent completed study that the Mt. Cuba Center performed, titled “Coneflowers for the Mid-Atlantic Region”. Mt. Cuba Center is a non-profit horticultural institution in northern Delaware that is, according to their website, dedicated to the study, conservation and appreciation of plants native to the Appalachian Piedmont region through garden display, education and research.

While the study can be easily found on Mt. Cuba’s website, we want to bring out the highlights surrounding Terra Nova Nurseries. The basics of the study are simple: three years involving 5 species and 43 cultivars of coneflowers. The end evaluation reflected each cultivar’s floral display, habit, hardiness, cultural adaptability and resistance to disease and insects. The results exalted two Terra Nova Nurseries’ varieties as the recommended coneflowers in the white and orange categories. Echinacea ‘Fragrant Angel’ was deemed the highest rated white coneflower due to its uniform consistency or growth and floriferous and fragrant nature.

And, Echinacea ‘Tiki Torch’ stole the spotlight as the highest rated orange coneflower based on its characteristics: stunning color; broad, sturdy petals; a relaxed and open habit; and increased vigor.

The study even noted Dan Heims from Terra Nova Nurseries as one of the six breeders responsible for some of these hybrid coneflowers that were studied. What an honor for Dan!

~ Sarah Kate

For those of you preparing for the July 11 to July 13 OFA Short Course event, we know your schedules will be packed full with educational sessions ranging many timely topics. There is one you should not miss. On Sunday, July 11, at 4:00 p.m. EDT, our own Don Eberly, president / CEO of ECPR, will be participating on an educational panel regarding branding. Don and the other panelists will address the all-important relevance of developing and managing brands that create positive perceptions on the part of customers.

After helping clients create national and international brands for many years, Don will be offering some of his insights on the topic. Specifically, he will touch on the importance of retailers defining their “core” brands (the primary or nucleus brand of the retail business itself) combined with the varied “pillar” brands the retailer sells and represents (which includes all of the individual branded product lines that make up an inventory). The panel will discuss how retailers’ core brands provide foundations for the pillar brands they sell, and, ultimately, the ways in which pillar brands sustain or fortify the core brands at large.

The panel session is entitled, “What does your brand do for you, and what can you do for your brand?” Panelists include the following:
• Bridget Behe, Michigan State University (Moderator)
• Don Eberly, Eberly & Collard Public Relations
• Marshall Dirks, Proven Winners
• Diane Hund, Ball Horticultural Company
• Pam Wasson, Monrovia

Want to know more? Attend the panel event in Room E 170, or contact us after OFA for informative articles written on this subject-matter or for interviews being conducted for post-event columns and features. – For those tweeting at or about the event, don’t forget to mention us @eberlycollardpr and tag OFA #ofashortcourse.

~ Jeff