Where the “new plant” action is
What kind of tomato do you have there?
According to the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) the winner of the “Garden Idol 2012″ award is “The Scallywag Holly” from Monrovia Growers. The Garden Idol awards are are held at The ANLA annual clinic and are for what attendees think is the best new plant introduction of the year. Each grower presents their new introduction, with some presenters putting on quite a show. In the case of Scallywag Holly, Monrovia Growers put on a skit complete with pirate gear and song. It can be viewed here.
While the presentation by The Monrovia staff in their pirate gear is great, no amount of “song and grog” will change the fact that the winner is a holly. What are the outstanding attributes of this plant? Here is the description according to Monrovia. “Ahoy Maties! “X” marks the spot for this four foot, dense, Ilex Scallywag. This is your next garden treasure that is sure to bring in lots of loot. This will make all other dwarf hollies walk the plank. An exciting discovery, this attractive sport of Little Rascal® Holly is a more upright grower, still having a dense, rounded form. Shiny dark green foliage takes on attractive purple-burgundy tone in fall and winter. A wonderful foundation shrub with improved disease resistance. This male holly will not produce berries; use as a pollinator.” Yarrrr, a pollinator.
Scallywag Holly, Monrovia Growers
If “Scallywag Holly” doesn’t have you running to the local garden center, what will? How about a local grower who is crossing various heirloom tomatoes to get new varieties? Wild Boar Farms is “Located 40 miles North-East of Berkeley bordering Napa County to the East is the Suisun Valley which is located in Solano County”. Check out this page with pictures of all the new tomato varieties. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the future of garden diversity is in the hands of the amateur and small gardener. Wild Boar Farms currently sells to restaurants around The Bay Area. ”‘Wild Boar Farm’s Tomatoes are Beautiful and Flavorful. They’re Tomatoes You’ll Never Forget’. The Office and Staff of Alice Waters at Chez Panisse”. Wild Boar Farms is starting to sell their seedlings to smaller, local garden centers. Now that’s exciting!
From the pictures and description I cannot attest to how “exciting” Scallywag Holly is, nor have I tried any of the tomatoes from Wild Boar Farms. It just seems that the action in the gardening world is increasingly in the hands of the smaller operations who are not afraid to take chances, or have no other choice but to take chances. Look for the real exciting stuff in gardening to come from the smaller players in the corners, when you least expect it!
Really? A holly that doesn’t even produce berries? Were they serving wine at this clinic?
Kat,
It a public service. Now the birds won’t get drunk and bang against my car hub caps, and poop on the windshield.
Disconnect. I can’t see people rushing off to get the latest and greatest non-berry producing holly. Even if it does have a dense, rounded form. I mean, we need shrubs like that, but it won’t make the consumer hop in the car…
Elizabeth,
That was my thinking. Not that there is anything wrong with a non-berry producing evergreen shrub.
Trey,
Do you not remember the video on how plants can deter crime? If you want to keep burglars from crawling around the side of your house then that holly is the way to go.
Planting a tomato and you’re painting a target on your house that says, “come break into my house, I’m a thoughtful consumer of high-end goods, like these heirloom tomatoes.”
Actually, I was at ANLA this year as a “specialist” and Hort Couture won the Garden Idol contest. I actually liked Monrovia’s skit and performance, like many others did.
Wasn’t there a round of online voting recently that anyone could participate in? Because I know I didn’t have anything to drink at Garden Idol and I remember Hort Couture winning.
Mr. Brown Thumb,
LOL! That, and the copy of the Williams-Sonoma Agrarian Catalog in the mail box.
So which is it, Hort Couture or Monrovia? The link to the video of “The Winner” is the video of Monrovia and Scallywag Holly, yet I do remember something about Hort Couture and their “Under-the-Sea” coleus collection, which is very cool.
All: in full disclosure, I was on the ANLA creative team who launched the “Garden Idol” concept 3 years ago, and a part of the production team for the program again this year. One of the ideas behind the development of the program was to help spark/showcase innovative ways to give plants a personality, share some marketing ideas to get people who aren’t necessarily horticulturally trained (read: consumers) intrigued by and excited by plants. The vast majorities of our consumers aren’t waiting for the ‘latest and greatest’ new breeding each year, they’re driven by what looks fresh, in color, fun, appropriate, or solves a problem when they’re in the garden center at that moment.
If you’ve ever watched American Idol (or any of the other competition/reality shows along these lines) you know that it’s not always the most Juilliard-worthy voices that make it to the winners’ circle … but rather the ‘total package’ of voice, costume, personality, and ability to connect with the crowd. Such it is with the plants that our customers at retail buy as well … they’re evaluating on criteria far beyond “pure horticultural innovation and excitement”.
To answer Mr. Brown Thumb’s question – he’s right, the winner of the ON SITE (live) voting *was* the Hort Couture series of “Under the Sea Coleus”. They won the coveted “Major Award” traveling Leg Trophy that night. Then the eleven plants went on to be seen online in the online voting round. This is the FIRST year (of three) that the online winner (Scallywag from Monrovia) actually was voted to be different from the live, onsite winner. Both can continue to claim the title, and both are deserving (in my humble judgement) – for different reasons. Our consumers, ultimately, care about a vast spectrum of things when they go to make a purchase.
Trees and shrubs may not in general be the sexiest things out there, but consumers do need them, and they’re the source of no small amount of total revenue to the industry overall. Giving them a bit of personality may actually help them sell a bit more effectively! (The physocarpus ‘Little Devil’ who won both live & onsite voting during Season 2 was arguably a more ‘foundation’ plant as well.) I applaud Monrovia for coming up with fantastic ‘showmanship’ — which clearly resonated with the online viewers and voters. Hope this helps clear up confusion!
Thanks Kellee,
That does clear up the confusion. Plants such as Scallywag Holly serve a purpose in the landscape that cannot be denied. Far be it to me to say that this plant or that plant is worthy of being an “idol” award winner. The event is fun and helps get the word out about these new introductions. I do think the Coleus collection from Haute Couture was an example of an “exciting” new introduction.
I like hollies, especially in the woods. Near the house, even dwarf varieties can grow taller than claimed.
But, beyond that, there’s little to be excited about from a gardener’s perspective. There’s a difference between the landscaper/home developer/new home buyer looking to match the model and a gardener. I might just stick my neck out to say that the scallywag hollies exemplify that difference. Not excited.
Frank, it just seems to me that its so safe and boring, when what we could really use these days is some bold vision and innovation. Oh hum…
Not to mention it’s Monrovia. Will we be seeing this Holly in every Home Depot before it makes its way into independents?
The Hort Couture line is for indy only, which is why I will look at their line before the Monrovia intros.