Hot New Perennials

Looking for the hottest new perennials to hit the market? Look no further—Eason Horticultural Resources (EHR) just released the 14th edition of their new perennials booklet, amply titled “Hot New Perennials for 2023.” This booklet from EHR contains many of the upcoming new or recent introductions from breeding companies and perennial young plant producers.

Click HERE to view EHR’s “Hot New Perennials for 2023” booklet. If you’d prefer to receive a printed hard copy, you can request one at info@ehrnet.com. To download a copy of this booklet, or for more information about EHR and their other publications, visit them at ehrnet.com.

These Caught My Eye

I’m hopeful you’ll take me up on the offer and view EHRs “Hot New Perennials.” In the meantime, I thought I’d pass along a few perennials that stood out to me.

Delphinium Red Lark

Red Lark from Darwin Perennials is a breeding breakthrough in delphinium hybridization. It’s a sterile hybrid that won't reseed and doesn't require staking. Red Lark produces spectacular coral-red flowers on strong, sturdy spikes. Works great as a cut flower, container plant or focus plant in the landscape. Hardy to Zone 5.

Heliopsis Luna Roja

Luna Roja is an incredible new heliopsis from Concept Plants. It’s very compact (just 16-in. tall), has a naturally rounded habit, has very dark foliage and is very floriferous. An abundance of attractive contrasting yellow-orange to fire red flowers cover the plant from July to September. It may be hard to get your hands on it this year, but you’ll definitely want to give it a try when you can. Hardy to Zone 3.

Lavandula Javelin Compact

Javelin Compact was recently added to the Javelin series of Spanish lavender from Syngenta Flowers. This naturally compact cultivar is densely branched, has tightly stacked internodes and tons of flower power. Javelin Compact is hardy all the way to Zone 5 and requires vernalization for flowering.

These three recent introductions are just a small sampling of the great new perennials featured in EHRs “Hot New Perennials” booklet. Be sure to check out the rest by clicking HERE.

Plug & Cutting Conference

Over the years, one of my favorite educational events is the Plug & Cutting Conference that takes place about once every three years. It’s not a buyer’s show or an overly large trade show; rather it’s a smaller, very focused educational venue. I’m in luck, as the next Plug & Cutting Conference is just a few weeks away.

On September 19-21, 2022, AmericanHort’s Plug & Cutting Conference is being held in Denver Colorado. There will be greenhouse production tours, hands-on workshops, a connection-building trade show and two days of grower-focused education.

If you do any type of propagation or are looking to do more, I highly recommend attending this conference. There are nearly 40 sessions being presented by many of the industry’s top experts (including yours truly) covering nearly every aspect of propagation.

Click HERE to review event information and to register for this must-attend event for propagators.

8 Tips for Marketing Flowers to Millennials

I’m no marketing guru, but I do recognize the importance and value of marketing to our industry’s next generations of customers. I came across a couple of articles in the latest edition of LivRio e-mag I thought I’d pass along.

Millennials are the largest generation in America with plenty of spending power. However, they’re notoriously challenging for marketers since they respond to marketing messages differently than previous generations. If you understand Millennial values, priorities and desires, you’ll be a step ahead in your marketing and promotion efforts.

1. Be Authentic. Millennials value authenticity more than any other demographic when it comes to purchasing decisions. One surefire way to market with authenticity is to post user-generated content, which Millennials rate as the most authentic form of advertising.

2. Provide Instant Gratification. In this digital age, we can do almost anything with a finger swipe or a face scan. Instant shopping is a must for Millennials, but so is instant response and customer service. Keep up with your emails, social media comments and private messages to maintain that instant contact with Millennial customers and build trust.

3. Prioritize Mobile. Millennials were the first generation to grow up using mobile devices as the primary means of communication. Every day, the average Millennial spends seven times longer on a smartphone than on a desktop computer. They’re using apps like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and many more.

