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Feb 3, 2017

It's showtime!

Greg Soles
Darwin Product Representative

A busy trial and evaluation season in 2016 leads to new introductions and SHOWTIME BEGINS!

The kickoff show for Darwin Perennials is the MANTS Show in Baltimore, Md. It is a nursery-centric show that has been on the map for many years. Fact: Star Roses and Plants has the oldest booth in the show, enjoying the No.1 booth location for over 40 years. The great weather this year resulted in attendance records for the show.

Our Darwin Perennials booth sported a new look this year. Getting perennials in color is difficult at best in January, but we were able to highlight some of our key Darwin varieties. Heuchera Carnival looked outstanding and we were able to show off our new Miscanthus Bandwidth. It was interesting to watch the attendees stop, touch and feel the cute, banded and compact grass – almost as if it was not a real plant. Consumers will probably feel the same when they see it in retail stores in the spring!

The week after MANTS, the great weather followed us to North Carolina’s Green and Growing Show sponsored by NCNLA. The attendance here was superb. Tuesday and Wednesday were educational sessions sponsored by NCNLA. Charlie Hall was the keynotes speaker and inspired the large group by providing us with insight as to where the industry is headed the next few years. The bottom line to his message: If you are here and listening, you have survived the storm so pat yourself on the back and get moving forward!

Darwin Perennials was a participant in the New Products Forum moderated by Tom Ranney of NCSU. It was a pleasure to highlight two of Darwin’s new ornamental grasses (Miscanthus My Fair Maiden and Miscanthus Bandwidth) to the group because they were bred by Tom Ranney’s group at NCSU. We also highlighted Coreopsis UpTick, Dianthus Mountain Frost, Echinacea Sombrero, Perovskia Crazy Blue and Erysimum Bowles Me Away in our eight-minute time slot.

Matthew Boyd (Star Roses and Plants Territory Manager) and I did a presentation to the group outlining opportunities to increase wholesale and retail sales from early spring to fall with Darwin Perennials.

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