Happy Tuesday! Thanks for reading.
- One of the UGJ Winter Photo Contest Winners—”Enhanced”/Brenda Fox
Photo Contests a Great Way to Engage Customers
This story, from Garden Center magazine, uses Renee’s Seeds as an example, bu this idea will work for all kinds of businesses. We have run a Winter Photo Contest through the Upstate Gardeners’ Journal—our facebook page helped immensely—and it has been hugely popular. We feature the winners on the cover and inside our November-December issue. People LOVE it. Be sure to have prizes.
Kim Schichtel, CNLP, is WNYSNLA Nurseryperson of theYear
No one is more deserving. Kim (of Murray Brothers Nurseries in Orchard Park) works tirelessly and has such a sweet disposition! She was honored at the Western New York State Nursery & Landscape Association annual Harvest Dinner Saturday, November 12, and I was proud to attend and actually sit with the Murray Bros. themselves. A great evening expertly coordinated, as always, by Joyce Janson, Exec. Secretary.
American Nurseryman editor Sally Benson expresses the same frustration with pink ribbon marketing we’ve been hearing from/about other industries—such as the NFL. Not sure the horticulture market is quite saturated, but it’s worth keeping in mind.
Plant Health: Pest Bytes: Pest Information via Social Media
Here’s the thing about social media: There’s a lot of stupid stuff out there, and there’s a lot of good stuff. We all know this. The trick is to find the latter. I loved this article from American Nurseryman because it points to information you can use.
With apologies to the Western New York readers, who doubtless have heard a lot about this already: There is an estate in East Aurora whose landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted—it’s only one of two in existence in any kind of recognizable form. The story is interesting (I didn’t know the owner of the Boston Bruins was a local), the slide show is beautiful, and the comments are entertainingly snarky. From the Buffalo News.
Tesselaar Plants Releases 2012 Trend Report
…and Rochester-area landscape design/build firm Zaretsky Associates co-owner, Sharon Coates, is quoted. Among predicted hotness: front yard gardens, vertical gardens, black and amber plants, smaller water features and water-saving plants and products.
Horticulture Scholarships up for Grabs
The GIE Media Group, which publishes Golf Course Industry, Garden Center, Nursery Management, and Greenhouse Management magazines, is offering two $5,000 scholarships. “To be eligible for an academic scholarship or an internship program, you must be enrolled at a recognized two-or four-year college or university working toward a degree in horticulture, environmental science or other field related to a segment of the green industry.” Applications must be postmarked by April 15, 2012.
Zea Field of Dreams
From Grower Talks, here’s a handy guide to growing Zea Field of Dreams, the pink, cream and green variegated ornamental corn that made a splash at the Califormia trials last year but hasn’t been seen in the trade around here as of yet. If you are planning on selling this plant in the coming season, give me a shout. I think it could be hugely popular, but I really like big plants. I’ve only ever seen this one picture of it though. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in other combinations!Subscribe!
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