In This Issue
Bournville Wyevale goes to British Garden Centres, Blooms Swindon goes back to landlord
The Wyevale "Sale of the Century" - where are we now - UPDATED
Looking forward to a 'green' Glee
Praise for Corby and Fellas EPOS system
Did you know we sell Duracell Batteries?
GCA members encouraged to do their bit to reduce plastic waste
New Gardman Crest re-vamp not just cosmetic
Goulds at Weymouth to double size of restaurant
Year of the Rudbeckia and Cucumber Launched for Mr Fothergill's by Sally van der Horst of Fleuroselect
Wallace & Gromit Potty Feet to launch at Glee in licensing deal
The Industry Votes for its Favourite 2020 Plant Variety
Brian's Lifetime in Horticulture is Just What the Doctor Ordered
Haskins Garden Centre in Ferndown marks 25 years since opening with celebratory staff BBQ
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Burgon & Ball appoints a UK Managing Director
Garden enjoyment drives sales
Veolia calls for total ban on peat
Preparing for growing
Summer bird feeding drives sales volumes
Charlotte is Christmas No 1
Johnsons brings a taste of Chile to Yorkshire
No need to fill the gaps
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
The best of last week's
Hillier buys John Browns Garden Centre from Wyevale
Thieves use recovery truck in broad daylight car theft at garden centre
August serves up a treat for garden centre sales
From railway arch to houseplant paradise...
Re-branding gets under way at Podington
Heathlands at Wokingham makes it sweet 16 for Squire's
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Garden Centre Photo Tour - RHS Wisley New Plant Centre
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news. 

Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700






The Industry Votes for its Favourite 2020 Plant Variety
 

The Ball Colegrave Annual Summer Showcase is one of the UK’s premier trade events. With over four acres of seasonal plant displays and variety trials, set in the heart of the Oxfordshire countryside, this event attracts an audience of over 3,500 Growers, Independent and Multiple Retailers, Parks and Landscapers, Garden Writers, Plant Breeders, Trades Associations, Students and Home Gardeners.

 

Trade Visitors and Home Gardeners alike, voted for their favourite variety using a blue marker flag. With over 1300 catalogue varieties, 200 new varieties and 700 experimental products on display, there was certainly plenty to choose from!

 

This year, not only saw visitors favouring “New” varieties with their choice in voting, but also many more Perennial varieties appeared in the top choices.

 

Here are this year’s top varieties voted for by our visitors:

 

NEW Petunia ‘GlacierSky (P)

 

This most unique, stand-out flower ‘wows’ gardeners with its constellation of stars edged with an ‘ice’ effect margin… a great new twist on a garden favourite!

 

GlacierSky is a Petunia sensation with its striking and unique colour patterning.

 

At the 2019 Summer Showcase at Ball Colegrave, GlacierSky stole the show with its captivating colouring and strong performance in pots, baskets and containers.

 

This was reinforced by the 3,500 Trade and Consumer visitors to the 2019 Summer Showcase who both voted GlacierSky as their favourite variety!

 

GlacierSky has large violet flowers with a distinct ‘ice effect’ edging, decorated by white speckles. The uniqueness of the variety is also revealed in the high weather resistance, semi-trailing and strong branching habit, which in combination with a stable colour pattern and a great shelf life makes this a real ‘standout’ variety. 

 

GlacierSky is a ‘must have’ plant variety for impulse colour sales at Retail in 10.5-13cm pots and ready planted baskets.

 

In the garden, GlacierSky loves a sunny location on the patios or balcony in containers, baskets and window boxes.

Available to the trade as a Ball 84 plug tray with colour labels, weeks 8 – 20. For the home gardener, we look forward to seeing this variety in many Garden Centres and Plant Retailers across the UK in 2020. 

 

NEW Lavandula angustifolia ‘Blue Spear’

 

The showiest English Lavender you can grow and sell!  

Lavandula Blue Spear shows off bigger, taller spikes than any other seed Lavender, with more upright flower stems that stand closer to each other for an intense bluish-purple colour impact, even from a distance.

 

The well-branched, bushy plants are easy to grow. Their very tidy shape, early flowering and uniformity make them ideal for pot tight production in 10.5cm pots upto 1 or 2 litre pots and provide strong colour at point of sale.

 

Being a seed and first year flowering variety, crops of Blue Spear are particularly economical to produce and can be started in the Spring without the necessity of overwintering or heavy fungicidal programmes.

 

Seed can be advantageous over vegetative varieties in reducing the risk of importing diseases such as Xyllela from overseas production sites.

 

Blue Spear is particularly ideal for patio containers, garden beds, rock gardens, cut flowers, dried flowers, is highly attractive to pollinating insects and of course carries that special ‘feel-good’ Lavender fragrance.

This hardy variety (USDA 6a – 8b) is ideal for a full sun location, providing lasting pleasure and scent over a very long season. Garden height; 28 - 33cm and spread; 23 - 28cm.

Available to the trade as a Ball 40 plug tray weeks 15, 18 and 24, plus a Ball 104 tray weeks 10-18, all supplied with colour labels. For the home gardener, we look forward to seeing this variety in many Garden Centres and Plant Retailers across the UK in 2020. 

 

NEW Geranium ‘Macarda® Pink with Purple Eye (P) 

 

An outstanding performer for window boxes, containers and baskets!

 

Pink with Purple Eye is just one of the outstanding colours in the Macarda® interspecific Geranium series. It is understandable why this particular colour was chosen as this has been a real consumer favourite colour in zonal varieties.

 

But, the Macarda® series delivers a new twist to the market. Not only does this variety provide a strong and early proliferation of single flowers in rich colours, but its habit is to die for! The plants are strong, yet controlled in their neat semi-trailing and mounding form to provide a powerful display of colour in baskets, window boxes or patio containers. The full-looking and tight shape of the ‘ivy-leaf’ foliage contrasts exceptionally well against the multiple flower heads to provide an oustanding plant presentation.

