The Plant Hunter

Shrub Madness is Back!

MOVE OVER, BASKETBALL - MARCH IS FOR PLANT GEEKS!

Shrub Madness is the most exciting competition in horticulture and the 2015 bracket is bigger and better than ever. The Plant Selection Committee has hand-picked and seeded 64 outstanding varieties from the line of Proven Winners ColorChoice flowering shrubs and pitted them against each other in a tournament-style bracket. Your votes decide which shrubs advance through each round of voting. At the end of the competition, only one shrub will be named Shrub Madness National Champion.

Who will be in the Floral Four? Can you pick the 2015 Champion?

This year brings more prizes, a new website, and new competitors in the mix. It's a great opportunity for you (and your cohorts & customers) to celebrate the start of spring while learning about plants.

Here's what you need to know:

Watch the trailer.

The contest will be held on the brand new ShrubMadness.com, and this allows you to fill out a bracket online to compete for the grand prize: the Floral Four plants and a Plant Geek swag bag. You must fill out the bracket before March 2nd, so go do it now!

Visit Shrub Madness.com often from March 2-30 to vote in each round of the competition. Popular vote determines the winner in each match. Every time you vote, you're entered to win a selection of competing plants. The more you vote, the better your chances.

So get your friends together and start your own pool. It's crazy fun. It's Shrub Madness.

A Peak Into the Future

One of the fun things about working at a wholesale, liner (starter plant) nursery is that you get to see into the future. That's because the new plant varieties we sell today don't hit retail stores until after our customer's grow them a year or two into larger retail-sized plants. So when I analyse our current orders, I get a glimpse of what will be in garden centers in a year or two.

Would you like to see into the future? Here is a top ten countdown of our top selling new plants. Click on the picture if you want to learn more about the plant.

Kodiak™ Orange Diervilla

Infinitini™ Brite Pink Crape Myrtle

Double Play® Red Spirea

Let's Dance® Rave Hydrangea

Brass Buckle™ Japanese Holly

Invincibelle® Spirit II

Zinfin Doll™ Hydrangea paniculata

Lo & Behold® 'Blue Chip Jr' Buddleia

Little Quick Fire® Hydrangea paniculata

Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac

Register Today: Independent Plant Breeders Conference

There is still time to register for the 2014 Independent Plant Breeders Conference in Grand Rapids October 30th - November 2nd. The Independent Plant Breeders Conference is a great opportunity to learn and network with other plant breeders, horticulture industry professionals involved in new product development and marketing, and intellectual property experts.

Plant Breeder Megan Mathey will talk about the role of embryo rescue in plant breeding

The conference starts with a reception at Founders Brewery on the evening of October 30. The next two days will be filled with educational sessions aimed at helping independent breeders be successful, from technical aspects of breeding through product development and marketing.

Joseph Rotherleutner of the Morton Arboretum will speak on "Breeding Plants for Sterility"

AGENDA

Friday Oct. 31

8:00 a.m. Registration open

8:15 a.m. Welcome and introductory remarks

8:30 a.m. 'Frank Advice for Amateur Breeders'

-Tim Wood, Spring Meadow Nursery

9:15 a.m. ‘T.B.D’

- Lloyd Traven,Peace Tree Farm

10:00 a.m. Morning break & poster session

10:30 a.m. 'Understanding AAS and How it Can Work for You'

-Diane Blazek, All-America Selections

11:15 a.m. ‘Conversations with Your Future Customer'

-Bridget Behe, Michigan State University"

Noon Lunch on your own

1:30 p.m. 'Sourcing Germplasm Through GRIN and OPGC'

-Pablo Jourdan, Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center, Ohio State University

2:15 p.m. 'Embryo rescue'

-Megan Mathey, Spring Meadow Nursery

3:00 p.m. Afternoon Break

3:30 p.m. 'Practical Virus Management for Small Scale Operations'

-Speaker(s) T.B.D.

4:15 p.m. 'Breeder's Rights - A Global Perspective' (presentations and discussion)

-Geoff Needham, CIOPORA; Brenda Cola, Bioflora

5:15 p.m. Day concludes

Tim Wood's talk is entitled "Frank Advice for Amateur Plant Breeders"

Saturday, Nov. 1

8:15 a.m. ‘T.B.D.'

-Dan Heims, Terra Nova Nurseries

9:00 a.m. 'Selecting a Proper Cultivar Name and Getting it Registered with the ICRA'

-Clarence Falstad, Walters Gardens

9:45 a.m. Morning break & poster session

10:15 a.m. 'Breeding Plants for Sterility'

-Joseph Rothleutner, Morton Arboretum

11:00 a.m. 'Developing an IP Strategy'

-Barb Campbell,Cochran Freund & Young LLC

Noon Lunch on your own

1:30 p.m. 'Latest Trends from the European Shows'

-Angela Treadwell-Palmer, Plants Nouveau

2:15 p.m. 'A Primer on Biotech Tools, Resources and Services Available to Breeders'

-Ryan Warner, Michigan State University

3:00 p.m. Afternoon Break

3:15 p.m. 'Plant Trialing: Staying Objective with Your Own Material'

-Richard Hawke,Chicago Botanic Garden

4:00 p.m. 'What do Different Brands Look for in New Plant Introductions, etc.'

-Open forum w/brand representatives

5:00 p.m. Day concludes

One of the tour stops will be Spring Meadow Nursery

Sunday, Nov. 2

On the final day, we will tour nurseries, gardens and other horticultural landmarks in western Michigan including Walters Gardens and Spring Meadow Nursery.

Discounted registration applies until October 1st. Hope to see you there!

Award Winning New Plants at Plantarium

Every year plant breeders from around the world bring their best new plants to the Plantarium in the Netherlands. The best of the best win either bronze, silver or gold medals. With over 150 new plants being introduced, winning an award is very difficult so even those plants that receive a bronze medal are very fortunate. Here are a few of the best new plants of 2014-2015. What's your favorite?