Think Spring, Bedding plants ordered

Well, if some of you are like me, we sit in our homes during the winter and gaze at many flower magazines, seed catalogues or the internet in search of great plants. Of course, a pretty significant amount of time is spent in the office evaluating our bedding plants for the upcoming season. There are so many plants available to place in our beds that I begin to get a bit of brain freeze trying to determine what we might want to do this season. There are some plants which perform very consistently year in and year out which we continue to order. This season, about 50% of our plants are either different species or are a different color than last season. I've just sent off our order to Hummert International who brokers our order, locates the growers who can get the material we requested at the dates we would like it delivered. Hopefully, all of the plants we requested will be available. The plant material is grown from seed and or cuttings which take root and then are grown in cell packs for shipping. These plants can take from 4 weeks to 10 weeks before they have grown enough for shipping.


Growers will make a certain number of plants a year based on past projections or estimates for the upcoming season. They grow plants based on when they would need to be sent to areas of the country so the finish growers like us have enough time to get them ready for the season. In our case, we are not as rushed to get our material grown because we do not begin to place it in the ground until after the first of May. As you are aware, garden centers in the St. Louis area begin to set there material out in early to mid-April. We plan to bring our material in between March 17th and the April 1st which will allow us to get our more than 5700 plants potted and in the greenhouse. Our material will be grown this season at a more consistent temperature which will keep it more healthy and should grow at a more consistent rate. We will be growing our plants in slightly larger pots and will be doing more pinching of the plant material which forces it to brach to the side and makes the plant bushier.


Below are just a few of the different plants we are bringing in this season.


Americana Geranium

Hurrah Red Petunias
White Plumed Pampas Grass

Burgundy Giant Coleus