 

In the garden, Macarda® has high weather resistance and is self cleaning, so it needs little dead-heading to stay looking good. The foliage remains clean and tidy. Height & spread 35-40cm.

 

At retail, Macarda® fills 11 – 17cm pots with great ease and stays neat looking for longer with its strong flower retention and clean mounded foliage. We think it looks best in 13cm (1 litre) upto 17cm (2 litre) pots. There are 6 colours in the range; Dark Red, Magenta, Orange, Pink, Pink with Purple Eye and White.

 

Available to the trade in a Paper 104 plug tray with colour labels, weeks 6 and 8-16. For the home gardener, we look forward to seeing this variety in many Garden Centres and Plant Retailers across the UK in 2020.

 

The 2019 Summer Showcase ‘Blue Flag’ results: Your Favourite Varieties

 

Position

 

Results – Combined (Trade and Home Gardeners)

1

NEW

Petunia GlacierSky (P)

2

NEW

Lavandula Blue Spear

3

NEW

Geranium Marcada® Pink with Purple Eye (P)

4

NEW

Coleus Flame Thrower Salsa Roja (P)

5

NEW

Osteospermum Compact FlowerPower Purple Sun (P)

6

NEW

Heuchera Black Pearl (P)

7

 

Petunia Black Velvet (P)

8

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® Cinnamon (P)

= 9

 

Alstroemeria Summer Paradise Indian Summer® (P)

= 9

 

Petunia NightSky® (P)

= 9

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® Caramel Yellow (P)

= 9

 

Verbena Santos Purple

= 13

 

Delphinium F1 Aurora Blue

= 13

NEW

Geranium Marcada® Dark Red (P)

= 13

NEW

Lobelia Infinity Blue

16

 

Alstroemeria Inticancha® Passion (P)

17

NEW

Heuchera Lemon Love (P)

= 18

 

Nemesia Purple Experimental (Possible Future Intro)

= 18

NEW

Petunia LavenderSky (P)

= 18

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® French Vanilla (P)

 

Position

 

Results - Trade

1

NEW

Petunia GlacierSky (P)

2

NEW

Lavandula Blue Spear

3

NEW

Coleus Flame Thrower Salsa Roja (P)

4

NEW

Geranium Marcada® Pink with Purple Eye (P)

5

NEW

Osteospermum Compact FlowerPower Purple Sun (P)

6

NEW

Heuchera Black Pearl (P)

7

NEW

Geranium Marcada® Dark Red (P)

= 8

 

Nemesia Purple Experimental (Possible Future Intro)

= 8

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® Caramel Yellow (P)

10

NEW

Lobelia Infinity Blue

11

NEW

Geranium Marcada® Magenta (P)

= 12

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® Cinnamon (P)

= 12

NEW

Salvia Amethyst Lips (P)

= 14

NEW

Heuchera Lemon Love (P)

= 14

 

Petunia LightningSky (P)

= 14

 

Verbena Santos Purple

= 17

NEW

Euphorbia Glamour

= 17

NEW

Geranium Summer Twist Red White (P)

= 17

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® French Vanilla (P)

= 17

NEW

Vinca Tattoo Papaya

 

 

Position

 

Results – Home Gardeners

1

NEW

Petunia GlacierSky (P)

2

 

Petunia Black Velvet (P)

3

NEW

Lavandula Blue Spear

4

 

Nicotiana Whisper Mixed

5

 

Petunia NightSky® (P)

6

 

Begonia F1 Majestic® White Pink Picotee

= 7

 

Alstroemeria Summer Paradise Indian Summer® (P)

= 7

 

Alstroemeria Inticancha® Passion (P)

= 7

 

Celosia Kimono Mixed

= 7

 

Delphinium F1 Aurora Blue

= 11

 

Calla Lily Festival

= 11

NEW

Geranium Marcada® Pink with Purple Eye (P)

= 11

 

Verbena Santos Purple

= 14

NEW

Osteospermum F1 Akila® Sunset Shades

= 14

NEW

Petchoa BeautiCal® Cinnamon (P)

= 14

 

Petunia F1 Easy Wave® Burgundy Star

= 14

NEW

Petunia LavenderSky (P)

= 18

 

Dahlia Experimental 1495

= 18

 

Dahlia Experimental 3219

= 18

 

Petunia Amore™ Queen of Hearts (P)

 

What is the Blue Flag survey?

The ‘Blue Flag’ survey is a measurable study that identifies sales opportunities right through the supply chain, enabling Ball Colegrave customers to determine what varieties are “favourites” as visitors place a blue flag beside their favourite plant. Over 2,000 blue flags were placed this year during trade and public days which are counted daily and totalled at the end of 3 weeks. 

 

Other Facts about our Trial Grounds

Ball Colegrave has been conducting plant variety trials and customer open days from their Trial Grounds in West Adderbury for 55 years. Today’s Trial Grounds not only presents the companies assortment of catalogue varieties in a rich display of settings and retail ideas, but also comprehensively evaluates hundreds of new future lines before introduction. This ensures that when a product is introduced in the Ball Colegrave catalogues, our staff and visitors have seen it and know it performs under UK growing conditions! 

Over 25,000 Annual and Perennial plants are bedded out in the trial and display beds with in excess of 5,000 pot plants and 2,000 patio baskets/containers are planted up for the event.

Traditionally the Trial Grounds were attended by Parks and Nurserymen. Today they are joined by an ever increasing number of Garden Centres looking for new plant and retail ideas.  

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg | Comment (0)
Comment
Name:*

Email Address:*

Comment:*