Garden Writers Symposium "Round-up"- AZ style

As our plane flew into Tucson, AZ, the startling landscape opened up like parchment unfurled, its tawny hues of dappled sand and green-grey plants revealing a soothing palette of desert colors that bid us welcome.

Team GMG (Suzi, Stacey, Katie and I) had arrived for the 2012 Garden Writers (GWA) Symposium, to participate in the most highly anticipated event of the year for professional communicators in the lawn and garden industry.This year's 64th symposium was attended by some 600 print and broadcast garden communicators and bloggers from around the world and top growers and vendors showing off new plants and products.

Our car meandered and climbed up the winding drive that crested in front of a stunning pink-toned adobe and stucco hotel and conference center, with towering cactus, swollen succulents and scarlet desert flowers dotting the landscape like silent sentinels against a cobalt blue western sky.

Between the hectic pace of greeting old friends and new, we prepared for our dinner party at Maynard's Market and Kitchen, an historic converted train station turned upscale restaurant. Cool jazz and smooth voices entertained as we mingled with our media guests and clients: Fall Creek® Farm & Nursery, Hines Growers, RESCUE!® all natural pest control, Premier Tech Horticulture and American Beauties Native Plants/North Creek Nursery.

 

Friday and Saturday saw the exhibitors hall packed with colorful booths brimming with new plants and products, like an open-air market filled with heady earthy scents wafting throughout the aisles.

Crowds gathered around the new flowering Bloomtastic!™and Patio Tropics!™ plants from Hines Growers, ground-breaking new BrazelBerries™ small ornamental fruit collection from Fall Creek® Farm & Nursery, all natural pest control traps from RESCUE!®, stunning native plants from American Beauties Native Plants® and new sustainable PRO-MIX® planting and potting mixes from Premier Tech Horticulture.

"That couldn't be a crinum," exclaims a writer peering intensely at the new Bloomtastic! Crinum Purple   Dream. The leaves look almost purply black!" 

"You mean we can now grow thornless raspberries in containers right in our backyards?" gasps another as she points to the new thornless dwarf raspberry shrub, Raspberry Shortcake™, part of the BrazelBerries collection.

People studied and handled the new fly tape and eco-friendly stink bug traps at the RESCUE! booth and enjoyed a festive atmosphere at the Premier booth.

Workshops like "Let's Talk Plants" romanced the attendees with alluring plant images and  meaty phrases in a lightning speed dating style. Joe Gray , senior vice president of Hines Growers casually chatted about their new plant introductions with the attentive audience and moderators, charming the crowd with asides.

Along with the exhibits, there were scores of workshops and garden tours that included a special visit to a unique seed listing organization that I'll dig into deeper next time.

Ciao, AZ... we loved our visit.

Next year...hint, hint...

Oh, Canada!

~Lynne

Garden Media Group

Lights! Camera! Action! Bloomtastic! plants go show biz

Lights! Camera! Action! This summer Hines Growers went 'show biz' as truckloads of Bloomtastic!™ plants arrived on set for two upcoming television episodes of A &E’s original lifestyle home makeover series, Hideous Houses.   

Hines’ plants are making their television debut on “Mom’s Hoarding Ends Here” airing August 25th and “Bachelor Pad becomes a Home” airing September 15th – as part of A & E’s Saturday morning programming,The Big Fix. 

The show features television personality and general contractor Eric Stromer and his brother Kurt, and world-class designer Megan Weaver, who turn modest houses into beautiful homes on a strict budget.

Above are sample before and after shots of a home they renovated in Texas. Not bad, guys!

They get plenty of help with two truckloads of Hines’ bedding and tropical foliage plants donated and delivered to the pre-selected homes in southern California towns. Shots of the trucks approaching and unloading are featured along with the team planting and interacting with viewers during the step-by-step process.

Although the task was daunting, the team had help with the over one-hundred donated gorgeous Bloomtastic! and Patio Tropics! plants that are bred to take the guess work out of gardening and give gardeners greater success.

Whether you have a small home or large landscape, these easy to grow plants provide beautiful continuous color and abundant blooms without breaking the bank!

For more information about Hines Growers and Bloomtastic! and Patio Tropics! plant visit www.www.hinesgrowers.com.
For information on upcoming shows of “Hideous Houses” visit www.aetv.com.

So let us know if you tune in and view the shows and what you think. We'd love your feedback!
Happy Gardening!
~Lynne

Photo credits
A & E
Bloomtastic! plants: Hines Grower

Showy colors throughout the summer!

Summer's here in all its glory. The days are long, hot and steamy, and celebrations like the Fourth of July are upon us.

Whether you're planning a backyard barbeque or a summer bash, it's easy to add a blast of vibrant color to your outdoors with new Bloomtastic! tropical plants from Hines Growers.

Their new varieties of bougainvillea are bred for easy color, abundant flowers and create an instant "party in a pot."

It's a snap to get your red, white and blue on by placing ready made containers of  new Bambino and Babybino bougainvillea throughout your landscape and on your deck, patio, balcony or poolside. They're easy to grow and more compact than typical bougainvillea.

Best of all, the eight new varieties will keep on giving splashes of intense tropical color throughout the summer and into fall!

For a touch of the exotic, add containers of Hines' new carefree Desert Roses, Adenium Kissable Pink, Blush and Red to your outdoor spaces.

The striking flowers rest atop an unusual caudex that has a bonsai-like appearance. Plus, they can be over-wintered indoors, ready to bloom again next spring.

Let us know if you're trying the new bougainvillea and Desert Roses for the first time. Share your photos and let us see your creative flair in your backyard!

Enjoy the holiday!
~Lynne
Garden Media Group

This ain't American Idol- it's Garden Idol

We're heading out to Louisville, KY next week (1/25-1/28) to attend ANLA Clinic (American Nursery and Landscape Association) that promises to be informative and FUN!

ANLA knows how to put on a show with top speakers and presenters (like our own Suzi McCoy) on subjects that range from practical solutions to real-world problems, to current and upcoming Garden and Horticulture Trends to watch.

We always enjoy meeting the happy mix of retailers, growers, scientists, media and a few errant minstrels thrown in. And the dinners and hospitality suites are always a great time to let your hair down while we meet and greet old friends and new.

For me, the highlight is Garden Idol. This year, Season Three is setting up to really be a rockin' evening. Our client, Hines Growers, is one of the Garden Idol 'contestants' and wow...all I can say is... hot new Bloomtastic! plants and a smokin' performance!

Not trying to sway you (too much) but their new Bloomtastic! Buddleia Lavender Veil and Bahama Bay Hibiscus 'Amazon Queen' are amazing plants that really are star performers. Want to know more?

Growers are entering new plants to win "best in show" with clever performances and some over-the-top costumes and They'll be strutting their stuff in front of a panel of judges and the audience. Last year was cool; this year promises to be even better!

Check out last year's Garden Idol  that gives you a chance to see what plants (and performances) won over the judges- and audience!

And when all's said and done... cast your vote for who should hold the exalted title of Garden Idol Winner. Vote early AND Vote often!

~Lynne

GMG