"A brand is more than a pot and a tag," says Proven Winners' Dave Konsoer. Proven Winners strives to provide support through to retail, including helping with in-store events. 

To help garden centers become masters of container designs, Proven Winners offers the Bloom Box containing everything you need to host a container design workshop at your garden center. The kit includes 100 preprinted and customizable postcards, a customizable poster, and 12 balloons; a complete PowerPoint presentation and workshop outline, two Room to Bloom t-shirts, 100 Container Design Guides, 100 Front Door Design Guides and 100 Combination Idea Guides. 

Instead of dumping plants at the end of the season, why not donate them to a local coffee house, school sporting event or community festivals or just to members of your community?

Where can you start to plan an event like this? Proven Winners wants to help its customers with this kind of giving with its We Grow Smiles Campaign kit, which includes 100 Shimmer Cards explaining the concept, 100 bands and foil seals, 100 “We Grow Smiles” tags, 100 floral picks, two we grow smiles t-shirts and one We Grow Smiles. 48” x 11” banner. The experts at Proven Winners are available to assist with some of the public relations of your campaign, and will follow-up afterwards to hear about the success of the event.

Deep chocolate color topped with cherry and white bells.

Bred by Charles Oliver of the Primrose Path, heuchera 'Dark Chocolate' have deep chocolate brown leaves with creamy pink flowers perfect for cut flower displays.

Plants Nouveau's Angela Palmer says the plant is a mountain variety that does well in dry conditions. Well-grown plants should have at least eight to 10 inflorescences.

Visit the Plants Nouveau website for a better photo.

Braun Horticulture's 2011 line-up of containers and merchandising accessories are cut from an old-fashioned, old-world mold without losing any of Braun's high-end edge. Two collections in particular caught my eye were the Homestead (old-fashioned wooden planters) and the Antique (antiqued galvanized metal), along with the new Braun chalkboards and chalkboard plant stakes. Additionally, the new Bordeaux collection is great for dropping a container in or planting it up. 

Braun's 2011 catalog is worth a look, especially with the Styling By Braun section in the back of the book, which offers merchandising tips and plenty of displays, shelving and recipes.

John Henry will be taking its gardening expertise directly to gardeners later this summer when it launches a new consumer-facing website. BloomIQ.com will offer a wide range of helpful information, from gardening ideas to mixed container recipes to online shopping lists. The company hopes to help consumers – especially the less-experienced gardener – feel less nervous and more confident about getting started in the garden.

An additional benefit for growers and retailers (in addition to increased sales, hopefully) is that the data gathered from consumers using the site – what they like and what they don’t – should help John Henry home in even more closely on the best products to match their needs.

BloomIQ.com is targeted to launch at the beginning of August.

Bar codes for smart phones are showing up everywhere at Short Course.

3-D may be the biggest thing in the movie world this summer, but 2-D tags are definitely a hot new marketing technology at OFA Short Course. These square bar codes are popping up on plant tags and other marketing materials in several places throughout the show.

2-D tags are easily scanned by just about any smart phone and link the phone’s web browser to videos, fact sheets, and lots of other helpful information consumers may want or need about a product.

John Henry, for example, has a new vegetable program incorporating the tag. Users scanning the bar code on the back of a vegetable or fruit plant tag are taken to AllRecipes.com for helpful preparation tips.

MasterTag also had a display of the tags with links to planting and cooking instructions for vegetables and herbs.

New two-piece tags let gardeners leave half with the plant and take the other half for future reference.

Catering to consumers who want – and need – more information about plants to be successful, MasterTag highlighted its new series of Snap Tags at the show. The tags are perforated to allow the consumer to tear off and stick one part of the tag into the garden or container to identify the plant. The rest of the tag contains helpful planting and care information and is designed to be kept as a handy reference for the gardener throughout the season. Some versions of the tag even have a third tear-off piece, designed to be used as a coupon for instant savings at the checkout, or for a future purchase.

MasterTag’s Little Gardener tags take the design one step further, using cartoon characters and graphics to engage children. The backs of the tags have kid-friendly information about the plants, as well as activities parents and kids can do together.

Rush Creek introduces a resilient new biodegradable container.

Keeping with the sustainability theme seen everywhere on the show floor, Rush Creek introduced its new Proganic Pro Earth line of pots.

Progranic is a new organic material made from renewable materials including glucose, palm wax, and minerals. It was named the 2010 Biomaterial of the year by Nova Institute. Containers are water resistant and repellent, and UV-ray resistant, and the containers are designed to be fully biodragdable.

Rush Creek’s new line of multi-color, tulip-shaped pots was also attracting attention this week.

Instead of plastic pots, the Plant In A Jiffy beer carton lets the customer mix and match bedding plants from shipping flats. The marketing message appeals to the younger gardener, both for its eco-friendliness and its bright and cheery design. 

A floral foam disk at the bottom of the Oasis Canteen Pot reduces the need for watering at retail. Oasis says the foam helps to increase the retail shelf life of 4.5 inch potted plants without watering by up to 150 percent. Pop the plant out of the grower pot and place in this pot for extended shelf life.

A new barberry has a unique color transformation -- Golden Ruby Barberry changes from fluorescent orange in spring to burgundy maroon with a gold ring in the summer. Fall color is a flame orange to brick red. Best in Zone 4 with a height of 15 inches and a 24 inch spread. Bred by Jim Zampini of Lake County New Plants. 

Our editors will be scanning the tradeshow floor at OFA Short Course for the newest products and varieties that can help you improve your business. Check here during the show for all the photos and descriptions of what we see.