Plant tags featured in art exhibition

Watercolor paintings by artists studying with Wellesley College’s Friends of Horticulture were displayed this summer alongside plant tags featuring the original artwork. Eastern Shore Nursery in Keller, Va., will reproduce the art on tags for its Hollybrook Orchards brand of fruit trees, nuts and berries.

“Botanical art is just so beautiful and so accurate that the plants look like you could touch them,” said Robin Rinaca, who owns and operates Eastern Shore Nursery with husband Nick Covatta. “The idea was inspired by a local artist, Charlotte Heath. We felt that botanical illustration would be ideal for tagging.”

The botanical artwork and tags were displayed May 1 through June 13 at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens visitor’s center. The tags have already received good reviews from retailers.

“The tags are beautifully done, very creative,” said Jon Shafer, buyer for Holdridge Farm Nursery in Ledyard Center, Conn. “I really like the natural look and it depicts the fruit and plant well. Customers get a good idea of just what they’re buying. It is definitely a marketing plus.”

{sidebar id=3}

For more: Eastern Shore Nursery, (800) 323-3008; www.hollybrookorchards.com.

July 2008