The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. We talked, laughed, and visited at CENTS, Green & Growin’, and MANTS. Take a look at highlights from the 2015 winter trade shows.
At CENTS in Columbus, Ohio, our Nursery Manager, Scott Epps, presented two talks on grasses. The first covered the basics and how to use grasses in the landscape. The second presentation addressed specific functions that grasses serve and highlighted species that work well in those settings.Magan Agee and Robert Elder from our sales team enjoyed seeing everyone at the Green & Growin’ show in Greensboro, North Carolina. The show not only attracts exhibitors and attendees from North Carolina, it also pulls from across the southeast and mid-Atlantic states.Our booths at all three shows featured the EverColor series of sedges. They’re evergreen and look fantastic in containers. They attracted a lot of attention!The EverColor sedges keep their color year round. ‘Everillo’ sports bright lime-green and golden foliage. All the EverColor selections are strong growers with an appealing habit.John Hoffman helps unpack boxes for the Hoffman Nursery booth at MANTS in Baltimore, Maryland.Our Director of Sales, Magan Agee, pauses while putting up a banner at MANTS.We’ve updated our booth with new banners and a more open layout. We love the look, which makes it easier to move around the booth and lets the plants shine!Annie Saunders (M), a student at Virginia Tech, stopped by our booth. She talked with David Hoffman (L) about his recent nursery work in Germany. She’s interested in finding an internship in Europe this summer. Annie’s part of the Saunders family that owns Saunders Brothers Nursery in Virginia. John Hoffman (R) gave her a few career tips and a little ribbing about being in a “nursery family.”Speaking of Saunders Brothers Nursery, we had a fun visit with Paul Westervelt (far right). He’s the Annual & Perennial Production Manager for Saunders Brothers, and he really knows his plants. We love working with Paul and getting feedback from him on grasses. He made this show even more interesting by giving us a flamingo (read on to find out why).The Hoffman Nursery Catalog of Grasses awaited MANTS attendees each morning. We gave away lots of catalogs, which included a snazzy booklet on the EverColor Sedges.Rich Hesselein of Pleasant Run Nursery in NJ, Bill Barnes of Barnes Horticultural Services in PA, and Shannon Currey, our Marketing Director, share a laugh during MANTS.The flamingo perched in our booth to promote this summer’s Perennial Plant Association Symposium in Baltimore. “The Flock is Gathering” is the tagline, and you could see flamingos all over MANTS.Allen Bush of Jelitto Perennial Seeds stopped by for a visit at MANTS. We always look forward to Allen’s interesting stories of exploration and new plant suggestions.At the Perennial Plant Association’s (PPA) booth, members helped demonstrate that the “flock is gathering” for the annual symposium in Baltimore. Pink wigs, boas, and a little flamingo flare made for some pretty memorable images. David Hoffman and John Hoffman joined in the flamingo fun.Past and present PPA board members, Janet Draper of the Smithsonian Institute (L), John Hoffman (M), and David Sanford (R) of Penn State University flock around the Hoffman Nursery booth.In addition to containers filled with the EverColor sedges, we had trays of each variety—‘Eversheen’, ‘Everillo’, ‘Everlime’, ‘Everdi’, and Everest. They were a hit!And that’s it for our trade show highlights. Thanks for reading!
We wrapped up a whirlwind of trade shows in January with Green & Growin' in North Carolina. This is our home show, and it's always a fantastic time for us.
