Aug 11, 2014

There’s No Time Like the Present … By Tim Hodson

… to vote for the American Garden Award.

And, there’s no time like the present to let your customers know they can vote for the American Garden Award too.

The American Garden Award provides a unique opportunity for the gardening public and industry professionals like yourself to vote on a specific flower they believe has the most appealing garden characteristics.

Working with public gardens throughout the United States, the finalists are put on display so the plants can be viewed in person and then voted on. For those who cannot make it to the public gardens to view the flowers, they can see and vote for their favorite variety on the American Garden Award website.

Flower breeders from around the world select their best varieties to enter into this competition. The award provides growers and garden center retailers with valuable insight into what types of flowers the gardening public like and what they may be willing to buy and plant in their own gardens. It’s kind of like the People’s Choice Award for flowers.

If you haven’t seen them already, the finalists for this year’s American Garden Award are:

* Celosia ‘Arrabona Red’ from PanAmerican Seed
* Cuphea ‘Sriracha Violet’ from Syngenta Flowers
* Digiplexis ‘Illumination Flame’ from Cultivaris
* Petunia ‘Sanguna Radiant Blue’ from Syngenta Flowers

Last week, I had a chance to see this year’s finalists in the gardens at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Even though I had already voted online, it was nice to see the 2014 crop of finalists in person.