Proven Winners ColorChoice crowned its 2019 Shrub Madness winner. Based on the college basketball playoffs, the contest is populated with a wide variety of Proven Winners ColorChoice shrubs, which compete throughout the month of March for the chance to be crowned National Champion.

Coming from a field of 64 contenders, the competition narrows to the Floral Four, then the final two after multiple rounds of voting. This year’s Floral Four included Pugster Blue Buddleia, Let’s Dance Rhythmic Blue bigleaf hydrangea, Suñorita rose, and Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha mountain hydrangea. 

The last round of voting found Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha hydrangea with a slim lead over challenger Suñorita rose, but it steadily gained traction. In the final few hours of the competition, the hardy hydrangea defeated the winsome rose and was crowned the 2019 Shrub Madness National Champion.

© Proven Winners

Brand new to garden centers in 2019, Tuff Stuff Ah-Ha mountain hydrangea has large, waterlily-like double florets. It is also one of the most prolific reblooming hydrangeas ever seen. All summer long, it devotes its energies to creating flower buds on its new growth so that there is a constant supply of blooms from early summer through frost.

Developed six years ago, Shrub Madness is one example of how Proven Winners puts its marketing dollars to work to bring attention to its plants, and as a result, bring more customers into their local garden centers.

"Shrub Madness is the perfect vehicle to find out first-hand what shrubs are most interesting gardeners this year,” PR specialist Natalie Carmolli said. “It’s also a great way to spur some interest in newer varieties."

The competition also gives folks at Proven Winners ColorChoice an opportunity to challenge internal preconceived notions about which plants might be most popular with the public. The additional information that is gained as a result of the contest helps to inform marketing decisions going forward.

When asked if the contest seems to be gaining traction, Spring Meadow horticulturist Stacey Hirvela said, "This has been a fantastic year for Shrub Madness. This year we had over 6,000 participants who cast over 287,000 votes. There’s simply no better, more cost-effective way to bring attention to so many plants."

This year the Shrub Madness team took their popular “Shrubs Center” broadcast to Facebook Live, broadcasting at the beginning of each round of voting. Players were once again given several opportunities to score samples of top-scoring plants including the grand prize “Floral Four and Plant Geek Swag Bag.”

RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) along with CropLife America welcomed more than 400 leaders from the pesticide industry to discuss innovation, sustainability and the role of regulation at the 2019 CropLife America and RISE Regulatory Conference.

This year’s conference programming featured experts addressing issues that ranged from the importance of risk-based regulation to pollinator health to the importance of communicating science in an approachable way to consumers and allies.

“Once again at this year’s conference, we’ve seen strong corporate and academic commitment to developing solutions to pest challenges here in the U.S. and around the world,” Aaron Hobbs, president of RISE said. “The full stakeholder chain, including regulators, is dedicated to developing the most effective and precise products possible through cutting-edge science. An efficient and transparent regulatory process ensures we can continue to advance specialty pesticide products that protect our homes, our places of work and all the public spaces we enjoy.”

“Each year, we have the opportunity to hear from the scientists who drive agricultural innovation. These innovations will help us enhance food safety, increase productivity and sustainability and protect human health,” Chris Novak, president and CEO of CropLife America said.  “By providing a forum that allows scientists and regulators to understand the benefits of these innovations, we are hopeful that we can maintain an efficient regulatory process that strengthens consumer confidence in our pesticide products.”

Since 2009, the Regulatory Conference has provided a forum to discuss the evolving science and regulation behind crop protection and specialty pesticide products. Each year, interactive sessions encourage open discussion among industry, federal regulators and other stakeholders about the issues facing the crop protection and specialty pesticide industries. The Council of Producers & Distributors of Agrotechnology, the premier advocate for agricultural adjuvant and inert ingredient suppliers, joined the conference this year as a co-host.

Independent garden center retailers from across the country will set foot in Nashville, Tennessee, this June for the 2019 GCA Summer Tour. The tour will take place June 23-26. The Music City-bound tour offers a mix of IGC retailers, educational sessions and opportunities for networking with owners and managers at each store.

Not only will the 16th annual tour visit a wide variety of garden retailers, but it will also include Q&A sessions with the leadership at each garden center stop.

Plus, this summer’s GCA Tour Nashville will give attendees the opportunity to share their thoughts on the industry’s hot-button issues with their peers during daily facilitated conversations, modeled after the IGC Show’s popular Shop Talk Retail Discussions in the IGC Networking Lounge. Tour-goers can swap strategies with fellow indies in a collaborative setting, topics include:

• Staffing Symposium - Ideas on hiring, training and retaining great employees; pay and benefits; continuing education and training for staff; and more.

• Events & Activities - How to plan successful events and workshops that bring in shoppers.

• Enhancing Your Web Presence - Covering websites, social media, email blasts, online ordering and more.

Daily container-building demos with Sharon Hadden will reveal her latest recipes for grab-and-go container sales.

GCA Summer Tour Nashville’s host destinations include:

Moore & Moore Garden Center, Nashville, Tennessee

www.mooreandmoore.com  

Gardens of Babylon, Nashville, Tennessee

www.gardensofbabylon.com  

JVI Secret Gardens, Nashville, Tennessee

www.jvisecretgardens.com  

Martin’s Home & Garden, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

www.martinshomeandgarden.com  

Yarrow Acres, Franklin, Tennessee

www.facebook.com/YarrowAcres

Optimara/Holtkamp Greenhouses, Nashville, Tennessee

www.optimara.com  

Bates Nursery & Garden Center, Nashville, Tennessee

www.batesnursery.com  

Hewitt Garden and Design Center, Franklin, Tennessee

www.hewittgc.com  

Creekside Garden Center & Landscaping, Nashville, Tennessee

www.creekside106.com  

Long Hollow Gardens & Vineyards, Gallatin, Tennessee

www.longhollowgardens.com  

Johnny Cash Museum, Nashville, Tennessee

www.johnnycashmuseum.com

American Pickers Star Mike Wolfe’s Store in Marathon Village, Nashville, Tennessee

www.marathonvillage.net

For more information, visit www.GardenCentersofAmerica.com.

From Newswise:

Pollinator gardens are most beneficial to pollinators when they contain a greater variety of plants, according to new research from the University of Georgia (UGA).

Researchers in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology conducted a review and meta-analysis of advice for creating pollinator gardens, sifting through a multitude of studies to formulate a more focused approach to establishing healthy habitats for pollinators and determine where more information is needed.

“We wanted to identify gardening practices that pose benefits and drawbacks for pollinators utilizing backyard gardens,” said doctoral candidate Ania Majewska, who conducted the analysis with Georgia Athletic Association Professor of Ecology Sonia Altizer. “Gardening to conserve pollinators is of growing interest to the general public and to researchers. We wanted to get a sense of what has been studied and where the biggest gaps in knowledge exist.”

Read more on pollinator gardens and on Newswise.com.