4. Use Real-life Visuals. Fortunately, as a floral business, you can provide plenty of original images of your arrangements. Plus, you can feature specific customers in your posts, have a local influencer “take over” your social media accounts for a day, or create a poll or contest on your Instagram story. And make sure to put out original video content since they’ll be watching videos far more than looking at static images.

5. Keep Up With Your Blog. Fresh content is key to getting more website traffic and it’s essential when it comes to grabbing those Millennial customers. Studies show that well-written blogs can increase website visits by 50% or more. Fresh, updated content will increase your chances of showing up on search engines, which is vital because Google reports that 55% of Millennials ignore brands that don’t appear well in search results.

6. Focus on Inbound Marketing. Traditional advertising and paid media are still important when promoting your products, but inbound marketing is even more important—particularly to Millennials. They're unlikely to look at paid ads and would rather see informative newsletters, blog posts and fun videos. This will keep them interested and engaged, making them far more likely to turn into buyers.

7. Use Advertising to Gather Info. Inbound marketing is also a fantastic way to get more information from your customers. Create social media polls, send out email surveys and pay attention to customer service feedback. That way, you’ll know what your Millennial customers want.

8. Use a Variety of Social Media Platforms. Did you know that 87% of Millennials in the U.S. use Facebook at least once per week? That makes it a powerful marketing tool for your floral business! But it’s not just Facebook: 79% of Millennials use social media multiple times daily and spend more time across different platforms than other generations. So make sure you’re not just marketing your flowers on Facebook, but also on Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and more.

6 Tips for Marketing to Generation Z

Here’s the second article from the August 2022 edition of LivRio. This one focuses on strategies for marketing to the next generation: Generation Z.

Generation Z are those born in the mid-1990s to 2000s. Sure, they may be young now, but they’ll be your customers soon enough. Most importantly, this generation makes up 27% of the U.S. population and is projected to have a staggering $44 billion in buying power.

1. Get Real and Tell Stories. As with Millennials, Gen Z wants to see real people and relatable stories in marketing campaigns. They’re looking for stories about people who share the same struggles and beliefs as they do, and they can sniff out a paid actor in a nanosecond.

2. Be Quick! You don’t have a lot of time to share your marketing message since the average attention span of a Gen Z consumer is eight seconds.

3. Market With a Purpose. Social responsibility is a huge factor in marketing to Generation Z: approximately 55% of Gen Z customers specifically look for socially responsible brands when making purchasing decisions. If you’re using sustainably farmed flowers in your arrangements, this generation would respond positively to that message, as it shows you’re taking care of the environment.

4. Create a Seamless Mobile Experience. Gen Z consumers grew up with mobile devices and make most online purchases on smartphones. That’s why it’s vital to optimize your site for mobile devices and make the check-out process as smooth as possible.

5. Create Simple, Straightforward Emails. Social media should be the priority when marketing to Gen Z, but that doesn’t mean email doesn’t have its place. In fact, 58% of Gen Zers access emails many times daily.

6. Advertise Differently on Each Social Media Platform. As you can imagine, Generation Z is the most social-media savvy of all generations. And since they live their lives online, they use each platform differently. That’s why you can’t advertise the same way across all of them. Your content choices will heavily depend on what social media platform you use.

I hope you found these two articles from LivRio useful. There are tons of valuable content in this resource and all their past issues are available online. Check them out: www.rioroses.com/livrio-e-mag.

Green Career Week

Seed Your Future has created Green Career Week (October 3 to 7, 2022) to help you reach the next generation of professionals. It’s a national campaign to increase awareness about green industry careers. Businesses and organizations essentially connect with their local high schools to showcase the various career paths at their business.

I was in ninth grade when I discovered horticulture through my high school, but don’t think most students today are aware of what horticulture is or how enjoyable a career it can be. Our industry needs to bring awareness to the opportunities we have to offer. Please consider participating in Green Career Week. Click HERE for more details.

Thanks for reading this edition of Perennial Pulse. My email is paul@opelgrowers.com if you have any comments, article suggestions or if you'd just like to say hello.

Paul Pilon
Editor-at-Large—Perennial Pulse
Director of Growing—Opel Growers

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