Get the hang of it

'Plant-your-own' seminar draws an early crowd at Southwood Nursery

Southwood Nursery’s “Plant Your Own Hanging Basket” event should keep customers buzzing throughout the spring.Southwood Nursery in Tulsa, Okla., got its customers geared up for spring with a “Plant Your Own Hanging Basket” event held in February. To kick off the session, customers listened to a quick description of the Proven Winners plants making up the day’s design palette. Participants then made their selections and potted up their hanging baskets. Lauren Myer with Southwood Nursery offered this recap:

“The event went great, and we ended up having a pretty good turnout. After all the guests came in and got some cookies and tea, I gave a short PowerPoint presentation, going over all the Proven Winners plants and how they work together in combinations. Then we went over to our table of plug trays (we had over 40 plant choices) and talked about how to arrange and plant the basket for the best outcome. Then we turned them loose!

“Each person could plant as many containers as they wanted, and we gave them a choice of five different hanging baskets, a clay pot or a handled basket. All the containers were the same price to keep confusion to a minimum. They were allowed to use five plugs per container, and my advice to them was to put one middle plant and two of each filler/spiller plants. Most followed my advice, but there were some adventurous ones who put five different plugs in each basket. I’m sure those will be interesting come spring!

“From what I could tell, all the participants had a good time and are looking forward to visiting their baskets as they grow. Some were especially excited when I told them I would post updated pictures of their growing baskets on Facebook.”

The baskets will stay in the garden center’s greenhouse to grow until spring. Myer said the baskets will be kept where customers can see them throughout the growing process, allowing participants to come and check on their progress.

For more: Southwood Nursery, www.southwoodnursery.com

 

March 2011
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