"We are one of the earliest Trial Garden Open House Events after CAST (California Spring Trials). This is the first and only opportunity for a lot of people to see all of the new varieties in ground in a garden setting," says Beverly Ogburn, Marketing Manager at Young's Plant Farm. Young's is a family company that produces annuals and perennials in Auburn, Alabama, USA. This year they hosted their 12th Trial Garden Open House. Beverly and Penny Merritt-Price, Product Development Manager, tell us how they experienced this event. Additionally, they give us some insight in the latest Southern garden trends. And they give us an idea of what they've in mind for next year's edition.
Trial Garden Open House Day
Sixty-three years of family business
Young's Plant Farm was established in 1961 by Gene Young. Today the company covers 56 acres of greenhouse production, and over 40 acres of outside growing. The company owns three locations: two in Auburn, and one in Andrews, North-Carolina. Currently, the company is run by the second and third generation. Throughout the years, the main focus has been growing annuals. Since recently, Young's is also engaged in the perennial business. Despite all those developments and changes, Beverly and Penny state that one thing has not changed: "Just like when we started, family values and strong work ethic are still the heart of our business."
The Trial Garden Open House concept
In 2012, the company constructed their trial garden and started hosting the Trial Garden Open House. "We started the open house to showcase our garden, and give industry people the opportunity to see the next season's new varieties in a deep south garden setting. There are so many new varieties coming onto the market every year, we want to trial them in order to make informed decisions for our production. It also allows us to network, and to invite people to our facility," Penny says.
This year the following breeders participated in the event: American Takii, Ball FloraPlant, Beekenkamp, Benary, Cerny Seed, Classic Caladiums, Danziger, Dummen Orange, Green Fuse, Hem Genetics, HilverdaFlorist, Kientzler, Lazzeri, PanAmerican Seed, Plant Haven, Proven Winners, Royal Van Zanten, Sakata, Selecta, Suntory, Syngenta, Westflowers.
This year's highlight
According to Penny, this year's edition stood out for the weather and the number of visitors: "It's mostly a regional event, but there are some international attendees as well. When it comes to the number of attendees, this year was a record year, 230 people attended. Last year, we had about 170 -180 attendees. We have been steadily growing every year. For a long time we had the same numbers of approximately 120 attendees. After 2020, the growth increased due to more advertising, and this year Metrolina Greenhouses created a website to showcase The Southern Garden Tour, which we are both a part of. Aside from that, we think that word of mouth played an important role.
Yet, this year, the highlight really was the weather. Since not all people are used to the heat and humidity of the South-East. It was great that the weather was in our favor due to a cloud cover and lower temperatures. This allowed people to linger in the garden and to stay longer. However, we don't consider to have it at another time of the year because the garden is at its peak then. It's perfect then, it was just an extra blessing this year."
One of the varieties that attracted much attention this year was the 'Double Sunfinity Sunflower' from Syngenta: "It really was a show-stopper. So far, it is doing really well in the heat and humidity. We also are trialing a record-number of different combinations from breeders this year. There are quite a few plants that are heat tolerant, but being humidity and heat tolerant is really something else."
Sunfinity Double Yellow Sunflower (Syngenta)
Southern-garden trends
Being active in the South-East, both ladies can share of the latest Southern-garden trends: "One trend that we see is 'Gardening for the greater good', which puts the environment first. As a result of this we see southern gardeners choosing water-wise plants like grasses and succulents. In addition, we see the creation of "Meadow lawns" that are unfussy and whimsical using wildflowers and native plants that feel very natural and low maintenance. Moreover, planting for native pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths is continuing to be a garden trend.
Succulents
Further, indoor houseplants are still a big trend, but we're starting to see outdoor areas feel more like Indoor spaces too. So whether homeowners have a large yard or a tiny terrace -people are capitalizing on their space and Container Gardening is a big part of that. One trend that our southern landscapers are hearing from all of their clients is 'what can we do to automate?' So gardening technologies like watering systems that pair with an app is one trend that we're seeing. "
Some of these trends were also clearly visible during this year's Trial Garden Open House, Beverly says: "Penny always includes trend opportunities in the landscape beds in the trial garden. She got some really good pollinators combos in there this year. And she included some water-wise items like succulent, and there's even a couple of nods to the Pantone Color of the Year trend (Peach Fuzz) in the landscape beds this year."
The prospect of 'tradeshow-style vignettes'
Although the dust has not yet settled on this year's edition, Penny and Beverly are already preparing for next year: "We put a lot of work in it, we start our planning in the fall. We try to do differently every year, as we want to keep it exciting. Next year, I would love to be able to incorporate some 'tradeshow-style vignettes' so our industry sponsors could highlight some of the exciting things they might be working on for the future. I think that would add another whole level of value for our trial garden guests," Beverly concludes.
For more information:
Young's Plant Farm
[email protected]
www.youngsplantfarm.com