Hort Couture Magazine

MAGAZINE

INSIDE Kerley Petunias Runway Attitude Trends for 2011 PGA Connection Perfectunias

TV

Winter 2011

welcome hortcouture IGC Exclusive! Those words are becoming extinct in our industry. There is tremendous change in the garden center world right now and we are more committed than ever to brining the best new plants and ideas to the independent channel. We are making great progress with our programs and new plant trialing processes. If you are a retailer looking to differentiate what you are doing from the big box, our company is a great alternative.

The search for new plants and ideas is exciting and possibly the most rewarding experience of our horticultural careers. We manage new plant genetics with a patent estate that is equal to any major company in the industry. There is NO COMPROMISE in what we offer the grower, in fact, it is quite the contrary. The quality of the plant genetics we offer is simply awesome.

In this issue find an introduction to our many of our new programs. Calibrachoa KIMONO™, Petunia PERFECTUNIA™ and Orchid PATIO & GARDEN™ are among the outstanding new genetics that we bring to the market for 2011. Fresh new Tres Chic Tropicals and the latest veggies and herbs in our Culinary Couture Collection only add to the appeal of our brand.

In 2010, we made big changes to the model of our company. Now we have sufficient expertise and production levels to offer our plants to everyone. All grower retailers can now grow Hort Couture. This is a big step that would not be possible without the support of a propagator such as C. Raker Greenhouses as well as the fine brokers we have entrusted the sales of our plant through. Eason Horticulture, Fred Gloeckner Co. and McHutchison are your connection to our products. We look forward to exceeding all of your expectations in 2011!

Best regards,

Jim and Jennifer Monroe

On the cover: Lobelia NAUTICA™ ‘Flow Blue’ PPAF

Sneak a peek…

C a l i f o r n i a Sp r i n g Tr i a l s

March 26 thru April 1, 2011

Hort Couture

®

28 hot new plants only for the IGC Island View Nursery Carpinteria California

RSVP info@hortcoutureplants.com

genetics kerleyplants Petunias are very important to any vegetative annual program. They are the best selling class and are the backbone of most gorgeous combination planters. We knew that finding a great series for Hort Couture was vital to our acceptance in the market. We went to the best in the business to find our Panache™ Collection. The Kerley family from the UK is identified with petunias like McDonalds is with the hamburger. It is what they do and they do it well. They have been breeding petunias for nearly 20 years. That is the kind of dedication that quality breeding companies put into what they do.

The Kerley family is very intent on proper trialing, professional relationships and looking for the finest new genetics for their customers. The popular Priscilla Petunia, a gorgeous double, has been a staple of the Proven WinnerÂŽ program for many years. We are proud of our association with these fine people. Look for some incredible new petunias to emerge from the relationship in the near future.

S

David and Priscilla Kerley inspect a basket of the popular Priscilla Petunia.

Lemonade Stand

Aubergine Halo

Smoked Salmon

ESPADRILLE Verbena

Merlot

Purple Haze

Peach Schnapps

White Russian

Cranberrytini

Large Flowers Mildew Tolerant Compact Habit Espadrille ‘Burgundy’ NEW

IGC Trends The trade show season this Winter was upbeat and we have seen lots of products and trends that will either be new for this year or continue to grow.

1. Grow You Own Food- This has gone from trend to lifestyle for many people. Garden retailers have a great opportunity here to offer more products, more finished (ready to harvest) products and establish their local garden store as the source for information and products. We hope that our easy to execute Culinary Couture program will be a part of the Spring plans for many retailers. There is still SO MUCH potential for growth in this category for the IGC. 2. Wooly Pockets- We first saw this California based company about a year or more ago and fell in love with the simply idea that this company has capitalized on. Go vertical in your store in 2011 and give your clientele ideas on how to dress up walls both inside and out with living plants. Visit http://www.woolypockets.com/ for more info.

3. Tropical Color- There has been so much focus on drought tolerance, eco friendly etc that people are starving for bold COLOR! Tropical such as our INGENUE Hibiscus and PERGOLA Mandevilla are exclusive to the IGC and offer a big punch of color.

