The industry continues to churn out new plants like clockwork, often before the nuances of last year’s new plants are completely understood. Even seasoned growers find themselves daunted by the sheer amount of new varieties.
If a dedicated plantsman has trouble staying on top of all the new genetics, imagine how intimidating it is for consumers. A plant neophyte who enters a garden center for the first time is likely to be overwhelmed by the choices.
We might be suffering from new plant fatigue, but consider where the industry might be without Knock Out roses, Endless Summer hydrangeas, or the countless other smash hit introductions that pumped a shot of vitality into the market.
New genetics are the adrenaline of our industry, says Ed Overdevest, president of Overdevest Nurseries. Reducing consumer choice is not the way forward.
“We see the ever-increasing supply of new varieties as an opportunity – if processed properly,” he says.
Overdevest is part of a collaboration of growers, new plant introducers, and retailers that is trying to solve this problem. The group, called Syn-RG, includes five wholesale nurseries: New Jersey’s Overdevest Nurseries, Connecticut’s Prides Corner Farms, Virginia’s Saunders Brothers, Ohio’s Willoway Nurseries, and Ontario’s Sheridan Nurseries. These growers have one major factor in common: a dedication to the independent garden center.
The group was announced in January at the MANTS trade show. The goal is to provide better choices to the consumer by improving the plant pipeline process. Not every new choice is a better choice. Retailers try to help consumers, but the fear of failure, especially among new gardeners, is a major impediment. And when a plant fails, the consumer feels that fear was justified. By filtering the myriad of new varieties, “rush to market” failures can be avoided.
“By thoroughly trialing in all settings: production, landscape and retail, we expect to narrow the field of selections down to the truly outstanding,” Overdevest says. “That way, retailers, and ultimately consumers, can have confidence in the merit of these introductions.”
Handpicked for You
In 2014, the Syn-RG group commissioned Kip Creel’s Standpoint Marketing to survey consumers about their gardening concerns. What stood out loud and clear among all age groups was a desire for plants to be “tested to succeed in my area” and accessing those “grown specifically for my area.”
Similar to the way “trustmarks” such as the Good Housekeeping seal of approval have provided helpful reassurance to consumers for decades, the wording for a new plant certification program clearly emerged from this research. The group consulted with its collaborators and the “Handpicked for You” trustmark was born. It emphasizes the selective process, while reaching the consumer at the most local, personal level possible: “you.”
More than 1,400 logo designs were submitted, as part of an online crowdsourcing project. The top three were presented to a focus group of IGC owners at MANTS 2016.
This collaboration with IGCs is a vital part of the Syn-RG group’s DNA. The growers involved all understand the value of reinforcing IGCs as trusted plant experts.
“We’re competitors, but we realize how much we can benefit from working together because we are aligned with the same values and marketing strategies of making IGCs successful,” says Mark Sellew, president of Prides Corner Farms. “We want them to be involved in trialing as much as we are as growers, so we can foster a partnership with them, and also know that these plants aren’t going to run off to a box store.”
As the initial stream of new selections gets narrowed down from a production and landscape perspective, IGCs provide valued input on appearance and performance. Those that ultimately get the thumbs up are certified as Handpicked for You and marketed through each participating grower’s regional brand and network of IGC customers.
Handpicked for You is not intended to be another brand. The founding growers believe there are already enough good national brands in the market.
The certification will be added as an overlay to the Syn-RG growers’ own regional brands – by virtue of an additional tag – and marketed only through IGCs. Although new genetics from national brands will be trialed on an early access basis at the grower level for better mutual evaluation purposes, the release of these new plants is not currently authorized to be part of the Handpicked for You certification, distribution and marketing process.
Read more about the trialing process and plant pipeline for Handpicked for You in our September issue.