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In today's Issue:

Going Rogue, Part I: Mums & Pumpkins

New for 2011! Echinacea ‘Marmalade’

--- The Garden Rant ---

I threw a garden party for my friends and colleagues this past Saturday night
(hence the reason this e-letter is a few days late…sorry). I spent all last week
sprucing up the garden and trying to get things in the ground that I have been
collecting all summer. That’s what I get for throwing a party and inviting fellow
plant geeks…too much pressure.

I have two very large containers on my front porch that I change seasonally. They
were looking a bit tired, so I decided to plant them with fall plants for the
party. Let me go on record right here and now to say, “I despise garden mums!”.
I don’t mean to offend lovers of the genus Chrysanthemum, but I really do hate
them. Let’s be clear – I only hate the round mounds of brightly hued blooms that
appear on every garden center and big box store’s sale racks come late summer.

The genus Chrysanthemum is actually quite lovely and varied. During my stint at
the U.S. National Arboretum, we grew some of the most amazing and unusual mums for
our fall displays. Other public gardens are also growing and displaying them in
their fall displays. There’s only one problem – botanic gardens tease these
striking plants to the public, but they can’t buy them anywhere.

They do exist and they are weirdly cool, often alien like. I suppose garden center
buyers don’t think people would buy them. I would buy them! I wish growers would
figure out how to grow them in a pot and make them marketable to garden centers.
And perhaps, dare I say… try marketing something different for fall.

I get so sick of seeing pot mums, perfectly shaped and ready to burst into bloom,
along with perfectly round pumpkins and very boring selections of pansies in every
store. They even sell fake versions of all of these at Michaels for people who
don’t want to have to water them…geesh!

When I go to buy pumpkins, people look at me as if I am rescuing them.

I buy the weirdest, most unusually colored, wickedly shaped pumpkins I can find.
They must always have a cool stem though. It’s so much fun. My husband and kids
love searching for the weird ones too. Funky gourds and squash are cool too and
you can eat them when you’re done.

Another thing I would like to see are old fashioned or improved selections of
violas and much more exciting cabbage and kale selections in garden centers. They
exist too. Vegetable catalogs sell seed. Redbor kale is so hard to find, yet it
is one of the prettiest selections for the garden. You can find it in every Whole
Foods produce aisle, but look for it to display in your fall containers and you’ll
be lucky to find one rogue plant. Why don’t people grow these? They grow the same
four selections, year after year. They’ve become the red and golden delicious
apples of the kale and cabbage world.

Where’s the variety?

And then to top things off, I saw this paragraph from an e-letter that came out
today:

“Here’s a quick and easy idea that adds value and gives customers an easy
purchase. (Garden center’s name hidden here) puts together multiple items for a
Fall Decoration Package that sells for $XX.XX. The package includes three
(perfectly formed, ‘bout to burst into color and will last about two weeks, if
you’re lucky) mums, a medium-sized pumpkin, a cornstalk, a mini-straw bale and a
scarecrow pick.”

This was the top “pick of the day” spot in this e-letter that goes out to garden
center buyers all over the U.S.

Are you kidding me? Seriously? That’s the best idea they could come up with for
Fall? Are they really trying to tout this as an innovative idea?

What I really want to see are different things. I know plants. Plants are my
life. If I can’t find something different at my local garden centers when I know
what I’m looking for, how are we ever going to educate customers? If we show
consumers innovative ways to use plants that are already in the garden centers
(you know, the ones that are soon to be on sale if they don’t sell before winter)
and buy some really cool fall veggies (Have you ever seen how cool broccoli and
cauliflower look in 1 gallon pots, ready to plant?), maybe their palettes would
open up and I could drive around suburbia without seeing mum vomit and rotting
corn stalks on every front porch?

A girl can dream, can’t she?

To be continued... this rant is just beginning.

Happy Weeding,

Angela Treadwell Palmer

President, Plants Nouveau

P.S. - I wish I could tell you our brand new, totally cool Echinacea would bloom
in fall, but alas, it’s a coneflower and we all know that’s not naturally
possible. That being said, I present you with Echinacea ‘Marmalade’, the newest
member of the Cone-fections series from the breeding brilliance of Arie Bloom.
Read more about Marmalade below. Let me know if you’d like samples next spring.
We’re starting a list now!

--- Angela's Garden Notes ---

Introducing Echinacea ‘Marmalade’

The latest addition to our ever-growing, popular line of Cone-fections series from
the breeding brilliance of Arie Blom of AB-Cultivars in The Netherlands. We are
thrilled to bring you this fantastic new selection for 2010/11. With blooms the
color of tart orange marmalade and stems as sturdy as the strongest selection,
Marmalade will add another dimension to your garden. Layered with selections like
‘Hot Papaya’, ‘Milkshake’ and ‘Meringue’, you’ll be able to create a cutting
garden that’s the envy of your neighborhood. Marmalade is a medium sized plant
with large, fully double pompom blooms that won’t disappoint.

Echinacea ‘Marmalade’
Grower introduction – 2010
Retail introduction - 2011
Size: 26-30” tall by 24-30” wide
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5(4)-9
Soil: moist, but well drained
Sun: full sun
Diseases/pests: none known
Landscape Use: Borders, foundation plantings, small urban gardens, wildlife
gardens, cutting gardens, containers
Market Appeal/Uniqueness: Marmalade is a strong plant that supports truly double
marmalade orange blooms. The color of the blooms is two toned. On some days, and
in different light, it will look more tangerine-orange, but on most, it will look
just like fresh marmalade from the jar spread onto your Sunday morning toast.

---

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