Tropicals are also very difficult for the box store to ship and maintain so the IGC has a great opportunity here.

4. Facebook- Garden retailers are learning how to use social media to attract younger customers, provide information in a cheap and efficient format and create a unique conversation about their business with Facebook. If you are a retailer that is not sure how to do this- call us at 866.955.HORT and we will show you how to get started. There is a great group on Facebook called "Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries" that was started by a "Blogging Nurseryman" in Northern California as a 24/7 live conversation about our industry- great networking and information.

5. Terrariums- This trend is still growing and offering cool apothecary jars and mini conservatories is a great new product line. Combine this with lots of cool miniature ferns, baby tears, hoyas, mosses and foliage plants to complete your sales area. A couple of possible vendors for this product line are http://www.hpotter.com/ & http://www.napahomeandgarden.com/.

6. Succulents- Amazingly as much hype as this group of plants has been given in the last few years that there is still great opportunity in most IGC's to capitalize on this long lived trend.

We have moved our Sunny Succulent production from California to Florida to provide a better source for the east coast and midwest retailer to have better access to these products. Easy to grow and gorgeous both inside and out.

7.Wellies- We have been wearing rubber gardening boots for years but now they are uber trendy as a fashion statement. There are tons of great companies making these in every color in the rainbow.

8. Coupons- Give your customers a reason to come into your store. A coupon is a great way. Newspapers, Facebook, email newsletters, local clippers and Groupon are all great ways to get people thinking about your store. A word of advice is to use the coupon discount not to discount a product but to engage the customer to purchase more. "Buy Two Get One Free" is far more profitable than "33% OFF".

Vintage Viola ™

Excellent performance, huge flowers and the unique look that the IGC looks for in fall products. Vintage gives the flower power you need to create fall sales early and often! A star of our new FALL FLING program.

www.hortcoutureplants.com

EXPOSURE

When the famous Greenbrier Resort wanted to create the same dramatic look that legendary interior designer Dorothy Draper had provided the lobbies, rooms and restaurants of this grand old hotel on the outside- they knew that Hort Couture was the right choice. This will be an awesome palette for our plant genetics this Summer to really show off for the world!

Hort Couture® to be featured at PGA Event, The Greenbrier Classic in July 2011.

The Greenbrier, America’s Resort, has chosen Hort Couture as the exclusive provider of annual flowers for the grounds of the resort and the Old White Golf Course that will host the 2011 PGA Greenbrier Classic. This is a FedEX Cup Event that features the top golfers in the world and coverage on The Golf Channel and CBS Sports with hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the event. The sophisticated and luxurious grounds of the resort will provide an amazing palette for the unique flowers available from Hort Couture. The grounds staff of the West Virginia resort will be planting nearly 200,000 Hort Couture plants on the grounds next Spring. The effect will be stunning.

We will be featuring many of our new improved genetics in both landscape and mixed containers on the grounds. Among the most prolific varieties planned in the beds are our POSH New Guinea Impatiens, MANNEQUIN Salvia and SOUTH BEACH Lantana varieties. All three of these series are excellent choices to add color to existing landscape beds. Many of our Tres Chic Tropicals will also be incorporated into the plantings to bring bold texture and give the grounds at this famous resort the “over the top” exterior look that will compliment the bold design of the interior that was designed by the famous designer Dorothy Draper. Gorgeous Colocasia ‘Mojito’, Pennisetum ‘Fireworks’ and Cordyline ‘Mocha Latte’ will be among the unique plants that will be featured on the grounds.

