Satisfying Customer Demand in 2022

Jennifer Polanz

We find ourselves in a similar boat as last fall, with very few in-person events and mostly virtual ways to find new products. We tried our best to reach out to manufacturers, growers and breeders to find new ways to keep customers enthralled with their gardens (indoors and out) for 2022. Here’s what we found.

Altman Plants
True Sincerity from the True Bloom Roses lineup is a flowering machine of multicolored blooms that produce throughout the season. Ping Lim is the director of ornamental plant research at Altman Plants and the lead breeder behind the True Bloom Roses, which are bred to thrive in all climates and exhibit excellent disease resistance. True Sincerity, a shrub-type floribunda, has a mild fragrance, is hardy to Zone 5 and displays a healthy and compact 3-ft. by 3-ft. form. It doesn’t require fungicide treatment. AltmanPlants.com

Bennett Plants
A wholesale succulent grower in Alabama, Bennett Plants is introducing the LITEStone Arrangements Cactus Dish Garden for 2022. Suitable for a variety of light conditions, the gardens make a great tabletop showpiece. Each dish garden features high-quality cacti planted in a handmade LITEStone Pottery pot. The pots are a proprietary blend of concrete and natural ingredients and made in such a way that no two pots look alike. Made by Bennett Plants employees in the U.S. and available in three sizes. BennettPlants.com

Bloomin’ Easy
Kimono Hydrangea macrophylla isn’t just a new introduction, it’s also a Best In Show winner via the People’s Choice pick at this year’s Farwest Show in Oregon. It’s a compact, reblooming hydrangea with dark foliage highlighting delicate white and pink inside wine-red margins for blooms. Kimono is available exclusively through the Bloomin’ Easy plant brand. BloominEasyPlants.com

Border Concepts
Border Concepts has several new introductions for 2022 in its pottery assortments, including several in the popular smaller size indoor pottery category. One new intro is the wildflower planter assortment with attached saucer. These pots come in 6-in. or 8-in. options in white (pictured), grey, yellow and blue. Another new intro in these sizes is the Pompeii planter with saucer attached, and that style comes in Lagoon (pictured), Latte, Turkish Blue and Arctic. Check out the catalog for the full assortment of products. BorderConcepts.com

Centerton Nursery
This nursery just released a new line of plants meant to be eaten, but not by humans: by caterpillars! They call the line Caterpillar Candy and it consists of 14 different plants servicing 10 different caterpillars. The line made its debut at Cultivate’21 this year, and for the first time, Centerton’s tags don’t feature a plant, but a caterpillar. The program is designed to be sold during late summer to coincide with the most active time in their shipping area—the East Coast to Midwest. CentertonNursery.com

Dramm Corporation
Our friends at Dramm continue to introduce new products for retail with its Tripod Impulse Sprinkler. The overhead watering design simulates natural rain and evenly distributes a gentle, soaking shower. It has a brass sprinkler head for adjustable partial and full-circle patterns, and distributes up to 5 ft. in height and 70 ft. in diameter. Its retractable stake base secures it in place. Dramm.com

Farmer’s Defense
This is one of those products you could sell or you could buy for your employees: protective sleeves, which are moisture-wicking and lightweight to protect gardeners (and garden center employees) from the elements. They’re available in a variety of colorful, artistic designs and they can be customized with a company’s logo. This was a Garden Center Group Retailer’s Choice Award Winner at Farwest Show. FarmersDefense.com

FloraLife
Retailers offering cut flowers and bouquets have two new products available to them from FloraLife, a division of Smithers-Oasis Company. The first is recyclable paper packaging for its FloraLife Crystal Clear and FloraLife Express Universal 300 flower food packets. It’s biobased and certified to come from renewable resources. The second is the FloraLife Bouquet Wrap designed to prevent wilting of cut flowers and bouquets during shipping and transport. The wrap is highly absorbent and hydrates the flowers for at least two days during shipping. Available in kits of 10 wraps or a bulk box of 20 kits containing 200 wraps. FloraLife.com

Nature’s Way Bird Products
Feel good about feeding the hummingbirds while supporting the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation with the new Hummingbird Lemonade Stand feeder. Nature’s Way will donate a portion of the proceeds to the foundation, a pediatric cancer non-profit. The feeder features bright lemonade-inspired patterns and colors, as well as a built-in continuous perching ring, lifelike flower feeding ports and the all-important ant moat cap. All parts are removable for complete cleaning. NaturesWayBirds.com

SeaCoast Compost
With its ingredients of composted fish carcasses, crab and shrimp shells, cow manure and red alder, SeaCoast Compost’s line of Biodynamic compost and potting soils provide a nutrient-dense option for consumers. The products are slow-aged for two years and right now include a bagged compost, bagged potting soil and SeaCoast Tea, which is a liquid extract to nourish soil and plants. This line was a Garden Center Group Retailer’s Choice Award Winner at Farwest Show. RedefiningCompost.com

Southern Living Plant Collection
This brand has three new consumer releases for 2022. Summertime Blues Vitex (pictured) can be grown as a shrub or small tree as it matures to 5-ft. to 6-ft. tall by 4-ft. to 5-ft. wide. Hardy to Zones 5a to 10b, this easy-care plant can be used as a privacy screen, hedge or border. It grows best in full sun and has low watering needs.

The Cape Town Tecomaria series is an improved cape honeysuckle that offers profuse flowers in orange, pink, red or yellow and has a bushy, compact habit. A great food source for pollinators, these work as accents, in borders, containers or even as cut flowers. These reach 4-ft. to 5-ft. high by 3-ft. wide and are hardy to Zones 9a to 11b.

Golden Oakland Holly produces distinctive oak-shaped leaves and golden variegated foliage. It thrives in full sun to part shade and reaches heights of 15-ft. to 20-ft. high by 12-ft. to 15-ft. wide, so make sure it has lots of room. This evergreen holly has a dense branching habit and upright shape, requiring little pruning. Hardy to Zones 6a to 9b. PlantDevelopment.com GP