UpShoot eNews: Down Home Appeal with Plants

My father always says “Everyone has a God-given skill.” His ability is spotting new and unusual plants. The LCN Selections line is the culmination of his life’s breeding and selecting work. Jim’s keen eye continues to find new plants for UpShoot to test and market.

While we may not be the biggest plant introduction fish in the pond – it is our flexibility, easiness to approach and down to earth manner that has growers and breeders alike who choose UpShoot and the plants we represent instead of our competitors.

Last month we announced that our website www.upshoothort.com has gone live. We look forward to posting new plants and highlighting their breeders. Have you found an outstanding or unique new plant? Contact Maria today at maria@upshoothort.co m to discuss its merits further.

Spot On, Not Off
Shrub dogwoods are well-known for their colorful winter stems. Many cultivars develop leaf spotting which is unsightly and can cause premature leaf drop. One shrub dogwood which is hardy and does not develop leaf spot, keeps crisp, clean foliage all season long is Crème de Mint.

Crème de Mint™ Siberian Dogwood
Cornus alba ‘Crmizam’

Crème de Mint features variegated foliage on golden chartreuse stems which gives it a brighter look than red stems. It is more compact in size so it fits neatly into smaller landscape sites.

It is great as a single plant, in groupings or as a hedge. When top grafted on a standard it can also be a unique patio container tree.

John Lewis, owner of JLPN, Inc., a propagation/liner nursery in Salem, OR said, “One of the best additions to our product line has been the LCN Selections shrub dogwoods. Strawberry Daiquiri®, Crème de Mint™ and Chief Bloodgood™ have been excellent sellers and have year round landscape value.”

Smart & Stylish
Shrub Debut

The HGTV HOME Plant Collection
premiered its
expanded ‘Expressions’
annual line including
the new
Pop-N-Polish Petunias
and Chic Black & White
mixes at both the 2012
OFA and IGC tradeshows.

The ‘Expressions’
annual line
will be a full season
program for spring 2013.

The HGTV Home Plant Collection
is growing its plant offerings
with the introduction
of its ‘Smart & Stylish’ Shrub line
featuring genetics
from preferred partner Ball Ornamentals.

Ornamental shrubs
will be available
in select independent
garden centers as
a soft launch next spring.

Are you interested in becoming
an HGTV retailer or
greenhouse grower?

Contact Sarah Rolfes,
Account Manager
with the
Agricola Management
Group for more details and
program information.

Agricola is the exclusive licensee of the HGTV HOME Plant Collection in both the United States and Canada.

CoHort
Cousin

I’m not the only Zampini you’ll find in the wholesale nursery world!
I’m lucky to have my cousin Marie Zampini McConnell as part of the UpShoot team.

She assists with special UpShoot projects on a part-time basis.

Not only are our names similar, but we both have years of experience in the green industry.

Marie’s ‘day job’ is as a sales representative for LCN Selections parent company, Lake County Nursery in Perry, Ohio. Lake County Nursery is a wholesale nursery with a full line of finished plant material shipping primarily to customers in the Midwest and east coast.

Marie is a graduate of the Agricultural Technical Institute offered via The Ohio State University.

Marie and her husband Darrell have two beautiful girls and two greyhounds that keep them busy.

Hedging Your
Boxwood Bets

With all the publicity surrounding boxwood blight, industry and consumers are looking for possible alternatives to boxwood.

Buxus are commonly used as a hedge in knot gardens. While nothing could duplicate its’ stately grace, we have a replacement suggestion: Mr. Bowling Ball® arborvitae.

Mr. Bowling Ball has a unique sage colored evergreen foliage which doesn’t break and easily bounces back under the weight of heavy snow loads.

Another alternative is Nordic® Inkberry Ilex glabra ‘Chamzin’. Its’ shiny green foliage takes well to shearing.

Geauga® Gray Dogwood naturally forms a hedge screen and is a selected native providing fruit for birds!

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UpShoot eNews: Down Home Appeal with Plants