The Greenbrier is an award-winning resort located in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. As a National Historic landmark, The Greenbrier Resort's classic architecture, exquisite interior design, carefully sculpted landscape, impeccable service and outstanding amenities have hosted distinguished guests from around the world since 1778. The Greenbrier is widely regarded as one of the finest luxury resorts around the world. Surrounded by the wondrous Allegheny Mountains, The Greenbrier offers exclusive services and amenities such as championship golf, fine dining, more than 50 activities, designer boutiques, 40,000 square foot world-class spa and a 103,000 square foot gaming and entertainment venue. This renowned property offers 682 rooms, including 33 suites and 96 guest and estate houses. The Greenbrier has 10 lobbies, over 40 meeting rooms and a complete conference center facility. Visit www.greenbrier.com for more information.

Petunia Perfectunia™ In a world of too many Petunias, it is difficult to bring something to the market that is truly different. The Perfectunia™ Series bred by Westhoff Plants in Germany makes growing Petunias easy and profitable.

Perfectunias™ provide extremely early flowering in trials in all regions of the US. Under short days the plant is very compact in habit and has flowers measuring around three inches in diameter with a pleasing, ruffled edge. There are currently nine colors in the series for 2011. They include Blue, Bordeaux, Bright Pink, Coral, Neon Pink, Purple, Red, Rose and White. Little or no PGR is required to grow a “perfect petunia” with a compact, ball shaped form. This is cost effective, environmentally friendly and allows even the less experienced grower to be successful. The plant will grow to about 18” wide and 4” tall from a single cutting. In terms of the popular “thriller, spiller, filler” vernacular, Perfectunias™ are more fillers than spillers.

This series has great heat tolerance and summer blooming has been excellent in all trials. They are a preferred series for mixed containers and baskets where they do not overtake other genera in combination and do not stretch under warmer conditions like many other petunias due to its genetically short internodes.

Perfectunias™ exhibit little or no netting in flats with high density production, have very dark green foliage (even on White) and represent a great example of innovative breeding that makes production easier and life better for growers and consumers.

Media and pH

Growth Regulation

Perfectunia’s™ require a well-drained, soilless media with a pH of 5.3-5.8 and an E.C. range of 0.75 – 1.0 (using a 1:2 extraction method). Ensure that the newly transplanted liner is even with the media level of the new container. This will reduce the potential for wilt and stress to occur on the new liner.

Perfectunia’s™ are naturally compact and require very little pinching or PGR application. A pinch may be applied 1-2 weeks after transplant to promote basal branching. If needed, an application of Bonzi® (paclobutrazol) can be applied as a drench at 0.5- to 1.0-ppm when plants have reached mature size.

Liners should be kept moist upon transplant, but they should not be oversaturated.

Once liners have sufficiently rooted out, begin to allow the media to dry down between irrigations.

Perfectunia™ Blue, Perfectunia™ Bordeaux and Perfectunia™ White can be more upright and vigorous than the other Perfectunia™ colors. These colors may require an additional pinch or PGR’s to control growth.

Temperature and Day Length

Pests and Diseases

If good cultural practices and IPM techniques are To promote optimum growth, provide high light levels, moderate to cool temperatures and negative DIF. applied, the Perfectunia™ series should not have Maintain day temperatures of 60-70 °F and night issues with pests and diseases. temperatures of 55-65 °F. Flowering is directly related to temperature and day lenth.

Crop Timing

The Perfectunia™ series will take longer to flower when grown under cooler temperatures and short day conditions. Perfectunia’s™ respond extremely well to high light levels. Maintain light levels of 5,000 footcandles to promote best growth and flowering, while maintaining moderate temperature levels. Note that temperatures greater than 75 °F can cause stretching. Under short day (SD) conditions in early spring, the use of night break lighting from 10 p.m. – 2 a.m. is beneficial and reduces time to flower.

4” pot: 7-9 weeks (early spring) ; 6-8 weeks (springsummer) 6” pot: 8-11 weeks (early spring) ; 8-10 weeks (spring-summer) 8” pot (2-3 plants per pot): 9-13 weeks (early spring) ; 9-11 weeks (spring-summer)

Fertilizer The Perfectunia™ series requires a moderate amount of fertilizer. A constant application of a balanced ammonium and nitrate based form fertilizer with low phosphorous promotes optimum growth. Rates of 175to 225-ppm are most effective and produce good growth and lush green foliage.

