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Looks like kids gardening is going to be bigger than ever in 2012, by the looks of all the yowza grow kits marketed to them on the shelves.

Seems the gardening industry has caught wind of the fact that those Gen X and Y consumers they've been trying to reach have kids, and that a good chunk of any disposable income Mommy and Daddy have for gardening is probably going to go toward something they can do with their children. Same goes for the Baby Boomers and their grandkids.

And I don't think it'll just stop at grow kits. After all, Netherlands-based flower auction company FloraHolland just announced the release of its Hello Kitty line of plants, aimed at girls and young women. Now that's marketing MEOW!

Hello Kitty plants

Obviously, the industry also knows that kids will go for anything with a character on it – from breakfast cereal to bandages to toothbrushes and toilet seats.  Hence the Growums garden kits (tagline: "Add a little character to your garden!") retailing for $39.98 at my neighborhood Home Depot. The 50-plus characters - with names like Adam Apple, Duke the Cuke and Elvis Parsley are part of six themed edible gardening kits (pizza, taco, herb, salad, ratatouille and stirfy).

Growums ($39.98 at Home Depot)

And of course, there's an online component at Growums.com, where you can learn about the characters and their gardens, play games, use Growums for fundraisers, follow Growums on Twitter and Facebook and even "track your Growems" (I don't know what this means, since I didn't buy one and you have to enter the UPC code from the kit to find out). I think it's smart marketing - and as the mom of a 4-year-old, I'll know to steer clear of it in Home Depot if she's with me and I don't want to spend the extra cash. Kudos to Bonnie Plants for really thinkin' this one through!

$39.98 a little much for ya? How 'bout the $2.99 "Eco Plant Pals" (also available at Amazon.com). I found as part of a mondo kids' grow kit display in my Wegmans supermarket. These kits, too, feature their own cartoon characters, like Strawberry Sarah, Aloe Alin and Basil Bob:

Eco Plant Pals ($2.99 at Wegmans)

Princess Garden ($14.99 at Wegmans)

Carnivorous Creations ($24.99 at Wegmans)

Looks like "fairy gardening"– that gardening trend in which tiny plants are grown as part of a miniature scene fit for a fairy - has really taken off. I know I saw a lot of fairy gardening stuff on display, at least, at the 2011 Garden Writers Association symposium this past summer in Indianapolis: 

Fairy Triad grow kit ($24.99 at Wegmans)

But the most exciting thing for me personally, as an incurable plant nerd, were all the kits offering the opportunity to grow exotic edibles (well, exotic in my western NY Zone 6ish garden, that is).  baThere were kits for bananas, peanuts, coffee and even pomegranate trees. And as the kid who always wanted to sprout an avocado pit on the windowsill to make my own tree, I'm willing to slap down the $4 or $10 to see if it actually works.

. P

Pomegranate grow kit ($4 at Wegmans)

Sometimes life calls for a little attitude. And you’ll definitely find it in “Tangerine Tango” – Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year. This “spirited reddish-orange,” just dubbed the new “it” hue by global color authority Pantone, is sure to burn up any of the fog left over from a gloomy economy and – as Pantone says – “provide the energy boost we need to recharge and move forward.”

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

So where can we find this color for our gardens? And how do we use it in the landscape to its fullest? Here are just a few ideas:

Tangerine Tango - Pantone's 2012 Color of the Year

“The reddish-orange blooms of this dark-foliaged canna certainly match Pantone’s “Tangerine Tango,” says Anthony Tesselaar, cofounder and president of Tesselaar Plants, developer of the colorfully foliaged Tropicanna cannas. “What’s more, the backdrop of black, broad leaves makes this color pop even more.”

Tropicanna Black canna bloom

Tesselaar suggests using this color in containers with subtle echoes of the same color: “Not too much with this fiery hue,” he says. “A little goes a long way.”

