MIRACULOUS MAY
May is magical. Migratory warblers and waterfowl sweep through en route north, hummingbirds return to feeders, baby Canada geese tumble down stream banks like fuzzy wind-up toys. Orioles weave their pendulous nests in tulip trees and sing from the highest branches they can find.
The vegetable kingdom is gratifyingly fecund, greening and flowering as you watch. What Michael Pollan called the “precarious tumescence” of plant growth, stacking cell on succulent cell, is on rampant display. Best of all, customers emerge from hibernation to descend upon their local garden centers. The song of the cash register rings through the land.
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Grass Roots Revival
We’re mostly done with spring retail madness here, although the Panhandle’s GCs are still doing very well. We’ve been busy in the greenhouses producing a plenitude, a plethora, a veritable potpourri of practical, profitable perennials like Astilbe, Echinacea, Leucanthemum, Monarda, Phlox, Rudbeckia – you name it, we’re making it. For proof, here's our current Availability.
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In the fields, we’re meticulously lining out grasses, making tidy rows of Miscanthus, Calamagrostis, Panicum and more. They’ll spend the summer fattening up to be divided up as your starters – we multiply by dividing, a mathematical impossibility but a horticultural fact -- so all you have to do is pop ‘em out of our liners and into your containers. Just another reason why we’re your easy choice!
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Symmetry like this doesn’t just happen. Only a good team, good gear and attention to detail can create the consistent product you expect. |
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Shain Kimmons readying our planter for another season and showing why he was our Rock Star in April 2020! |
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And over here, on the down-low, ground-hugging side of our inventory, there’s Leptinella ‘Platt’s Black’, Lysimachia ‘Aurea’, and two kinds of Sagina subulata: The Kelly-green straight species, “Irish moss,” and the golden ‘Aurea’, a.k.a. Scotch moss.
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Heading back outside? Can’t blame you. Swing by again and take a look at our trial gardens as they develop through summer.
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Our Rock Star award honors ECG employees who demonstrate a sustained high level of performance and inspire others. This month we pause to recognize Tabitha Samuels Slattery.
As a grower at our Milton, FL location, Tabitha puts her Bachelor’s Degree in Plant Science and Environmental Horticulture from the University of Florida to work every day. She’s responsible for plant care in multiple greenhouses, including the R&D facility and FL trial garden.
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In nominating Tabitha, her co-workers used two words consistently: “consistent,” and “awesome.” She even earned the first “consistently awesome” in Rock Star history.
“Tabitha is consistently working hard to improve anything she can around the nursery, and always has a great attitude.”
“Tabitha shows up every day with a smile on her face, works hard and never complains. She is a true team player, always willing to lend a hand and pitch in where help is needed. Awesome attitude!!"
“Tabitha Samuels-Slattery has consistently performed outstandingly. When running plant care crews, checking crops in our greenhouses or managing R&D, she always shines. She has a strong work ethic and is very dependable.”
“She has an amazing and pleasant personality, is patient, tactful, intelligent and competent. Everyone appreciates and enjoys working with her and we have witnessed the plant quality results of her diligence and attention.”
“I'd like to nominate Tabitha. She's consistently awesome.”
Congratulations on your award, Tabitha. Emerald Coast Growers thanks you for the diligent, dedicated effort that brought it your way. You rock!
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Emerald Coast Growers' Milton, FL trial garden |
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Euphorbia xmartinii ‘Ascot Rainbow’ PP21401
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We’re euphoric about this Euphorbia, and that’s no euphemism. ‘Ascot Rainbow’ is a riot of ever-changing color. Blue-green leaves with creamy yellow edges are its summer wardrobe. Cool weather inspires a costume change, with intense red tones.
Like many spurges, ‘Ascot Rainbow’ performs best with well-drained soils and resents wet feet in winter. Keep it happy, and you’ll soon know why this Australian introduction earned the Royal Horticultural Society’s highest honour, the Award of Garden Merit.
Height: 20”. Hardy in Zones 6 – 9.
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All in the Family
Euphorbia is an enormous, sprawling genus encompassing over 2,000 species and a dizzying variety of varieties. Some are cactus-like, others tropical and tender like your Christmas poinsettia. Yep, that’s a Euphorbia.
‘Ascot Rainbow’ comes in slick-planting, fast-finishing 72s from Emerald Coast Growers – your easy choice!
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GNOMENCLATURE: (Mostly true news) |
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The recent Suez Canal blockage hit horticulture in an unexpected way. The BBC reported in April that England is experiencing a shortage of garden gnomes. This critical supply failure is due to raw material shortages and the increased popularity of gardening during COVID-19 shutdowns. |
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"We haven't seen a gnome in six months," said Ian Byrne, assistant manager of Highfield Garden World in Whitminster. "Raw materials are... an issue, and unfortunately, gnomes are a victim. Gnomes of any type are in short supply."
If you have gnomes to spare, please don’t hoard. Consider donating some to our British counterparts. Alternatively, Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farms, introducer of Lavandula Phenomenal, has offered to travel to the UK and lurk in strategically located gardens, up to two per day, in Gnome Mode until the crisis eases.
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Anna Graham is back with a special May Day! May Day! issue of our favorite word search. The matrix below conceals 15 names, common and Latin, of perennials that flower for most of us in this lovely month. As usual, they run in all directions. As always, solvers submitting successfully solved griddles to Anna.Graham@ecgrowers.com are entered into a randomized, triple-blind drawing, with placebos for control. Three lucky winners will receive cool ECG swag*.
*Serving suggestion only. Your actual swag may vary. Model Al Mueller not included.
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AQUILEGIA
COLUMBINE
PHLOX
SUBULATA
MOSS PHLOX
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AMSONIA
BLUE STAR
DELOSPERMA
ICE PLANT
HEMEROCALLIS
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DAYLILY
NEPETA
CATMINT
MAY
NIGHT
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TRAY BON! A Bread-&-Butter Garden Gem
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Indigenous American grasses aren’t just for native plant enthusiasts. Tough and carefree, “switch grass” is at home in any sunny landscape. Its surprisingly formal-looking habit works in masses, or as specimens punctuating the perennial border.
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Panicum stock pots in Milton, FL |
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P. virgatum Ruby Ribbons™ (‘RR1’) PP17944
Bred in Connecticut, Ruby Ribbons™ comes by its good looks honestly. One of its parents is best-seller ‘Heavy Metal’. Ruby Ribbons™ was chosen for its cool chameleon-like color changes. Blades stay glaucous blue at the base while the rest of the foliage turns wine red, darkening through summer. Smoky purple seedheads complete the picture. Height: 4’. Hardy in Zones 4 – 10.
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The Game of the Name:
The genus name Panicum is derived from the Latin for millet, a grain ground into flour for bread, or “pan,” as bread is known to Spanish speakers. In Italy they break pane, in France, pain, and in Portugal, they butter up pão. Aren’t you glad you asked?
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The MidAtlantic will soon ring to another song besides the cash register’s: Cicadas, a.k.a. the 17-year locust. This is the year, and May is the month, for Brood X to erupt by the millions from underground, after patiently nibbling roots, binge-watching Netflix and biding their time since 2004. In some cultures, such hatches are captured, roasted and sold as street food. Here, we just enjoy them for a few weeks. Some folks are bugged by big, loud bugs with glowing red eyes landing in their hair and blanketing trees, but we can’t wait.
Until we meet again, happy trails. It’s lovely here in Gnome Man’s Land.
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John Friel
Marketing Manager
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