Never Say Never

John Friel

My friend Dr. Allan Armitage can rant with the best of them, with remarkable accuracy. But I must take issue with his recent column in another magazine.

At CAST this spring, Allan saw the expected marvels and wonders. As usual, he dropped a memorable phrase: “Newness is the horse under our saddle.”

But he also returned home with this complaint: “Nothing gets to the consumer ... the extraordinary wares in California never reach retail.” He decries the “lousy excuse” he hears: Brokers and retailers are too busy and “the old sells well enough.”

Well, yes. And No.

What happens in California stays in California, sometimes, but there are usually reasons. To my admittedly biased ear, that “lousy excuse” is a legitimate, if unfortunate, conditioned response to the lure of the new: Let’s wait and see how it plays in Peoria. Because we’ve all—retailers, wholesalers and propagators alike—been burned before by the hot new lick that just didn’t click with consumers or that flunked on vigor, hardiness, disease resistance, shipability and/or flowering.

But it’s simply not true that new intros “never reach retail.” The best most certainly do grace GCs, landscapes and gardens. Wave Petunias and Dragon Wing Begonias were once questionable new Pack Trial items. Now, they’re everywhere. But it didn’t happen overnight. It can't.

It’s not realistic to ogle new stuff in California in April, fly home and expect to buy it at your local retailer in May. If it shows up NEXT May, that’s the fast track.

My employer’s new catalog contains about 100 new varieties. Most weren’t at CAST; we propagate perennials and grasses, and the cast of thousands at CAST are almost entirely annuals.

Nonetheless, I visited two local mass merchants and an IGC, seeking newness, hardy and otherwise. I found well-grown pots of Carex Eversheen, a 2015 EverColor series addition. Among varieties we’ve all sold for years were unfamiliar coreopsis and heuchera. Naturally, I recognized approximately zero annuals.

A nuclear energy expression fits here: Critical mass. That’s where a reactor starts generating heat and electricity. In horticulture, it’s when the pipeline contains enough product to generate sales.

Many decisions underpin new intros. Which strain, which colors, which catchy name, which rediscovered genus generated real, whip-out-the-checkbook excitement? What’s the input cost?

Without such data, nobody greenlights a ramp-up to critical mass. Too many costly steps—TC replication, URC stock buildup, persuading skeptical growers to make room—lie between a few artisanal pots on West Coast benches and dozens, full-grown, picture-tagged, at every store in every region from New England to the deep South. We’re talking years, not weeks.

Allan made another point that’s inarguable: There’s a “dearth of young people” at trade events. He’s proposed, and will help fund, a Spring Trials Scholarship. Admirable—but students aren’t enough. How many of your peers, colleagues, competitors, employees are hort grads? In my circle, it’s a surprisingly small percentage. Many roads lead to the green industries. I’ve known growers who studied political science, history and philosophy. Kerry Herndon said, “It’s an easy industry to get into, but it’s almost impossible to get out.”

Young people in the industry need to get out—not OF the industry, but out INTO it, to shows and trials—and realize they’re part of something bigger than the zone they water or the mulch they shovel. And their employers need to send them! There are only so many scholarships and only one Armitage.

Keep spurring that horse, Allan. We can’t all get to CAST; we need trained eyes out on the leading edge, reporting back on what’s good, bad and ugly. GP

John Friel is marketing manager for Emerald Coast Growers and a freelance writer.