11/30/2016
Behind the Variety: Knocking It Out of the Park
Katie Elzer-Peters
Opening Day, a Viburnum plicatum, selected by Dr. Michael Dirr, introduced by Plant Introductions, Inc. and distributed by Bailey Nurseries under the First Editions brand, is a home run for the spring garden, but it also keeps on performing right up through fall.
Baseball-sized flower clusters start out slightly tinged with green and open to a pure white. The plant is covered in thick, corrugated, dare I say “outfield green,” leaves throughout the summer. When the World Series is reaching its climactic conclusion, so is Opening Day, displaying blazing cabernet-hued fall color.
“For a long time, we had held back on viburnum introductions,” says Natalia Hamill, brand and business development manager for Bailey Nurseries. “There just didn't seem to be a market there. Interest had shifted to summer bloomers like panicle hydrangeas.”
Breeders and brokers have to anticipate trends, or even start them, in order to be ready at retail when tastes shift. Plants take years to develop and bring to market—much slower than suits and shirts. It’s somewhat of a gamble, to keep developing plants in the pipeline without knowing whether the market will embrace them. When the winds shifted back to spring, PII and Bailey Nurseries were ready. “Talking to growers and retailers, we saw a rebound in demand for plants with spring interest.”
From a field of open-pollinated viburnum seedlings in a trial program at the University of Georgia Horticulture Farm, Dr. Dirr selected the plant that would become Opening Day. “When we were evaluating it for introduction, it became apparent, with the spring flowering, beautiful fresh foliage all summer and tremendous fall color, that Opening Day was going to be a great three-season plant,” Natalia says.
The plant has become a favorite of licensed growers in the First Editions network. Natalia says, “One of our growers said to us, ‘Opening day is a grower’s dream.’ That’s a direct quote.” She adds viburnums are historically difficult to manage during production, but Opening Day bulks up nicely, takes on nice structure under the plant pretty quickly and moves fast through the production system.
Retailers love Opening Day because the flowers create a big spring show—a perfect lure for gardeners and homeowners looking to escape the winter blahs. In the summer, the plant’s a perfect backdrop, creating a fantastic merchandising opportunity. Want to sell more plants? Use Opening Day to show how to compose a garden with a green shrub backdrop. In the fall, Opening Day (if there are any left on the lot) turns into a specimen shrub—from Zones 5 to 8. In warmer climates, this reliable fall color is a huge plus.
Viburnum shrubs can quickly grow gangly and gigantic, but Opening Day stays nice and compact, at a tidy 5 ft. by 5 ft., so it fits perfectly in the home garden, scoring another point for consumer interest.
As this month we’re all talking about style, I’d be remiss if we failed to mention merchandising in more depth. Putting your shrubs on the lot in a line doesn’t do a lot to showcase their utility. Take the time to place Opening Day with other plants it plays well with. In the spring, Natalia suggests blue flowering perennials. The summer is all about contrast. Dwarf loropetalum—either burgundy or variegated—would stand out in front of Opening Day. In the fall, “The bright gold fall color of amsonia in front of Opening Day’s burgundy leaves would look really sharp.”
Viburnums? They’re back in fashion. Make sure your customers get the memo.
GP
Katie Elzer-Peters is a garden writer and owner of The Garden of Words, LLC, a marketing and PR firm handling mostly green-industry clients. Contact her at Katie@thegardenofwords.com or at www.thegardenofwords.com.