Zeeland, Mich., and Sycamore, Ill. – Last week, Proven Winners and Walters Gardens announced a new strategic partnership to market perennial varieties under the Proven Winners brand name. The goal of this new partnership is to help growers and retailers increase sales and improve profit margins by selling larger quantities of their best perennials.
“We are very excited to be able to join the Proven Winners family,” said John Walters, CEO of Walters Gardens. “Our plant hybridizing program is now in its sixth season and we have extensive breeder contacts within the industry. We recognized the need to bring these superior new perennial varieties to the marketplace through a venue that is consumer driven and uses a value-added approach. Proven Winners distinguishes itself in a competitive marketplace by helping the retailer become a destination for consumers looking for quality and top performing plants for their gardens.”
“Proven Winners has long been impressed with Walters Gardens' strong perennial plant varieties, dedication to breeding, and superior production practices,” said Mark Broxon, executive director of Proven Winners. “The annual and flowering shrub markets have been the strength of the Proven Winners brand. By bringing the leading perennial supplier into the Proven Winners family, consumers will be able to find top quality perennials under a single brand they know and trust, resulting in an even stronger brand for growers and retailers.”
Walters Gardens will bring approximately 30 of its varieties to the existing line of Proven Winners Perennials in 2011 and the program will expand as more new varieties are added each year. The Proven Winners propagator network (EuroAmerican Propagators, Four Star Greenhouse, Pleasant View Gardens in the U.S., and Nordic Nurseries, Dentoom's Greenhouses and Sobkowich Greenhouses in Canada) will also offer many, if not most, of these perennials to their customers.
In addition to offering Proven Winners Perennials, Walters Gardens, Inc. will continue to provide their customers with a broad range of over 1,000 varieties of perennials, ornamental grasses, vines and groundcovers. All plants offered by Walters Gardens will continue to be sold as bare root and plug liners through their existing sales networks.
The partnership between Proven Winners and Walters Gardens officially begins in July 2011 for the 2011-2012 selling season. Proven Winners Perennials varieties offered by Walters Gardens will be introduced at California Spring Trials in March 2011 as well as in each of their 2011-2012 catalogs. The spring 2012 selling season will be supported by extensive marketing efforts by both Proven Winners and Walters Gardens. Wholesale growers and retailers are encouraged to take advantage of this promotion and to have an adequate supply of Proven Winners Perennials available to meet the demand.