Letter From The Sponsor

We are excited to partner with Nursery Management to bring you the latest updates in the world of hydrangeas. The hydrangea category has become one of the most innovative in the ornamental plant market today. Keeping pace with this rapidly evolving category can be challenging, as breeders continually introduce new products, sometimes faster than the market can accommodate. At Bailey, we see it as our responsibility as breeders, growers and the brand owner of Endless Summer® Hydrangeas and First Editions® Shrubs & Trees to address this challenge through responsible brand management, ensuring that only the most robust innovations reach the market.

Our introduction philosophy is straightforward: only the best makes it. This principle maintains our new plant program’s high standard. As growers, we understand the limitations of space for new products. Adding a new product often means removing another. Ideally, this is seen as an opportunity to enhance your product mix with the next generation of high-performing plants.

But how do you ensure you’re adding the best? It takes time and dedication to identify truly unique traits. At Bailey Innovations™, our breeding efforts focus on characteristics that serve as high-performing differentiators, such as new sepal or foliage colors, intriguing flower patterns and compactness. Plants are evaluated over the years to ensure these traits hold true.

As selections advance, trialing becomes increasingly important. Field and production trials occur at Bailey Innovations™ in Georgia and across all Bailey sites in Minnesota, Illinois and Oregon. We also collaborate with global partners to gather external regional performance data. This approach provides us with valuable insights into how each selection responds to different climatic, production and in-ground conditions. We approach all of this from both a breeder’s perspective and as growers committed to delivering consistent, quality plants to the market.

The market has changed significantly since the introduction of Endless Summer® The Original 20 years ago, which is incredibly exciting! Pop Star®, the brand’s newest introduction, exemplifies this breeding evolution with its exceptional flower power, heat tolerance, compactness and versatility.

First Editions® Eclipse® Bigleaf Hydrangea and Little Hottie® Panicle Hydrangea also stand out for unique reasons. Eclipse® showcases its stunning dark leaves that stay dark all season, while Little Hottie® exemplifies a plant that checks all the boxes for end-users, offering abundant blooms on a compact plant, perfect for gardens and mass plantings.

In cool climates across North America, Hydrangea arborescens has been a landscape staple. However, once those big blooms appear, they often droop with rainfall or wind. This is where breeding provides solutions to what some consider unsightly or disappointing issues. In 2025, First Editions® proudly introduces FlowerFull™ Smooth Hydrangea, with strong stems to hold the blooms tall and boasting more than double the flowers of standard varieties. It promises to delight landscapes, retailers and growers for decades to come.

Alec Charais, Chief Marketing & Product Development Officer