For example, Tesselaar suggests a hot-hued “thriller-filler-spiller combo,” with Tropicanna Black as the thriller, ornamental peppers as the filler and thread-leaved croton as the spiller:

On her North Coast Gardening blog, California garden designer Genevieve Schmidt suggests a more analogous color grouping: Tropicanna Black  (above) with other outrageous reds like Helianthemum (sunrose) ‘Henfield Brilliant’ and Clianthus puniceus ‘Red’:

Helianthemum 'Henfield Brilliant'

Clianthus punicea 'Red'

Another good plant featuring this fiery orange-red color is Bonfire begonias:

Just one will wake up a whole garden bed:

The orange in this red also makes it pop against a bright blue pot (since orange and blue are opposites on the color wheel):

So, what other plants bring this Pantone color  into the garden? Post a comment and let me know! I'd love to hear about some other color combos starring Tangerine Tango!

In my previous post on Top Garden Trends for 2012, I mentioned how larger ponds are giving way to smaller water features (like this recirculating fountain featuring a hollowed-out boulder, designed by Sharon Coates and Bruce Zaretsky of Zaretsky and Associates design-build firm in Rochester, NY):

Sharon and Bruce also sent me other great images of the latest water features too - as did California garden designer and North Coast Gardening blogger Genevieve Schmidt. I fell so in love with all of them that I decided they needed a post of their own:

Water fountain globe (submitted by Genevieve Schmidt)

Scupper (designed by Zaretsky and Associates)

Rain chain with boulder base (designed by Zaretsky and Associates)

Well, 2011 was another good gardening year … that is … that is, despite apocalyptic storms, wild fires and a dragging and soggy spring.

Here's the dirt from our regional garden bloggers:

 Linn Schlinger (central Virginia)

Here in Virginia we have certainly had a time of it, with swamp fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and then torrential rains with flooding. Many here in the south were beginning to think Mother Nature was mad at us. Our son just got back from Afghanistan for all of this. What a leave time he had. Our property, plants and trees all had a very different look to them after all of these conditions being thrust upon them.

Hurricane Irene damage

One of my Fairy magnolias is still missing, but we found one uprooted and in a stream at the back of our property. The one survived and looks as if nothing  had gone on around it at all. Two lilac trees were uprooted as well as two lilac bushes. Sad, the way they looked.

So what do you do? You just move forward, and that is exactly what we did. The cleanup started and continued for weeks. It got to the point where it was discouraging to see all the damage to so many beautiful, wonderful plants. Then, one morning I went out into the back yard and my heart sang with joy. One black canna and my demolished clematis had little blooms on them. A couple of days later, they opened up and bloomed profusely for us. What a joy! 

Tropicanna Black cannas

Clematis

We are crossing our fingers that many of our other plants will rebound as successfully as these have.  I have attached a couple pictures for you to enjoy. Yup, they are small but I just try to imagine what I would look like if I had been hanging out in the open with Hurricane Irene. Look forward to hearing from you all on the blog next season.

Becky Dziarnowski (Ignacio, Colorado)

The hummingbirds have gone, so winter is just around the corner here. This has been the most eventful spring and summer we can remember in a very long time. All in all, our corner in Southwest Colorado fared better than most, even with a few wild fire scares. My garden became bountiful and remains so today, I seem to harvest a bushel full of produce every evening.  Then the next challenge is what to do with it all!  I never imagined that the garden would do so well after the poor Spring and unseasonal early Summer.  So, for now, it seems that the weather is back on track - let us all hope so!
 
Spring was very disappointing for me, as the early bulbs, and especially my favorites - the daffodils - bloomed for only a few days instead of the week or so that I usually see. Everything seemed to be growing in slow-motion; finally the daffodils bloomed, but each bloom only lasted a few days. I never got the mounds of color I'm used to seeing. Usually the daffodils bloom, (no tulips, as the deer and turkeys love them). Then, while the daffodils are ending their show, the irises and alliums hold the show until the peonies and hostas start to fill in. Next come the roses, Shasta daisies and every other summer bloomer for a wonderful continuum of color all summer long. This year, very few of the fruit trees blossomed and those that did quickly had their blossoms frozen. The summer didn't look like it was going to be favorable, either.
 
Then, to my surprise, partway through summer everything started to pick up and the show began. My Flower Carpet roses were beautiful and are still blooming:

The vegetable garden exploded and I had sunflowers up to 12 feet high:

Now, I savor each day walking through the gardens, welcoming each new bloom. The twilight walk is still my favorite time of day and I'm fully expecting it to last another two weeks before frost comes for a visit. So enjoy each and every bright blossom looking up at you and remember that no matter what was destroyed, Mother Nature also provides us with the hope of renewal each year. So, enjoy it as much as you can.  
  