Maintain pH levels of 5.5-6.0. If pH rises above 6.0, Iron uptake is reduced, causing the plant to show interveinal chlorosis on new growth. To combat this issue, apply EDDHA Iron to fertilizer applications as needed.

Perfectunia™ ‘Red’

Begin to dream about next Spring

WAY TUDE New plants for 2011 that get the party started with color, texture and pizzazz. Our Spring Collection is going to make the IGC sparkle.

Top 11 for 2011

Top 11 New Plants for 2011

Chocolate Princess

Mandarin Glow

KIMONO Hot Pink

Mad for Mocha

Lady Bug

Flow Blue

Red Surprise

Key Lime Pie

Tequila Sunrise

PERFECTUNIA Coral

Top Model

Sustainable Social Media The biggest reason businesses fail in social media is lack of strategy. Businesses have to remember to stop looking for "shiny new tools" just because everyone is using them and thinks they are the "holy grail" of the online world. It is paramount to take the time to learn the correct way to use social media, and implement the strategy that is suitable for your business. And, the truth is social media should always come last in any planning you do for your business. It is also important to understand that social media is not the end-all solution to your business problems, and it should never be used as a replacement strategy or as a stand-alone.

If you want to succeed with social media, there are some strategy steps you must take before you dive into the online world. So, let’s strip away all the hype and go through the right steps that must be taken to help you determine if social media is appropriate for your business.

If you go through the following 10 steps in the order I list them, you will gain clarity, save time and reduce social media overwhelm.

1. Be open-minded and change the traditional way you communicate with customers, employees, partners, the media, etc.

As an entrepreneur, it is important to create a social mind-set for relationship marketing, networking, engaging and collaborating.

2. Educate yourself and become familiar with all the categories of social media and how they can be integrated together as well as the entire marketing mix in order to leverage and maximize your efforts.

3. Determine if you have weaknesses in your business that may potentially hurt you online (i.e., poorly designed website or no website, bad customer service, weak content, negative comments from customers, etc.)

4. Determine if you have strengths in your business that you can leverage online (i.e., available content such as videos, e-Books, or brand lovers who are already talking about you, etc.)

5. See what your competitors are doing with social media. Just observe and takes notes; do not be a copy-cat.

6. Identify your target audience, and determine when and where they hang out online.

7. Set clear goals and objectives. Goals are general statements (i.e., "We want to leverage social media to improve customer service"). Objectives are more specific and measurable (i.e., "By December 2011, we want to triple traffic to our website and increase sales by 20 percent").

8. Decide what you want to use social media for (i.e., prospecting, recruiting, customer service, etc.) and how you want to engage your online audience. Do you want to use social media for communication, collaboration, education, entertainment or all of them?

9. Based on what you came up with in the last nine steps, select the social media categories and tools you want to use (social networking, video, podcasting, photo-sharing, blogging, etc.).

There are many more factors to consider before putting together a strategy; however, if done properly, these steps will give you a clear picture of the social media landscape and help you determine whether social media is right for your business or not.

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Tres Chic Tropicals

Hot New Varieties Sophisticated Packaging Exclusive to the IGC

2011 Seed Collection

g{x fÉÑ{|áà|vtàxw TÄàxÜÇtà|äx‹A Our Culinary Couture Seeds give the Independent Garden Retailer an upscale offering that will make cooks want to garden and gardeners want to cook. The trendiest new varieties and ideas!

We have selected the most sought after heirlooms and the hottest new hybrids that are sure to bring excitement to your seed pack sales 2011.

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We have expanded our collection to bring you more breadth of variety and the best new items in the market. There are over 60 new varieties for 2011 in our program. A few of our personal favoritesKorean Black Edamame Bean Lemon Lime Basil Mix Tabby Variegated Cat Grass Soul Food Collard Mix C'est la vie Corn Mache Salad Mix Morado Purple Tomatillo Wasabi Perilla Prima Rossa Swiss Chard Our Culinary Couture Seeds come beautifully displayed on our space saving rack that holds fifty varieties of your choice or we can send you our top sellers. Also our seed pack has been updated for 2011 to give our collection a more distinctive look.

