Winners of the Retailers' Choice Awards announced

The Retailers’ Choice Awards were presented at Cultivate’17 in Columbus, Ohio, on July 17. The Garden Center Group’s Danny Summers and Sid Raisch lead the search, and garden retailers selected the best new products, both live goods and hard goods, for their stores. The awards, sponsored by AmericanHort and The Garden Center Group, recognized 16 products from 14 different companies. Check out the winners from Cultivate’17 below:

Decorative Premium Hanging Baskets (ceramic look) 
Ainong USA
www.ainongplastics.com

Seeing a glazed ceramic-looking container that also can be a hanging basket is unique, and retail judges saw Ainong USA’s new planters as a new opportunity to drive sales. These plastic containers have a finish to make it seem like they are ceramic, but they are light weight and have hanger holes available for hanging.

Coleus Flamethrower Series
Ball FloraPlant
www.ballfloraplant.com

Retailers were excited to see this series being used together to create a unique blend. Medium sized tidy series of 5 coleus colors with uniquely shaped leaves is perfect for quarts and mixed containers. With garden performance in sun or shade, the FlameThrower series from Ball FloraPlant adds texture in the garden and especially in mixes and patio pots.

Mother Nurture
Braun Horticulture, Inc.
www.mother-nurture.com

Retailers are always interested in helping the consumer have success with plants. Braun’s new Mother Nurture helps insure success with delivering needed mycorrhizal fungi using granulated zeolite, all in a 1 pound package and 4 pound package for growers.

Calibrachoa as a Tree Form - grafted onto Standard – new Patented Process
Cohen Hishtil Jaldety Nurseries
www.cohennur.co.il

Many of the retail judges are also growers, and seeing a calibrachoa grown on a standard caught their eyes right away. Cohen Hishtil’s Eyal InBar explained this is a new patented technique on growing certain annuals on a grafted standard. They not only have calibrachoas, but also some peppers and more are on the way.

daVinci Decorative Thin-Walled Containers in Many Creative Designs
daVinci – Airlite Plastics
www.airliteplastics.com

Judges walking by this assortment of thin-walled containers immediately stopped. daVinci decorated containers offer American-made, in-mold labeled designer grow pots and drop-ins. Designs are inspired by a continual process of gathering feedback from both commercial garden centers and home gardeners allowing daVinci to provide designs at a reasonable investment.

No More Twisted Hoses with Dramm’s Brass Hose Swivel!
Dramm Corporation
www.dramm.com

Retail staff spends a lot of time watering, and twisted hoses add to the time needed. Dramm solved the problem and it was an “ahah” moment for the judges. This Brass Hose Swivel is a live swivel, meaning it swivels under pressure, allowing unencumbered movement between the hose and attachment.

New Tomato ‘Heartbreaker’ - Dora F1
Fred C. Gloeckner & Co. Inc.
www.fredgloeckner.com

‘Heartbreaker’ - Dora F1 is a small fruited cocktail type with a heart-shaped point and bright red color. The dwarf, bushy plants are ideal for patio containers or greenhouses and is good for decoration in soups and salads or to decorate your dish as a professional chef. Available as seed from Gloeckner.

Bumper Crop® Organic Plant Foods
Master Nursery Garden Centers
www.masternursery.com

The retailers were attracted to Masters’ new 100% natural organic plant foods in a convenient size package, appealing to the demand for organically grown products. They are high-performance blends with microbial and fungal species. Bumper Crop Organic Plant Foods are exclusive Master Nursery Garden Center products, available only to MNGC members. They are a direct tie into the Bumper Crop Soil Amendment program.

At Last… a fragrant, disease-resistant rose – Rosa x ‘At Last’
Proven Winners Color Choice
www.provenwinners.com

At Last combines all the romance of a fragrant, fully-petaled tea rose with the no-nonsense practicality of a disease-resistant landscape rose. No spraying is required for these plants.

The New Pugster Buddleia Series – short, stocky, and colorful!
Proven Winners Color Choice
www.provenwinners.com

Judges were taken back by the Pugster series - a new look for butterfly bush. It's a compact plant that reaches 2 feet tall and wide, but it has the large, full flowers normally seen on a much larger plant. The name "Pugster" comes from these plants' resemblance to a pug – short and stocky, and it comes in four colors: Pugster Blue, Pugster Periwinkle, Pugster Pink and Pugster White.

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Invincibelle Mini Mauvette’
Proven Winners Color Choice
www.provenwinners.com

A new compact hydrangea that has the 'Annabelle' features, but instead of plain white blooms, the flowers are a pink-mauve, and they're held up on strong, sturdy stems. The show begins in early summer and because Invincibelle Mini Mauvette is a rebloomer, it continues clear through frost for an endless supply of flowers for the landscape or vase (both fresh and dried). Available in Spring 2018.

Dragon’s Breath Red Celosia
Sakata Seed America, Inc.
www.sakataornamentals.com

While Dragon’s Breath is not new this year, the retail judges said it is becoming more recognized for a dramatic statement. One judge said he planted it in front of his center this spring, and it was the most talked about plant. It’s unique green-red foliage and blazing-red, long-lasting flowers of Dragon's Breath celosia exhibit even more red foliage and flowers under adverse garden conditions like heat, humidity and infrequent watering. It is great in containers, beds and large landscapes for dramatic effects.

Bloomin’ Easy Hydrangea paniculata Lavalamp Series – Flare, Candleabra and Moon Rock
Van Belle Nursery
www.vanbelle.com

This new Lavalamp Series of Hydrangeas from Bloomin' Easy caught the judges’ eyes by offering unique colors and improved form with each player having different assets. Candelabra offers candle-like flowers and form, with an upright form. Flare turns the brightest red of any compact Hydrangea paniculata the judges have seen, and Moonrock features large funky blooms with a bold lime-green center.

Sunfinity Sunflower – It’s re-blooming!
Syngenta Flowers Home and Garden
www.mysunfinity.com

The judges were impressed by all the attributes of this new hybrid Sunflower from Syngenta. The plant has: continuous blooms all season long (more than 100 on one plant per season), is easy care as deadheading, pruning is not required and is fast growing to 3-4’ tall and 2-3’ wide in the garden. It also does great as a cut flower. 

TIDBITS and FANCY FEATHERS Coleus Series
Terra Nova Nurseries
www.terranovanurseries.com

These new series of Coleus from Terra Nova are unique in today’s market. The TIDBITS series includes three color combination plants (Tammy, Terry and Timmy) all having small, tight habits, small lobed leaves and short flower spikes. They are self-branching and slow to flower. FANCY FEATHERS series forms a mounding tuffet of narrow, feather-like leaves. It also includes three colors (Pink, Copper and Black).

Assorted Succulents in Creative Containers
Van Bloem Gardens
www.vanbloem.com

The judges were drawn to this display of 2-foot, 4-inch and 6-inch assorted succulents presented in six unique, artisan metal pots, including 2-inch zinc, 4-inch duo and trio pots with handles and a triple 2-foot window sill tray. All were presented on a mini rack with colorful point-of-sale material that illustrates the simplicity of growing succulents indoors or out.

RELATED: Cultivate'17 tour recap: Here's what you missed on the 2017 Plant Production and Nursery Research Learning tour.