Shirley Gardner (Boise, Idaho)

Whoa! The summer streaked by so fast I still don’t have some of the spring tasks done. Oh, well … there’s always next year. I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that I had 19 tomato plants and boy! Did we ever have tomatoes – enough to can! Between my daughter and us, we had almost 4 dozen quarts – enough supply the neighbors, family and friends with lots of good eating.

In spite of the very slow, cold, rainy start to the summer, we had a good growing season:

The exception to that might be our cannas. They dragged their heels a bit until the summer weather came around the first part of July. Those Tropicana Blacks are absolutely beautiful and have to be one of my favorites in the garden:

Next year I hope to get them planted earlier in the greenhouse so we’ll have longer to enjoy them when they’re blooming.

I do have to show you all my wonderful brugmansia. I counted 34 blooms on it. Since it’s the only time it has bloomed all summer, I guess it saved it up for one big show:

As things wind down for the season, my obsession with gardening tends to wane just a teeny bit. It’s probably a good thing, because it won’t be long until the frost comes to finish off the garden for this year. 

As swiftly as the last few months have gone, so will the next few. Before we know it, the holidays will be over and it will be time once again to start planning and dreaming about our next year’s gardens. So Happy Thanksgiving and a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Kari Gagner (far northeastern Minnesota)

The highlight of my summer gardening was the beautiful blooms from my Tropicanna plants. My one year old son would point at the flowers and say "pretty! pretty!" I'm definitely looking forward to next summer for their return. Even though it doesn't feel like it now, winter is on it's way. I'll just have to turn to my houseplants until the snow melts!

I recently wrote about some of my favorite new plant intros for 2012, including the new 'Pink Champagne' blueberry that does well in cooler climates. Now here are two different kinds of "fruity" plants – also new for next gardening season!

Introducing Strawberries and Cream and Blueberries and Cream, two yummy-looking-enough-to-eat lacecap hydrangeas serving up clusters of fruity-colored blooms surrounding milky-white centers. Both gift plants, specially bred for long-lasting indoor blooms, will be available this coming spring through Lowe’s, Home Depot and independent garden centers.

The dark-rosy-red-bloomed Strawberries and Cream (available previously in limited distribution) is now readily and widely available, along with a new “flavor” – Blueberries and Cream. Blueberries and Cream, which offers scrumptious-blue flowers for cool-colored refreshment, will be available primarily in the Northeastern U.S. for the 2012 season, with greater distribution planned for 2013.

Both of these gift hydrangeas will bloom for one to two months indoors. If you’re going to plant them outdoors, however, wait till early summer. These plants are specially grown in greenhouses to flower in time for Mother’s Day and can’t take the cooler spring temperatures.

In zones 7 and above (after their initial flowering), Strawberries and Cream and Blueberries and Cream can be planted outdoors in the garden from early summer on for a beautiful show the following year.

If you live in Zone 6 or lower and want to plant them outside for blooms the following year (again, only after their indoor spring flowering), you must give them special care. Treat them as you would your other subtropical or warmer-climate plants, and give them winter protection.

For instance, you can plant them in a spot where they’re screened from freezing winds or – for those who really want to play it safe – dig them up and store them in your garage in a 30-gallon trash bag filled with leaves.

They're not only great as Mother's Day Gifts, but as centerpieces or just as quick pick-me-ups for winter-weary souls in spring.

Want more info?

Blueberries and Cream hydrangea

Strawberries and Cream hydrangea

Yay for Tropicanna Black! This summer, the widely celebrated, purplish-black leaved canna from Tesselaar Plants took top honors at the United Kingdom's largest plant trade show – the Horticultural Trade Association’s National Plant Show. The honor – the Silver Award for Herbaceous Perennials – went to John Woods Nurseries (of Suffolk County, England – one of Tesselaar’s UK growers). 

Also at the show (below), John Woods presented another Tesselaar plant – the Black Tulip magnolia – as a gift to England's Queen Elizabeth!

Congratulations to John  Woods Nurseries and to Tesselaar Plants!

I'm such a plant nerd – new plant introductions always get me so excited. And there were plenty to be found at this year's annual Garden Writers Association symposium, held in Indianapolis.

