Top Twenty New Plants for 2009

Hort Couture has over 130 new plants for 2009 so picking a Top Ten list is no easy task. We have narrowed it down to twenty. That was not easy. Check out these favorites that will be "classics" for years to come. In more particular order. Try them all!

1. Acalypha 'African Sunset'

2. Alternanthera 'Sommelier Pinot Gris'

3. Coleus 'Bi Polar By Golly'

4. Coleus 'Zesty Zucchini'

5. Impatiens 'Golden Congo Cockatoo'

6. Ipomoea 'Refried Beans'

7. Lobelia 'Magadi Basket Blue'

8. Plectranthus 'Fuzzy Wuzzy'

9. Colocasia 'Blue Hawaii'

10. Caladium 'Lemon Grass'

11. Salvia 'La Crema'

12. Orchid Patio & Garden 'Cosmopolitan'

13. Ajuga 'Planet Zork'

14. Vinca 'Angel Tutu'

15. Mandevilla 'Red Fury'

16. Cordyline 'Caruba Black'

17. Phormium 'Pink Panther'

18. Coleus 'Juicy Lucy'

19. Cordyline 'Mocha Latte'

20. Cuphea 'Purple Nurple'

Unique varieties that will shine in the mixed container. Make Hort Couture you choice for the beset new varieties for Spring 2009. Call you local grower for availability. Its time to plan your Spring. Don't wait to see what is available in season, work with your local growers to plan for the best Spring ever!

Autumnale...a pleasant surprise

I went over to visit a neighbor here in West Virginia where we live that had asked me early in the Spring to help her with some planters for a party she was having. I always try to take advantage of these opportunities to "trial" plants that maybe we are less familiar with or that I need a better photo of. I was back over again to visit our nice neighbor again and was blown away by the Fuchsia 'Autumnale'. This selection of F. austromantaina does produce flowers in areas with longer growing seasons and is somewhat of a perennial in Zone 7b in more temperate areas but it is really underused as an annual for mixed containers. The picture here speaks volumes about the beauty of this plant.

Autumnale is really a prostrate grower that seems to change color with every changing month of the summer and fall. Spectacular!

Try it and you will have customers and neighbors coming back for it year after year.

Sunny Succulents

Succulents are hot right now. Pick up any garden magazine or plant catalog and there they are. Hort Couture has one of the finest collections in the plant industry. With one of the most developed unrooted programs in the world supporting our program, our line has breadth and unique varieties.

Our SUNNY SUCCULENTS offer named varieties with nationwide shipping in a 9cm (3.33") branded containers with our Lady Couture tags. These plants work well when merchandised with programs like Rock Stars, Stepables or Jeepers Creepers. They are irresistably cute little plants that gardeners love.

We are debuting a new product for 2009. The Sunny Succulent Sampler is a great gift for the gardener that blurs the line between plant and gift in a way that is very new and exciting.

We will have some interesting exclusive varieties in the years to come that will make our program unique in the market. Our industry is just scratching the surface of the potential these plants have. Green Roofs are now very untilitarian but could become great architectural and artistic palettes in the future.

I am very interested in what kinds of sales and programs retailers are doing with succulents. Are you selling succulents? Are they assortments or by variety? Does this matter to you? Do you think having these in a branded program with good POP would increase sales? Where do you think the retail price points should be for a product like this? Let me know. Hort Couture really wants to use this blog forum to learn what you (our customers)think.

Succulents could be a big growth area for you next Spring. I think we have made it very easy to enter into the market with our easy to order program with nationwide shipping. Make up some awesome mixed containers and then merchandise our pots around them with a nice Sunny Succulent Sign to top it all off. Give it a try! Offer a discount on ten plants or more to promote purchasing for mixed pots.

Let me know what you think!

Hort Couture Meets You Tube

Check out this new You Tube video featuring Shirley Bovshow and Jennifer Monroe. Shirley is a nationally recognized garden designer and popular home and garden television host. Proclaimed, the "Garden Goddess," by Reader's Digest Magazine, Shirley's down to earth style, creative designs and joyful personality have made her an audience favorite! Designer and co-host of "Garden Police" on the Discovery Home Channel. She is also the garden expert for the CBS Early Show and appears on Martha Stewart Radio and HGTV. Visit www.GardenCenterTV.com to learn more.



The video was shot at IGC Show in Chicago last month. The finest garden retailers from across America were really excited by Hort Couture. We hope to you will make us a part of your plans for Spring 2009!

