To MANTS For Plants

Yesterday, several of us from work drove up to Charm City for the day to attend the annual Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS). This event is sponsored by the nursery and landscape associations of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and is one of largest regional shows under one roof. Here the nursery industry gathers to show its wares to garden centers, landscapers and each other. Although there were people selling pottery, garden accessories, power equipment, software and such; it is mainly a very plant centered show with close to 900 different vendors. It seemed that each of the spaces on the floor of the massive Baltimore Convention Center was full, but unfortunately there was more than plenty of room in the aisles and the people looking were outnumbered by the people selling. All the national heavy hitters were there like Monrovia, Jackson and Perkins, Proven Winners, Ball Horticulture and others, as well as many more regional players, and in addition to many small family owned businesses. I got to see a few new plant introductions, caught up with old acquaintances and picked up several hundred pounds of catalogs.

Usually shows like this are a good way to take the pulse of the industry and to see what may be any up and coming trends. The good news is that there will be no overall shortage of plants this year. Wholesale growers are sitting on mountains of inventory, and the of deals, special offers and price reductions were flying around the cavernous hall. Hopefully these savings will also show up in the garden centers. Many of the growers are taking excess inventory right from the pots to the compost piles and are starting fresh with new crops. There were also several booths advertising "going out of business" sales. Like many sectors of the economy, nurseries have been cutting costs and limiting spending wherever they can with the hopes that things are slowly getting better, but I think it will be a while before the happy dances can begin again.

Although there were many plant vendors at MANTS, I did not see too many new trees or shrubs. Some were showing a new Redbud with orange new growth maturing to chartreuse (I am glad the flowers will be gone when this one leafs out). The number of new hydrangeas is about to multiply again, particularly the re-bloomers. Abelia cultivars are also expanding, but to the point I can't tell the difference. Most of the new stuff seemed to be in the world of perennials, annuals and tropicals. The proliferation of Heucheras continues unabated and the breeding of Hellebores is producing more results. One trend I saw a lot of is the increased number of tender succulents and other exotics that are now being offered. Another big trend that I think is more ground-up, customer driven - is the new emphasis on edibles, and many formally strictly ornamental nurseries are now offering fruits and vegetables.

Calthea crocata

Coleus remain hot.

Assorted Heucheras

This nursery always displays their plants like pieces of art and always includes an enormous arrangement of cut branches from the plants they grow.

This company sells "vintage" plant material, some of which might come with a pedigree. The boxwoods on the back wall were easily 12' tall.

Candy Store Series Phlox

Kalanchoe 'Magic Bells'

Agave x humilis 'Hedgehog'

Aloe variegata

Back at work today, I spent the better part of the day sorting through all my catalogs to learn more about new discoveries, looking for deals, seeing what I think I can sell this spring and generally avoiding the bitter weather outside.

(If you would like to see more of what I saw at MANTS, you can visit a slideshow on my Flickr page. And as always, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have received no compensation for anything mentioned in this post, but I am always open for negotiation.)

A New Day

New Year's Eve has rarely been a cause of great celebration for me as an adult, however, I felt differently when I was young. I grew up on a suburban street full of families and lots of kids. New Year's Eve usually found one house on the street hosting an adult party, while the older kids gathered at another enjoying juvenile humor and company, as well as the privilege of staying up late with minimal supervision. My first real career after college was in hotel management and this is where the holiday lost its luster for me. Most of the places I worked offered inexpensive package deals, and the night was usually very busy for us. Sometimes there were public parties in ballrooms, but there were always many private celebrations we had little control over, and at both, great quantities of alcohol were consumed. Consequently I had to work every New Year's Eve trying to keep a lid on things, making sure the guests, as well as the hotel were kept safe, and we were lucky if we only had a few belligerent confrontations. The next morning was no day of rest. New Year's Day was spent trying to herd slow moving people out the doors so we could clean up after them, and I am here to tell you - people do things in hotels they don't do at home. I don't miss this part of my former life in the least.

I have never shared the inclination some revelers have to quickly push the old year out the door like a bad house guest, while pinning so many hopes on the New Year, as if the simple flip of a calender page will change our lives. If you have unresolved issues in your life, they do not disappear on New Year's Day. Perhaps the best use of this time of year is to reflect on what brought us to this point, are there changes we would like to make and where would we like to go. I myself will be marking half a century in the coming year, and at this point in my life I am not anxious to see the calender flip any faster than it has to. For me I find it much more enjoyable to celebrate the new day and not so much the New Year. Now let me get down from behind this pulpit.

This past Sunday was a cause for celebration. It was the first day in at least two weeks that it was either not raining, overcast or unusually cold, and the day found me fortunate to be on Virginia's beautiful Eastern Shore. There was a light fog in the morning that quickly burned off, followed by bright sunshine, no chilling winds and with temperatures in the mid 50's. All of the following pictures were taken on the shore of Metompkin Bay in Accomac Co. This blog has been here several times, but the blogger never gets tired of visiting.

There have been several tides well above normal this fall, and they have washed over the nearby land leaving behind many things including this purple seaweed that was nearly everywhere.

I was not the only one celebrating the new day. According to my father (whose birthday just happens to be New Year's Day) these ducks are probably Mergansers and they were enjoying the calm water as they fished for breakfast.

Calm skies were celebrated by a different group of birds. These are just a small portion of the hundreds of Snow Geese that were overhead Sunday morning. Snow Geese summer in the Artic, and are only winter visitors to the Eastern Shore, spending their days on the barrier islands, or gleening through the recently harvested fields for leftovers. I just wish I knew what message they were trying to spell in the sky.

Whether you are a rowdy reveller, or given to comtemplative introspection, or if it just another new day to you - I wish you all the best this New Year's Day.
(If you would like to see the rest of the photos in this series, you can do so on my Flickr page.)