My personal favorite:

Blueberry 'Pink Champagne'. This happy accident, courtesy of the USDA, has produced a pink blueberry that's especially hardy in colder climates (Zones 4-9). That's perfect for me, since my Rochester, NY garden is Zone 6b. Available next season via Briggs Plant Propagators, this "rabbit-eye" variety with frosty-pink, edible berries takes full sun to part shade and grows 4 to 5 feet high by 5 feet wide. And in fall, it features fabulous red foliage. Design-wise, it's good in mixed borders and massed plantings, but because of blueberries' love of acidic soil, you may want to plant it with other acid-loving plants or grow it in a container with acidified soil.

And here's a list of some others I'm excited about:

Colocasia 'Bikini-tini'. One of the super-funky plants from Plants Nouveau's new Tropicools™ line of zone 6 – Zone 6! – hardy colocasias. "Anyone living in zone 6 and 7 can now reliably leave these planted in the garden each year," says Plants Nouveau. Well, I've stuck mine in the ground and we shall see … I really hope they're right!

Nandina 'Flirt'. As beautiful and breathtaking as the Southern Living Plant Collection's 'Delta Jazz' crapemyrtle was with its hot-pink blooms against burgundy leaves, it's a fraction away from being hardy in my Zone 6b garden. So my eyes quickly turned to 'Flirt' Nandina, a improvement on the Harbour Dwarf Nandina. "'Flirt' holds its red foliage through fall, winter and spring," read the literature. Wowee! And it's hardy in zones 6-10. Again, I wonder if it's a gamble to grow in Zone 6ish landscapes, since its ability to remain evergreen and hold its red color depends on how severely cold it gets. In my area, I'm close to Lake Ontario with lots of snow cover to insulate such plants, especially if I shelter them in a little microclimate of shrubs near the foundation of my house. Yes, I've been burned on this before. But I've been a long-time lover of nandina, and if I find this variety, I may 'flirt' with disaster!

It was a cooler-than-usual summer than usual for two of Tesselaar's regional garden bloggers in Idaho and Oregon. At least they got spared the rain, winds and flooding of Hurricane Irene!

Shirley Gardner (Boise, Idaho)
  

It’s hard to believe that summer will soon come to a close. We can only hope that we have a long fall, since warm weather was so late getting here. Once the temperatures went up though, the growth really took off. The first few hot days, the tomato plants almost tripled in size. Most (19 in all) are over 6 feet high and we’ll definitely be canning tomatoes before long.

An abundance of snow in the mountains last winter provided us with plenty of irrigation water this summer to keep our gardens happy. Our drip line for the veggie garden has been wonderful – not one tomato with blossom end rot or cracking and splitting. We have tried soaker hoses in the past, but they don’t seem to last long. This drip line is almost indestructible, will last for years and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s struggling with soaker hoses or sprinklers in their gardens.
  

Although hot weather finally came, we’ve still had a cooler than usual summer. Of course, by “cooler” I mean only three or four days of 100 degrees and over. The rest have been in the 90s with a few breaks down into the 80s.I love those 80-degree days because I can work out in the yard all day and not feel like I’m going to have heat stroke. It helps that because we are basically a desert climate here, we don’t have to contend with the humidity.

The scent from the lilies that are currently blooming outside our dining room window is heavenly – wish I could bottle that scent!
  

Now if before fall’s over, I can just get all the weeds pulled, the iris divided, all the pots of perennials and shrubs in my holding bed planted into their permanent homes, the cannas, dahlias and glads dug and stored, the geranium cuttings potted up, the tomatoes canned, the veggie garden put to bed, etc. etc. etc……….whew!  Wish me luck!
  

Catie Anderson (Willamette Valley, Oregon)

We have yet to reach 90 degrees this summer here in the Northwest. It’s the latest since 1954! That’s wonderful weather, but the plants haven’t responded like normal. Everything is a few weeks behind. We’re still waiting for red tomatoes. The interesting thing is the cool weather crops aren’t doing well, either. And, my Tropicanna cannas are still waiting for heat – so much for entering Tesselaar's Tropicanna contest! Our rainfall has been normal with about an inch in June and July and none in August.

