Success is simple with Profusion

The Profusion line has earned the reputation of being a top performer at all levels of the supply chain, offering disease-resistant, uniform plants in bright, bold colors. Jamie Kitz, Key Account Sales Manager and Profusion enthusiast, delves into why you’ve got to try these zinnias.

Q: What makes the Profusion zinnia series different from other zinnias?
A: What’s so fantastic about the Profusion line is that everybody can be successful. It has benefits for all levels of the distribution channel, from the grower all the way to the landscaper and the consumer. It’s a very dynamic series that works well in a lot of conditions for a lot of situations.

Q: I understand you introduced doubles a few years ago. What attributes does this series have?
A: Very often in horticulture we hear the word “doubles” and we think, “Oh the plant is not as strong” or that it won’t be available in as many colors. What differentiates Profusion Double is that it offers the exact same timing, habit, performance, and uniformity that everybody enjoys with the singles. There was no trialing. We evaluated colors, but growers went ahead and put them into production because they knew it would match the singles that they already knew how to grow.

Q: How many colors are in the series?
A: Right now we have seven double colors available. With the breeding, we’ve gone to very bright, bold colors with that large flower, so you’re getting more color with the doubles. We also have two mixes, and in the singles, we have eight colors with four mixes. There is a smattering of AAS winners throughout the series, which really demonstrates their proven performance.

Q: You mentioned the blooms. What’s the foliage like?
A: The foliage is a nice, deep green color. Another key aspect of Profusion is its disease tolerance, ensuring foliage maintains throughout the season. You get these nice roundy, moundy habits with green, uniform foliage that’s just covered in flowers.

Q: Can you tell me about the benefits for growers?
A: We consider this a really good crop as a quick turn program for growers. Growers can get a lot of crops quickly with Profusion, and compared to some other crops, it’s relatively easy to grow. It’s also a great crop to position for late spring and into summer, and even in summer you can get fall production. There’s also a relatively low cost input, it ships well, and it has a really strong sell-through rate.

Q: What do retailers like about Profusion?
A: It has incredible eye appeal. Retailers love Profusion, and we’re encouraging everybody to put the doubles into larger containers to really show them off. They also like its massive flower power, and its very strong sell-through, as I mentioned before. But mostly, retailers like Profusion because their consumers are successful, so they keep coming back to buy more plants. It’s a very adaptable series, so if a grower is putting it into packs, into 4-inch, into baskets, it’s going to show well at retail in any one of those size containers. You get a lot of versatility out of Profusion.

Q: How does Profusion perform in the landscape?
A: Landscapers talk about the plants they need for up close, high-traffic areas, and then they talk about the plants that are great for 55 mph in the landscape. This gives you color at each place. It is extremely low maintenance for the landscaper. If you dead head it great, if you don’t dead head, it will bury its dead so you get that constant color throughout the season. It’s relatively low feed, so landscapers very much enjoy this series. It’s also good for high heat, high humidity areas. Sometimes we run out of plants that will perform well all season, and Profusion will do that for you.

Q: Our sister publications recently wrote about the drought in California. How well do they hold up in those extremes?
A: I’m glad you brought that up, because the drought in California is becoming a very major issue, and the concern is that people aren’t using flowers at all. This starts affecting all sorts of other things if we pull out all of the pollen. Profusion is great because once it’s established, it does not have very high water requirements. It’s also good because it can take some partial shade or the full sun. It does very well in California conditions, and because it’s a low-maintenance plant, it can extend into those fall markets.

Q: You mentioned pollen – can retailers try to promote this to consumers by mentioning it’s bee friendly?
A: Profusion is ideal for pollinators. It does produce pollen — if you really want that, use the singles. But it would be ideal for bee friendly gardens. You can get some height on it, too, so please don’t pass it by as a cut program in your garden. It does fantastically if you cut some blooms and put them in vases. Bring the garden inside, share it, take a bunch over to your neighbors.

Q: Anything else I didn’t ask that you’d like to mention?
A: We like to say that with Profusion, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Everyone can be successful with it. There are a lot more colors coming down the pipeline, and we are very much going for those larger flowers and brighter colors. Sometimes the zinnia category gets a bad rap because of the disease issues that some other zinnias can have. So that disease tolerance that Profusion has is crucial for anybody who is using a zinnia, whether it be a consumer, landscaper or the grower.