Jul 1, 2016
What Are Your Plans for 2017? By Tim Hodson

Even though we are just entering the second half of 2016, it is never too early to start planning for 2017.

Late last month, National Garden Bureau provided growers and retailers with one way to do that by announcing its 2017 “Year of the” crops. Crops you just might want to have on your radar — and in your greenhouse and/or garden center — for 2017.

Each year, NGB’s board of directors selects crops in four different classes that are specifically for the North American market. The crops must be easy to grow and genetically diverse with many new varieties available in the class.

The crops selected for the 2017 “Year of the” program are … can I have a drum roll please? …

For annuals, 2017 is the Year of the Pansy;
For perennials, 2017 is the Year of the Rose;
For bulb crops, 2017 is the Year of the Daffodil; and
For vegetables/edibles, 2017 is the Year of the Brassica.

In November, NGB’s website will have photos of numerous varieties of all four crops (provided by NGB members). NGB also provides PDFs of fact sheets, flyers, handouts, signage and other collateral material.

After November 15, these items can be downloaded free of charge from the NGB website. These tools will help the North American home garden industry promote the crops to consumers and encourage gardening with these specific crop classes. Additional point-of-purchase materials are available to help promote these crops at retail.

NGB also has created a video about brassicas, produced by and starring cook, author and storyteller Jonathan Bardzik. The video is available on YouTube.

So if you are still making some of your 2017 crop decisions, you just might want to take advantage of this program and consider growing (or growing more) daffodils, pansies, brassicas and roses.

And, if you are headed to Cultivate’16 next week in Columbus, Ohio, and would like to learn more about the National Garden Bureau and the “Year of the” program and how you can participate in it, be sure to stop by booth #1527.

What are you planning for 2017?

— Tim