For more information about the exciting plants and ideas we offer, please visit www.hortcoutureplants.com or call 866.955.HORT.

Couture Caladiums

One of the most exciting programs we have for 2009 is our Taste of Thailand Caladiums.

Wow! They bring colors and textures to the mixed container that are totally new and exciting.
Chocolates, purples, pure whites and even yellows are part of the new line. These plants were part of the collections of the royal families in Thailand for centuries and only have been known for less than ten years to the outside world. We are very connected to the finest collectors and breeders and have the finest varieties not only from an aesthetic standpoint but also from the criteria of vigor and sun tolerance. Ask you local Hort Couture Grower Network member for more information about this new Caladiums.

We just returned from IGC and FARWEST and I know it sounds like a broken record but we were absolutely blown away with interest. Hort Couture is really something special for the garden retailer. Culinary Couture is destined for greatness in the market. We had nothing but excitement about this program. We are adding several new growers for 2009 that will improve the availability of our products in all markets. According to one of the key note speakers at IGC, we had the busiest booth in the entire show. It is hard to explain the response we get from retailers the first time they see the program and you can see the wheels turning of how they are going to reinvent the way they sell color. Very cool stuff!

Back to the Caladiums, we will have 18 varieties for 2009 and six new patented varieties for 2010. Order early...

OFA Short Course Was Incredible

OFA Short Course was again beyond anything we could have expected. Hort Couture® was one of the busiest booths at the show and we more than doubled our customer count on brochures from last year. The Sunny Succulent™ Sampler boxes at the registration drew many visitors to our booth.

Our new Culinary Couture™ program was very popular. We had many growers and retailers interested in the concept. This is a whole new way to look at selling herbs and vegetables that is really exciting! The eco-friendly packaging looks great as well. This should be available in most major markets next Spring.

The new Taste of Thailand™ Caladium Collection was also of great interest. Barry Yinger was with us to explain the program in more detail and the new varieties are really beautiful. These new Caladiums are perfect for mixed containers and are unlike anything ever seen in the market.
The new header for The Fashion Plate™ box was also a big hit. Also, the new “Dressed for Success” Paper Doll dresses for Lady Couture were the source of many photos. This allows the retailer to create wonderful endcap displays with our silhouettes for dramatic merchandising.
New plants in the booth such as Vinca ‘Angel Tutu’, Cordyline ‘Mocha Latte’ and Salvia ‘La Crema’ were among the best new plants in the entire show. The Chris Baker Signature™ Coleus varieties are really nice and many of the growers will pick them up for 2009. We are quickly becoming a company with a great arsenal of proprietary plants for our high fashion brand.
Check out our website at http://www.hortcoutureplants.com/, or contact me at jim@hortcoutureplants.com. Please call 866-955-HORT or 304.890.6565 to discuss HORT COUTURE® anytime!

Culinary Couture Makes Its Debut

Long before Hort Couture hit the market, we had a great idea that we felt would change how garden retailers sell herbs and vegetables. Culinary Couture gives consumers ideas and direction on how to use these products. By offering these products in collections, it educates and inspires the shopper. Collections such as Thai Restaurant, Salsa in the City and A Zest for Garnish are funfilled boxes of quality plants that can be merchandised in our "Trunk Show Box" in many non traditional ways. We also offer a Culinary Couture three-pack carrier with collections as well.

“Gen X consumers are looking for information and ideas. This program delivers that with great plants and modern packaging. It has tremendous potential in the market.” says Jim Monroe, Hort Couture CEO. “We have several growers that are already on board. They plugs are all certified organic as well so the grower has the option of following through with an organic program if they wish.”

Hort Couture® brings you a great selection of connoisseur vegetables and herbs in our CULINARY COUTURE™ Collection for Spring 2009. This program is exclusive from our Hort Couture Grower Network and features packaging with earth friendly black rice hull pots with our fleur de lis embossed in the pots and biodegradable tags with our Lady Couture decked out in a Hort Couture apron. All liners are produced by certified organic vendors so the grower can offer the program organic if they want. Eco Chic!

There are many exciting new plants in the line with the highlight being our new Salvia ‘La Crema’(tm) that is a wonderful new variegated form of the very popular Berggarten Sage and the wonderful variegated Citronella Plant ‘Frosted’ (pictured above) that is not only a great way to beat the mosquitos but is simply gorgeous in mixed containers.

Creating this program has really been fun to work on. We hope you will enjoy it at your business in 2009!