Postcards from Michigan

In the last few days of July, editors from Nursery Management and our sister publications Greenhouse Management and Garden Center attended the Michigan Garden Plant Tour, a two-week event that crisscrosses the state. On the first day of the trip, we visited Four Star Greenhouse, a Proven Winners grower. Four Star showcased more than 30 new varieties in its display gardens, which have several features to show gardeners how beautiful and easy gardening can be.

Next, we traveled to C. Raker & Sons to check out the trial gardens where 250 petunias are being tested in the 2014 hanging basket trials. Each year, Raker selects a plant to focus on and it chose this classic annual, the same highlighted by the National Garden Bureau in its 2014 “Year of the…” program.

Raker also built a children’s garden planted with bright, bold flora that encourages hands-on interaction. At the center of the garden is a teepee covered with climbing sweet peas.

On the second day of the tour, we began at Mast Young Plants. Along with showcasing 1,000 varieties in its display gardens, the young plant producer is now testing vegetative material for All-America Selections for the first time. One of the highlights of the tour was Mast Young’s trial of nearly 200 dahlias, where they hope to discover which perform best for their own research and engage visitors. Attendees were able to vote for their favorites and can find out how they did at the end of the season.

Next, we stopped at Spring Meadow Nursery. We took a behind-the-scenes tour that highlighted some innovative production practices, including a custom-built trimmer and a grading machine that can handle 8,000 plants an hour. We also learned about the nursery’s social media initiatives, and saw some of Proven Winners’ newest forays into Southern plants.

Built around an impressive weeping willow-esque display of hanging baskets, the Pell Greenhouses stop was a delightful visual display. The display featured many recycled objects from the greenhouses themselves. This year, Eric Pell, young plant production for Pell, was excited about Scaevola Scampi, a plant gaining popularity for its heat tolerance. He was also impressed by Vivid Verbenas powdery mildew resistance and new color offerings.

Our final day at the Michigan Garden Plant Tour started at Walters Gardens, where we saw a bevy of new varieties. There was also a finished display section of the gardens that was designed to give growers a glimpse into the future of their young plants. The section showed various perennials as they might look at retail and provided clever signage for plant groupings, including deer-resistant plants, drought-resistant plants, and shade plants. Some of the signage was designed to answer the age-old question, “How do you sell a plant that’s not in bloom?”

The final stop of our tour was the gardens at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Offering a unique vantage point, the trial gardens are situated in the middle of MSU’s campus and are free and open to the public. Foot traffic is common throughout the grounds, and the various plantings provide vivid color for passers-by. MSU’s gardens are not confined strictly to trials though. The acres of gardens are organized by themes ranging from Japanese gardens to roof gardens to the nation’s first 4-H Children’s Garden.

We also had an opportunity to visit the MSU Extension’s 10-year-old display garden in Grand Rapids that was designed and founded by Master Gardeners and has been maintained by volunteers. The Grand Ideas Garden, filled with varieties new and old, gives visitors an idea of what they can have in their own backyards.

To see video of each of these stops, please visit www.nurserymag.com/media.