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

Drought tolerant plants that can beat the heat!

The other day my garden buddy friend who lives in Dallas mentioned that Texas may begin water rationing due to the blazing heat that's causing temps to soar over 100 degrees.

She said that her garden plants are basically fried, and all that she's concentrating on saving now are herbs and a few bedding plants.

This heat wave is causing misery across the States. But for gardeners who've planted drought tolerant landscapes, hope springs eternal!

Varying from trees and shrubs to flowers and ornamental grasses and groundcovers these plants have an ability to handle drought conditions better than other varieties. Native plants that have adapted to your soil conditions and climate stand a better chance to survive dry conditions.

Plants like salvia and asters and witch hazel, butterfly bush and viburnum are good choices to withstand periods of drought. The photo is Eryngium 'Big Blue' from American Beauties Native Plants. Check out other natives plants that are perfect for your area at American Beauties Native Plants.

For those who love succulents and cactus, they come in a wide array of colors, shapes and sizes that are perfect as bedding plants and for indoors. They're just about indestructible, having adapted over time to handle conditions from deserts to scorching hot, humid climates.
I love them in containers to decorate any space. Outdoors they add interest and color to landscapes. Check out tips on growing and decorating with succulents and cacti from the plant experts at Costa Farms!

So, stay cool and let us know what drought-tolerant plants are still thriving for you!

~Lynne, GMG