by Evelyn Alemanni

In California, spring includes the opportunity to visit the "Spring Trials" where growers introduce new plant cultivars in stunning displays. They work extra hard to have specimen plants grown to stunning size by the beginning of April, to enthrall nursery owners, garden centers, growers, and purchasing agents from the "big box" stores. Visiting the Spring Trials is an exciting experience and opportunity to learn about new cultivars while being awed by the quality of the plantsmanship.

This year, one of those companies contacted me about doing some photography of their mixed containers. Selecta First Class, based in Stuttgart, Germany, developed the concept of planting several varieties of rooted cuttings together, to create a hanging basket in which all the plants are tightly interwoven. They wanted to show the impact of these plants in a "lifestyle" setting, so they loaded my pickup truck with containers similar to those that would soon make their way to the local Costco stores and on to the gardens of some smart consumers.

Selecta has offered to provide plants to decorate tables and the stage at AIB's national symposium and awards September 30 - October 2. They are providing the "Old Glory" mix of red, white and blue calibrachoas. From the experience I've had with them in my garden, they are sturdy, floriferous, forgiving and a remarkable addition to the landscape. They even survived my being out of town for five days and being watered by "the chainsaw gardener" aka Mr. Joe.

Here are some photos - let me know what you think. Of course, Sami was involved in the photo shoot.

BTW, we're still accepting sponsors for the symposium. Contact the AIB office at aib@ofa.org if you'd like to showcase your product to hundreds of people who are passionate about making a difference in the quality of life in their hometown. 

Good gardening,

Evelyn