Last blog post, I had just finished double digging my new raised vegetable beds. It was really tough work, but did it ever pay off.  I’ve never had bigger, healthier tomato plants. I amended with the best soil mix I could get.

The fishing line fence I put up this spring was very effective keeping the deer out. I would recommend it for any small areas – just keep anything they like back a foot or so because every piece sticking through will be munched!

I’m looking forward to fall, the best season in Oregon!

The summer of 2011 has doled out scorching heat and muggy humidity as well as intermittent rains and flooding for our regional garden writers. Here's an update on what's happening in their gardens:

Linn Schlinger

June and July were a mixed bag for us here in Chesterfield County, Virginia. At first we had blistering heat and humidity with temps of 110 in the shade on our deck. With temps like this we were moving into drought conditions once again for several years in a row now. Almost at the time of water restrictions being put into force, however, we would have torrential rains and winds. The little creek behind our property would flood into our yard and we had a lake. Then again would come the drought/heat and all the plants/trees/shrubs on the property were in complete confusion of how they were to grow and bloom.

In late winter, we cleared a large portion of the back of our property. Since Mother Nature has not cooperated with the weather, parts of the property look desolate and unattended. Believe me, that is not the case. I am usually out in the very early hours of the morning until about mid-day tending to my "chillins" as my husband calls them. My Tropicanna Black cannas (see above), are in bloom and looking beautiful. My dwarf Fairy Magnolias, as you can see (below) have lots of leaves and are growing happily despite the conditions.

According to our 'sage' weather forecasters, the rest of July/August is to be more of the same. Happy Day to you all, and as always, walk in peace.

Kari Gagner

We are still experiencing a-wetter-than-usual summer here in northern Minnesota/North Dakota. We experienced a few hot and humid days (90+ temps with very high humidity) and when it is not raining we hold steady in the upper 70s to low 80s. My potted Tropicanna cannas are doing great and seem to be loving our summer "heat wave"! The lettuce blends didn't survive the hungry rabbits that somehow got into my yard, but my pepper plant is doing great! Thankfully, I can get my fresh veggie "fix" at our local farmer's market!  I can’t wait until my son is old enough to help me in the garden!

Denise Pierce

It has been HOT in Alabama! The humidity is a major problem. We got a couple of inches of rain last Saturday, which helped the plants a lot, though. My Fairy Magnolias are doing good this year in containers. Only one seems to have a "top" to it, the other two are branching out. I guess I need to consider having them in-ground this fall.  

My Tropicanna cannas are doing well, though, and obviously love the heat! Here’s one I planted with angelonia and Supertunias:

And here's a cool picture of the original Tropicanna cannas, backlit by the sun:

The Japanese beetles have been really bad this year! Does anyone have any solutions other than the old tried-and-true hand-picking in the morning and evening? 

Congratulations to Mary Raedel of Altoona, Wisconsin - the July winner Tesselaar's "Great Gardens" contest (all winners are randomly selected). Here's her entry for "Great Plant Combos" (July's featured category):

Now, here's a 2011 OFA short course report from Phillip Townshend, Tesselaar's global operations director:

Creativity abounds at 2011 OFA Short Course

By Phillip Townshend

Well, another year at the Ohio Short Course show has been completed, and as usual I was surprised by the continued innovation that appears at this show. It must now be one of the major shows on the calendar for most in the horticultural industry, with attendees from around the globe visiting to see what is new or doing well in the U.S. market.

Imagine my surprise to see a number of our Bonfire^® series of begonias, either in mixed arrangements, in mixed planters outside our hotel or in the Daniels Plant Food company promotional pieces that adorned pillars throughout the show. Wherever it's used, the Bonfire series continues to be an extremely versatile product with multiple uses and certainly is the benchmark of all the Boliviensis varieties that suddenly appeared after Bonfire was released.

The merchandising displays this year hit a new level, with fierce competition between entrants to show how best to display plants at retail.

Despite continually improving showcases of plants by the various companies exhibiting at the show, my vote for best display overall was the one that greeted all upon entering the show. As you can see in this image, it featured an attractive butterfly mix.

I look forward to next year’s show and hope the exhibitors continue to put effort into developing showcases demonstrating what can be achieved with the great new introductions many of us are releasing into the market.