Swiss Chard Prima Rossa

Carrot Rainbow Mix

Corn Earth Tones

Lettuce Speckles

Our website has excellent information on growing each Culinary Couture variety and other great information about growing your own food. Call us or your favorite broker to order for immediate shipment.

Sunflower Ring of Fire

fall fling

™

The most comprehensive fall program ever for the IGC. Grow your business with Hort Couture.

Plan for fall... don’t react!

Jump start your sales this fall with something new and exciting from Hort Couture. Our company offers the IGC exclusive products and ideas to differentiate your fall program.

Snow Bunny™ Pansies After two years of extensive trials, we have put together a Pansy series that will provide excellent fall and winter results for the consumer in a wide palette of colors. Exceptional merchandising support and packaging are available. Consistent performance in a very well matched series.

Happy Face

Blue in the Face

Purple Dove

Inkblot

Royal Flush

Bunny Slippers

Deep Purple

Gold Crest

True Blue

Tangerine

Cranberry

Peach Fizz

Red in the Face

Silver Sleigh

Primrose

Vintage™ Violas Expert breeding brings you a very special mix of unique Johnny Jump Ups that will excite your customers and are a dream to grow. Make Vintage a part of your plans for this Fall!

Blue Ice

Blue Wings

Lilac Mist

Orange

Purple

Purple Wings

White Wings

Yellow

Fabulous Fall Mums Mums are a big part of any Fall program. We have an excellent mix of mid season varieties that will fill your tables with color that will give the consumer a full container gardening program from our brand.

Adiva Purple

Allegra Yellow

Celino Yellow

Cesaro Gold

Cornella Orange

Granada Red

Izola Orange

Pavia Red

Pomono Violet

Prima White

Rhinos Orange

Savona Red

Edible Ornamentals Culinary plants are hot and we have the coolest edible ornamentals to add color, texture and fun to your mixed container sales area. Easy to grow, quick crops that are profitable for the IGC.

Chard Bright Lights

Chicory Du Monde Red

Endive Batavian

Indian Mustard Red

Kale Italian Dinosaur

Kale Peacock White

Kale Red Bor

Rumex Bloody Dock

PrĂŞt a Porter Perennials There are no wimpy annuals in our fall program but the finest fall perennials available. Unique varieties that compliment the program, have shelf life and consumer appeal. Hard to find varieties from the most dependable name in the business in C. Raker & Sons Greenhouses. This gives Fall Fling a great value added component for the consumer!

Aster Island Bahamas

Aster Island Barbados

Aster Island Samoa

Aster Island Tonga

Ajuga Black Scallop

Ceratostigma My Love

Coreopsis Autumn Blush

Coreopsis Gold Nugget

Coreopsis Moonlight

Coreopsis Pin Wheel

Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow

Euphorbia Black Bird

Euphorbia Blue Haze

Euphorbia TasmanianTiger

Heuchera Brownies

Heuchera Kassandra

Lamium Gold Nuggets

Lamium Orchid Frost

Lysimachia Goldilocks

Vinca Illumination

Runway Ready Grasses Grasses are such an important component of the fall container. They are graceful, colorful and so easy for the consumer to grow. Our unique assortment will be an essential part of your fall sales plan.

Carex Poppycock

Carex Evergold

Carex Mad for Mocha

Carex testacea

Equisetum hymale

Festuca Blue Bombshell

Juncus Dreadlocks

Melinis Savannah

Sunny Succulents Succulents are popular right now for their low water requirements and durable beauty. We have selected some of our favorite hardy varieties that are great for containers. Easy!

Sedum Angelina

Sedum Chocolate Ball

Sedum Ogon

Sedum sexangular

Sedum Tricolor

Sempervivum Cobweb

Sempervivum Red Beauty

Sempervivum Silverine

www.hortcoutureplants.com