With “Basics for the Southern Landscape”
Loxley, AL – The Southern Living Plant Collection debuts this spring with eight plants touted as “Basics for the Southern Landscape,” according to Todd Carnley, executive director of Plant Development Services Inc. (PDSI). The initial release will feature innovative new plants designed to solve specific landscape challenges in both the South and other regions of the country. The overall Collection is the result of an exclusive “Live Goods Licensing Agreement” between Plant Development Services Inc. and Southern Living magazine.
“We’re excited about the plants and the opportunities this partnership creates for participating nurseries and plant breeders nationwide,” says Carnley who is also director of development for the Collection. “Each plant in the Collection represents years of plant evaluations, plant trials and consumer research.”
“Many of these plants have been developed specifically in response to landscape challenges articulated by readers of Southern Living,” says John Floyd, Editor of Southern Living magazine. “Both consumers and retailers want quality plants with features like uniformity in size and appearance, low maintenance and year-round interest.”
The Southern Living Plant Collection will be launched through a range of retail channels throughout the Southeastern United States this spring and will expand to the entire United States in upcoming seasons. Southern Living will also feature the plants in the magazine and on its website, www.southernliving.com.
The initial package of plants includes Purple Pixie, a versatile ground cover loropetalum with a unique weeping habit and vivid purple color, and Purple Diamond, a loropetalum that grows to only 4 to 5 feet with pink flowers in spring and offers vivid purple foliage. “Every plant in the Collection has its own unique story and the plant attributes reveal the landscape challenges being addressed,” says Carnley. “Both Purple Pixie and Purple Diamond provide ample color, interest and contrast. Their distinctive growth habits, like the weeping habit of Purple Pixie or the compact nature of Purple Diamond, also provide solutions to landscape challenges.”
Additional “Basics for the Southern Landscape” include three Cleyera hedge varieties including Bigfoot, Bronze Beauty, and LeAnn. “Consumers and retailers alike have asked for new hedge plants that grow to a uniform size and appearance to replace tired old hedges. Our Cleyera varieties are all clones created to ensure uniformity,” notes Carnley.
The selections also include garden border shrub Spring Sonata. “If color through the seasons is a requirement, Spring Sonata fills the bill with white blooms in spring and purple fruit in cold weather months,” says Carnley.
The group is rounded out with two hollies – the no-need-to-prune hybrid Oakland, and Robin, which offers maroon foliage in the spring changing to deep green in the summer, with ample, dark red berries in fall and winter.
Plant categories in the Southern Living Plant Collection will expand to include more shrubs, trees, bedding plants, groundcovers, tropical plants, ornamental grasses, seasonal plants, flowers, and related green goods, according to Carnley.
“Through our partnership with Southern Living, we are creating a collection of the highest quality plants, delivered by a reputable brand that’s integral to beautiful landscapes. Our consumer research indicate that, from day one, these will be the most trusted plants in the garden center for consumers,” says Carnley.
“The value of Southern Living lies in the trust we’ve established over 40 years with our readers,” adds Floyd. “Our garden department is filled with professionals – horticulturalists, landscape architects and former nursery retailers – who truly love gardening.”
Plant Development Services Inc. is continuing to expand its grower group network and to evaluate more plants to meet the anticipated consumer demand for the Southern Living Plant Collection. Currently, participating growers include Flowerwood Nursery, Greenleaf Nursery Company and McCorkle Nurseries Inc. In addition to plants from North America, many new plants come from Europe and the Far East.
“We are continuing to identify various plants to fill the extensive category needs.” Carnley says. “Our standards are very high because we know that consumers want quality plant solutions to landscape challenges.” Growers interested in the program and plant breeders with potential new cultivars should contact Plant Development Services Inc. on the web at www.plantdevelopment.com or call (888) 922-7374.
The Southern Living Plant Collection will debut with merchandising that ties directly to the Southern Living brand. Southern Living magazine is an internationally recognized source of lifestyle information, including Southern travel, home, food, gardening and wellness. The 7th largest consumer magazine in the U.S. (based on readership), it reaches nearly 16 million readers each month and has a circulation of about 2.8 million.
Plant Development Services Inc., a leader in horticultural innovation, was founded in 1996 by Greg Smith in response to the need for an industry resource that could manage new plant introductions. Of particular interest to Plant Development Services Inc. are plants with unique performance attributes that can be patented, branded and successfully introduced to the consumer market. Plant Development Services Inc. owns and/or licenses more than 50 patented plant properties, including the number one azalea brand in the world – Encore Azalea.
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Thursday January 10, 2008