…And this is why we like to grow the Impatiens that we do. Solid carpets of color make a strong statement. I'm holding a 6-in pot of ‘Tango Mix’ in front of the crop, but the same could be true for the ‘Xtreme Pink’, ‘Accent Burgundy’ or ‘Utopia Mix’.

For home installations or commercial applications, it is hard to beat the firepower that Impatiens brings to the garden bed. Think of it as Living Paint—it is certainly an important plant in the designer’s toolbox of color.

Our specialty is the broad range of designer colors we bring to the market. In addition to the vivid hues they are famous for, we also have a range of alternative shades for the garden designer. A few favorites that stand out this week:

Impatiens are fast-growing, full-color annuals that do well in the shade. These are good plants to recommend to home gardeners if they want big color in a broad carpet, and 1203 trays are an affordable way to get to big color.

We grow the Xtreme series of Impatiens as it is the best impatiens for just this task. The plants grow very strong in the garden, even when starting from the small tray cell. We recommend planting them about 8 inches apart to get full color coverage with no soil showing.

Hort Couture is our line of premium garden annuals in distinctive white pots with black fleur-de-lis. The companion tag features a young lady in silhouette presenting the name of the plant and wearing its flowers as the pattern on her dress. The Hort Couture program offers one of the strongest presentations in the market right now.

Another prominent feature of Hort Couture is its attention to the independent retailer. You won't be facing Hort Couture competition from the box store or supermarket channels because the brand is not available there.

Hort Couture always fares well when it is gathered together in a dedicated nook, corner, table or rack. Critical mass is important—you need enough of the material to be noticed. The program is designed to be highly visible, so gather your Hort Couture momentum into a single ‘ta-da’ presentation.

Our dianthus crop are really strong this year. We carry two strong lines of Dianthus, the Elation series and the Super Parfait series. Both are full sun, tender perennials that we sell as annuals because they are not hardy in the Cincinnati market.

The Elation Series has everything we look for in a quality danthus: good growth, a heavy coat of flowers and a long-blooming season. It has heat tolerance to help its summer performance in the garden, and the series has all the important dianthus colors: white, coral, pink, red and even a bi-color red thrown in for a good mix.

The Elation Series is the backbone of our dianthus crop, and we offer the full range of colors in two sizes: the 1203 trays and the 6-in green pots. The Elation violet in the 6-inch pot is an especially good deal. It fills the pot with blooms and you feel like you are getting more plant than you are paying for.