“APRIL, COME SHE WILL” – Paul Simon
And April, come she has. No fooling! Spring has long since gone Boing! at our Florida HQ, while in PA she’s still kinda crouched down and coiled up, like a fern frond slowly unfurling. But even up north, the season of galloping growth, flourishing flowers and riotous retail is poised to fall on us like a ton of bricks – gold bricks!
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Bigger and better is the simplest way to describe the additions and improvements at our Milton farm. Our Floridians have revamped the business model, so all shipping now originates directly from where the majority of our product is grown. Less handling, loading/unloading and trucking = better quality of the product that emerges from our boxes, pallets and cages at your dock. |
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It's hard to choose among all the terrific-looking plants there now, but among the terrific-est is the Carex EverColor® series. Check out all the multitasking varieties!
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Our resident snowbird and swag model Al Mueller probably wishes he’d stayed south a bit longer: He arrived in PA just in time for consecutive nights in the 20s. March went out like a vengeful, antisocial lion. There’s a descriptive portmanteau for it: “Marchuary.” We’d prefer Maypril. Hope y’all got your seedlings covered in time.
In the greenhouses, we’re loving the Achillea Sassy Summer series, a newcomer to our current catalog. Silvery foliage, sturdy stems and nifty colors make them a strong candidate for border or vase.
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About the Rock Star Award
Our Rock Star award honors ECG employees who demonstrate a sustained high level of performance and inspire others.
Rockin’ the hardware this month is our latest winner, Clayton Kidwell.
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Clayton joined ECG in 2018 and is now an Assistant Grower on the plant care crew at our Pensacola location. He’s also cross-training in another important discipline, seed-sowing and germination. Here’s what his peers and managers had to say in nominating him.
“My rockstar vote this month is for Clayton Kidwell. That is one hard working grower!”
“I nominate Clayton Kidwell for extra effort on plant care coverage and weekend work. More recently, Clayton has shown an interest in running the seed machine as a backup. He’s been successful in learning that new skill.”
“Clayton gets my vote. You’ll find him at the nursery nearly every weekend getting after plant care and checking on the houses.”
“Clayton is a huge part of our plant care crew. Someone who’s always ready to do what needs done and do it with a smile. You can really rely on him when it counts.”
Congratulations and kudos, Clayton Kidwell! Thank you for your hard work and dedicated service, day in and day out. You rock!
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They’re finally here! Making their debut this month on our Availability are a couple of nifty additions to your selection. Be the first on your block to offer:
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PPAF
A newcomer to our SmileyZ® lineup! R. hirta is a tender perennial best grown as an annual. Unlike seed-propagated types that may finish sporadically, SmileyZ® can be predictably cropped to hit specific market windows. Height 15 – 18”.
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PP30039
This Michigan-bred cutie forms neatly rounded, uniform, compact mounds. Glossy dark green foliage all but disappears in summer under sunshine-yellow flowers. Height: just 6 – 8”. Hardy in Zones 3 – 9.
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Winners!
Door Number 4 concealed the falsehood in our March stumper: National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day is actually March 1, not the 21st, which is just World Poetry Day. If the two really did coincide, would we have more poems about peanut butter? Probably not.
March winners:
Nancy Parr, Green Leaf Plants
Kathy Bondar, Kathy’s 2nd Chance Plants
Jen Mackan, Millcreek Plants
Thanks for playing! Tune in again next month for another diabolical dilemma from Anna Graham, our devious diva of delicious digressions. She’ll drive you nuts, but she’s got swell swag. Gitcha some!
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Be There or Be Square: ECG on Display! |
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The highlight of the Perennial Plant Association’s 2022 National Symposium will be a visit to our PA range on Wednesday, August 3. Attendees will ogle our trial gardens and, um, vintage greenhouses, then reluctantly tear themselves away to go to something called “Longwood Gardens” for tours and dinner.
Join us! Visit perennialplant.org for more info and registration details.
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ECG's Lancaster, PA Trial Gardens |
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What’s so low about Nepeta ×faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’? Nothing!
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“Low” doesn’t describe the height of this lovely, fragrant perennial. It stands 2½ – 3’, which makes it a good fit mid-border, or even back-of-the-border in smaller settings. It brings a cheerful, informal look to plantings of any size.
Rather, the name honors the owner of the Irish garden where ‘Walker’s Low’ originated – where its soft mounds of gray-green foliage and loose spikes of lavender-blue flowers, from late spring well into summer, were first appreciated. ‘Walker’s Low’ was introduced to the trade in Europe in 1988. It soon crossed the ocean and became a hit in America. Hummingbirds, butterflies and various pollinators love it but – Bonus! Deer don’t!
In 2007 the Perennial Plant Association honored it as the Perennial Plant of the Year, which tells you it’s a solid performer across a wide range of terrains and climates. It’s also scored high in trials at the University of Georgia, so you know it can take the heat. It’s hardy from Zone 3 to 9. And unlike some in the genus, it won’t split and sprawl.
Don’t walk, run! To our website, where you can order Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ and much, much more. We work hard to be your easy choice!
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Nepeta ×faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’
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Poetic as Paul Simon’s lyrics often were, the song sampled above has a clunker or two. I mean... “The autumn winds blow chilly and cold?” C’mon. But Art Garfunkel’s angelic voice could make a Chinese restaurant menu sing. Too bad he wasn’t around to croon “Mother and Child Reunion,” whose title actually came from a Chinese menu. Paul and Art crafted haunting harmony onstage, but couldn’t breathe the same air in real life. A shame.
Here’s hoping your harmonies and synergies hang in there for the long haul. Everything works better when we work as one. Consider us your propagation partner, and we’ll make beautiful music – and plants – together.
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John Friel
Marketing Manager
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