Great Change in the Garden Center Industry

In the last year we have seen many well known nurseries struggle or close. Monrovia, Hines, Carolina... the list goes on. Small business is hurting everwhere with banking relationships, increases in taxes and government controls and competition for limited consumer dollars from mass merchants. Garden Centers have added to this the fact that success in our industry is extremely dependent on good weather. This all adds up to tough sledding in the IGC industry. Our company, Hort Couture, is here to help the independent channel be more successful. Here are a few of the things I want to point out:

1. We will NEVER be in the box stores. We are a brand developed by an IGC for the IGC. This never does mean never. Not in five years or fifty years with this commitment change. IGC's are pesimistic when they hear this after experiences with Proven Winner, Henri Studio, Hines, Monrovia, Christopher Radko and other brands that have jumped ship to the mass merchants. We are different.

2. We are dedicated to preserving the dynamic that the best new plants are at the IGC. Many great new plants now begin their careers in the boxes. Whether you are selling televisions or petunias, as a retailer you must have the latest new products to be appreciated and supported by your customers. We need the support of the industry to band together to give the breeders the promise of financial return (royalties) from the IGC that is competitive with the return from the boxes. Together we can keep the good stuff at the Indy where it belongs. Breeders want to help, they just need to make a living too.

3. We are creating new business channels and supply chain ideas to help the independent. We have made branding easier for the small grower or retailer and have a new innovative way to delivery product from Florida to the IGC. We are looking at the future of the IGC and how we can be a better partner to them.

4. We have a value added brand. We want the Hort Couture brand to give the IGC a destination brand with a luxury feel that will lead to better margins for growers and retailers at all levels of the supply chain. We can not survive as an industry with the attitude that cheaper is how to compete.

5. We are actively looking for ways to attract new gardeners to the IGC. Hort Couture is on the forefront of digital media and how it can be used to educate and attract new customers to the IGC. Cultivating new customers is an important aspect of iGC success in the future.

I hope if you are a small business in our industry that you will take a closer look at what we are doing. The consumer dreads the trip to the box and looks forward to the trip to the independent. We hope that you will consider our brand a unique and profitable way to make your store different than the big box.

Fresh Fusion Salad Mixes

Our collection of salad greens are trendy and oh so delicious. Here are the mixes available for 2011.

Asian Stir Fry is a gorgeous, easy to grow mix that is perfect for fresh salads, stir fry or saute.

Contains: Pak Choi New Nabai 25%, Mustard Green Wave 25%, Mustard Mizuna 25%, Swiss Chard Prima Rossa 25%.

Culinary Couture™ Mesclun Mix is a sophisticated, earthy mix that is great with red meats, seafood and hearty recipes.

Contains: Chervil Curled 20% , Arugula Rocket 20%, Lettuce Speckles 20%,Endive Batavian 20%, Spinach Hellcat 10%, Swiss Chard Prima Rossa 10%

Going Green™ Mix is a light combination of lettuces with a punch of smokey European greens to infuse a great taste combination.

Contains Butternut Buttercrunch 24%, Lettuce Simpson Elite 22%, Lettuce Green Wave 21%, Arugula Rocket 11%, Chicory Rossa di Verona 11%, Endive Batavian 11%

Soul Food Salad™ Collard Mix is a hearty southern green with must a hint of Arugula and red lettuce to give it color and a softer taste.

Contains: Collard Georgia Southern 65%, Arugula Rocket 10%, Lettuce Speckles 25%

C’est la Vie Corn Salad Mache is a great combination of this lovely mild French green with colorful red lettuce and the texture and punch of a hint of kale. PICTURED.

Contains: MixCorn Salad Mache 40%,Lettuce Red Sails 30%,Kale Red Russian 30%

Urban Jungle Mix™ is a lettuce lovers dream. Specialty lettuce in a perfect percentage to give this a wonderfully fresh taste.

Contains: Lettuce Butternut Buttercrunch 15%, Lettuce Cimmaron 17% , Lettuce Green Wave 17%, Lettuce Red Sails 17%, Lettuce Simpson Elite 17%, Lettuce Speckles 17%

The new FRESH FUSION MIXES from Culinary Couture are going to be a big hit in 2011 with gardeners and cooks alike!

Our First Spring Trials

We spent ten great days in Carpinteria, California at California Spring Trials. Great plants (45 new varieties for 2011), great people visiting all week and even greater opportunity.

The highlights of the week were our introduction of the first Smart Gardening Tag to Horticulture. Using "Quick Response" (QR) Code technology, we can link our tags and signage to webpages, video and text messages. Wow! The possibilities are endless. Visit our Facebook page to see several videos about this!

As for the plants, Calibrachoa KIMONO 'Hot Pink' is a great new plant. There are lots of pics from Spring Trials on FLICKR at hortcouture. Check them out!

Also our new Argyranthemum DRESS UP from Heuger were well recieved. Excellent new breeding that will revolutionize the genus. We are excited! Chocolate Princess is among the best in the series.

The other series that got lots of attention from the cameras are the new PERFECTUNIAS. This is a very exciting new compact Petunia in very cool colors. They will be very popular!

