Another year fades in the rear-view mirror. Some will say, Good riddance! Turn the page! Others are standing on the brakes, protesting, Wait! I wasn’t finished with 2017!
So it goes, every year. Most of us would love to edit our lives retroactively, deleting or rewriting the bad, highlighting and underlining the good. Me, I’d love to go back to August and watch that total solar eclipse again. Alas, life happens in real time.
|
|
Despite what our frostbitten Pennsylvanians think, Panhandle winters are the real deal. We don’t overindulge like those poor devils, but it does freeze here, occasionally and briefly. Sometimes we need our seat heaters, and most of us own sweaters.
|
|
Baby, it’s c-c-c-cold outside! We’ve dipped into the low teens and even single digits here at ECG North. Our Floridians make sympathetic noises, but we know they’re laughing up their sleeves at us – or would be, if they were wearing any. We’re used to it.
Grasses
: OK, it’s not a true grass; it’s a sedge. By any name, don’t miss out on hot-selling native
Carex pensylvanica
! A few trays are available right now, with more due at month’s end. Book ‘em!
|
|
North and South, we believe that f2f visits are great relationship-builders in this relationship-driven industry. If your travels in the new year take you near western FL or southeastern PA, consider adding us to your itinerary. Either way, be sure to sample the local cuisine: Whether it’s Panhandle seafood & grits, or Amish fried chicken and shoo-fly pie, you’ll find it a broadening experience.
And North and South, we’re fattening up
TrayMates™
, our new line of split 72s. You’ll see them when you visit PA and/or FL. See Tray Bon! for more on this exciting new product line.
|
|
RANDOM USELESS FACTS DEPARTMENT
|
|
January is named for Janus, Roman god of beginnings, endings and passages. His two faces allowed him to look both forward into the future and back into the past. Just the guy for the job of ringing out the old and ringing in the new: He could wear the diaper
and
the beard. Eww... that’s kind of a disturbing visual, isn’t it?
|
|
OUT & ABOUT: ECG on the Road
|
|
January 10-11-12
: Come see ECG in Booth #710-712 at
MANTS
in Baltimore, the MidAtlantic’s premier industry trade show and unofficial 2018 season kickoff.
January 14
:
P.L.A.N.T. Conference
, Columbus OH, where Yours Truly will orate, pontificate, ruminate and speculate on the subject of ornamental grasses.
|
|
Gardening for nature, especially pollinators, is expected to remain a hot market in the foreseeable future, and indigenous plants are a big part of the movement. Go native with (to name just a few highlights)
Asclepias tuberosa
, 2017’s Perennial Plant of the Year;
Aster
‘Purple Dome’
,
‘Woods’ Pink’
and
‘Woods’ Purple’
; a long line of
Echinacea
, particularly single-flowered types like
‘Cheyenne Spirit’
, two
PowWows
and the
Meadow Mama
group; and of course gorgeous
Gaillardia
, lovely
Leucanthemum
, marvelous
Monarda
, sweet
Stokesia
‘Divinity’
, and dainty, dancing, drought-tolerant
Gaura
.
|
|
Need to expand your variety palette, but can’t increase your space? Meet TrayMates™, our new split 72 tray! Now you can order just 36 of a long list of top-selling
perennials
,
succulents
and
grasses
. Mix and match to your heart’s content and your customers’ delight.
Minimum order per variety:
36
cells. Minimum order:
72
total cells.
When a whole tray is too much of a good thing, try
TrayMates™
from ECG. We’ll meet you halfway!
|
|
Yes, life happens in real time; and blessings, like certain perennials, are available only as a mix. Looking back, we hope your 2017 was memorable in mostly good ways – that your mix was more wonderful than awful, more boon than bane. Looking ahead, we hope and trust that your 2018 will be even better – and that you’ll always remember we’re here to help make it so.
Happy New Year to you and yours, from all of us at Emerald Coast Growers.
|
|
John Friel
Marketing Manager
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
