The Weeding Gnome
by Plants Nouveau ·Februarty17, 2023
New Plants & New Ideas
2 New plants and something cool from IPM Essen 2023
Hey all, and Happy, happy 2023!
Linda and I started 2023 off with one word - travel. We were on the road, looking for new trends, new plants and new ideas from the New Year till…NOW.
What did we see?
We didn’t see earth shattering, breakthrough new plants. It feels like breeders are holding back (and holding their breath) to see what the economy of the world holds before they introduce anything new. Or maybe there aren’t that many new plants right now?
What we did see was packaging. We saw lots of clever packaging aimed at both educating consumers and helping them transport their plants. Some was even convincing people to buy a dormant plant with pretty images.
We also saw S-U-C-C-U-L-E-N-T-S! The succulent crazy may seem like it has died down in the US. That is certainly NOT the case in Europe. They were everywhere. The smaller the pot, the more interesting they got. And the packaging was killer. Gift ready and full of useful growing info. There was even a rating system from easiest to grow to most difficult. That’s clever…
We have two new plants to talk about today. One has finally hit the liner market in force and one is getting more attention than a white balloon in the sky.
Pulmonaria ‘Lisa Marie’ , found by Bradd and Lisa Marie Grover in IL, has been on our radar and in our hearts for some time. We could not get this dang plant clean in the lab to get it into production. That sometimes happens with fuzzy leaved plants that lay mostly flat on the ground. They pick up “stuff” from the soil. Lisa Marie was a total pain, but she’s clean and being built up as we speak by Brigg’s Nursery. Briggs will have liners for sale this spring!
We are soooo excited!
And our Picea glauca Spruce It Up™ is gaining amazing traction from growers who are so excited about the many improvements this selection has over Picea glauca var. conica. The more we grow this plant, the better it gets. No mites, no scorch, no reversions, faster growth - wow!
Stay tuned as we start rolling out the many wonderful Chicagoland Grows® plants in weeks to come. There are some beautiful, super useful garden plants that we KNOW you will be lining up to grow.
Pulmonaria ‘Lisa Marie’ PP31226
Now Available!
We are thrilled to Announce that Brigg's Nursery in Washington will have 72 cell liners of Lisa Marie available late spring 2023!
This is an Ah-Mazing plant and even more ah-mazing lungwort. Lisa Marie is an exceptional selection with larger-than-life flowers and 18" long leaves. Lisa Marie flowers a week earlier than Raspberry Splash, with flowers that are twice the size. Her flowers are one of the first nectar sources for bumble bees. No one gets excited about pulmonarias (lungwort), but this is ONE pulmonaria to be excited about!!
The plant roots quicker finishes faster, and looks so much better in a pot than most selections. This is a grower and gardener's dream plant. Give her a little afternoon shade and average garden soil and she will live happily ever after.
Growers - get your orders in NOW. Supplies will not last because this is one HOT NEW PLANT!
Picea glauca 'Pnspruit' Spruce It Up™
Super Useful Intro
Picea glauca ‘Pnspruit’
Spruce It Up™
Have you dreamed of the perfect, year round "Christmas Tree" in your garden? Something to dress up for the holidays with festive lights? Spruce It Up™ is a year-round evergreen that does not need a lot of trimming.
This new spruce is a grower and consumer dream!
Use Spruce It Up™ in foundation plantings, a mixed border, or anywhere you'd like a cone-shaped, upright accent. It grows more quickly than other selections, but no taller, so you won't have to wait as long for this dwarf evergreen to mature. The branches are just a little more open, allowing airflow between needles, so it gets no mites. It can take extreme heat without burning, does not revert, and has not been known to get needle cast. This is an amazingly easy evergreen. Liners are available from JRT Nursery.
1 Fun Thing
from the IPM Essen Show
Check out this new, coated cardboard packaging for succulent plants. We saw these everywhere and in many forms at the IPM Essen trade show in Germany last month.
Cool? Not cool?
You like? don’t like?
Drop us a line and tell us your thoughts. We think these are coming to the US soon…