It was an incredible experience to be the new company at an event like this. The excitement for our new genetics and ideas was very high. We were the only genetics in the entire trial that are exclusive to the independent garden retailer. That speaks volumes about what Hort Couture means to the industry. We are proud!

Patio & Garden Orchids

What Makes Patio & Garden Orchids Different?


These are the most durable orchids ever developed for outdoor use.

Thriving in heat and high humidity, these orchids bloom all summer in the garden as a landscape feature, on the patio or terrace as a container specimen or mixed with other summer blooming plants in combination. An amazing addition to the container garden palette, these beauties will
transform the look of planters on America’s patios, decks and porches. These orchids are
easy to grow with excellent foliage quality and numerous long lasting scapes. Most
varieties reach an ultimate height of 18-24”. Bring Patio & Garden Orchids inside for the
cooler months and move back out after danger of frost. Gorgeous and a great value!



Think of Patio & Garden Orchids as the upscale “geranium” of the future!

This revolutionary group of Orchids are easy to grow in full sun or partial shade. They perform
best with regular watering and a regular regiment of liquid fertilizer. They must have well
drained soils. They like pine bark based soils which offer good drainage and acid properties.
Hardy to Zone 9, these free flowering varieties are happy
in the harshest of landscape conditions, thriving in hot areas. Great companions to Patio & Garden Orchids in mixed containers are Sweet Potato Vine, Coleus and Lantana. They also combine will with bold textured tropicals such as Bananas and Elephant Ears and graceful ornamental grasses.
You will be impressed by the summer performance of these plants. It is an incredible breakthrough to find varieties that will take direct sun in an outdoor environment.
Patio & Garden Orchids also make a great gift for the special gardener and give designers, architects and home gardeners a new palette of opportunities for using orchids in ways never
thought of before. Experience the exotic beauty of orchids outdoors.

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There are limited quantities available for 2010. Order early!!!

Guaranteed Success!

The three brokers that offer Hort Couture® are offering a money back guarantee on both liners and finished plants for Spring 2010.

If you do not recoup the cost of the plants, we will
refund the difference!

“This gives the grower or retailer the opportunity to purchase Hort Couture with little risk of not succeeding with this exciting new product line. We all realize that this is a weird time in the economy and we want companies to experience the opportunity that Hort Couture offers the industry.”

This statement comes from Eason Horticultural, Fred C. Gloeckner Co. and McHutchison. The program details are available from these companies or their national network of over 90 combined sales representatives.

The joint effort of these brokerage companies to promote the Hort Couture brand is an unprecedented concept in the floriculture industry. This guarantee is a way to show the combined confidence that all of the partners in the Hort Couture alliance have in these plants and products.


With liners from such fine companies as Raker Greenhouses and Euro American Propagators and finished plants from numerous growers across North America, the accessibility of Hort Couture products is greater than ever.

According to Jim Monroe, CEO of Hort Couture,

“We want IGC’s and growers to get behind our brand to make it the leading choice for those companies that are impassioned to see the independent sector of our industry thrive. This guarantee makes getting involved in Hort Couture stress free.”

Hort Couture is the only young plant company with flowering annual genetics that are exclusive to the independent channel of our industry.

For more information on any of the exciting new plants from HORT COUTURE™, please call us at 866.955.HORT or visit our website at www.hortcoutureplants.com.

Hort Couture™ combines the world’s finest plants with sophisticated marketing programs creating an upscale brand for independent garden retailers.

Also visit the websites for the brokerage companies at:

www.EHRNET.com for Eason Horticultural
www.MCHUTCHISON.com for McHutchison Inc.
www.FREDGLOECKNER.com for Fred C. Gloeckner Co.

New Petunia PANACHE shine in summer trials

The new PANACHE Petunias from Hort Couture were a big hit in summer trials in MI and WV this summer. From Kerley Plants in the UK, we are very pleased to bring this superior line of genetics to the market. The Kerley family is best known for Priscilla, a gorgeous double petunia that has been a staple of the Proven Winner program for many hears. Another recent introduction is the popular Bermuda Beach variety also from PW.

PANACHE Petunias exhibited sturdy plants with good vigor while maintaining excellent compact habit in pots, baskets and plantings. The flowers are large with excellent ruffling and the colors are simply spectacular. Both trialing sites have seen great weather tolerance to the blooms and the varieties are very early blooming.

If you are looking for a great line of vegetative petunias that are EXCLUSIVE to the independent garden retailer, look no further than the PANACHE Petunias from Hort Couture.

I welcome your comments about these exciting new plants or any other Hort Couture plants.

Sophisticated New Gerbera

Hort Couture has a great relationship with renown Dutch breeder Lekkerkerk. The breeding at Lekkerkerk is the hottest program on the planet for cool new gerbera for the potted crop market. You will be amazed by what you will see from this program over the next three years!

The SOPHISTICATA line is a new bi color mix that is sensational. This is an exclusive product through RAKER for 2010. Not only are the flowers hot but the plants are a joy to grow.

There are also several other genetic lines that are very exciting. The double EYECATCHERS are the easy, large flowered doubles in electric colors. Wow is all you can say about this program.

There are also very cool new single colors such as PINK PANTHER. Spider types, Mini types for 4" pots and many other products are in the line.

WE LOVE THE CRAZY DAISY- YOU WILL TOO!