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New Garden Products Win
2008 MGA Green Thumb Awards |
 Ten new gardening products—five new plant varieties and five new tools and accessories—have won 2008 MGA Green Thumb Awards presented by the Mailorder Gardening Association. Bringing home awards in the Plants, Bulbs and Seeds division were Petunia ‘Opera Supreme Lilac Ice’ from Park Seed Company,
Changing Colors Dahlia from Dutch Gardens, April in Paris from Jackson & Perkins Roses, Peony Bartzella from Wayside Gardens, and Lovestruck from Jackson & Perkins Roses.
Honored in the Tools, Supplies and Accessories division were Escar-Go!® Supreme™ from Gardens Alive!, Nature’s Avenger Organic Herbicide from Beaty Fertilizer, Inc., the Kombi Forever Shovel from Beaty Fertilizer, Inc., PotHoles® Drainage Discs from Aspen West Partners, LLC, and Essex Plant Supports from Gardener’s Supply.
Winners of the 2008 MGA Green Thumb Awards were chosen by an independent panel of garden writers and editors. The winning products were selected based on their uniqueness, tech-nological innovation, ability to solve a gardening problem or provide a gardening opportunity, and potential appeal to gardeners.
The MGA Green Thumb Awards recognize outstanding new garden products available by mail or online. The awards are sponsored by the Mailorder Gardening Association, the world’s largest nonprofit association of companies that sell garden products directly to consumers.
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2008 MGA Green Thumb Award Winners – Plants, Bulbs and Seeds
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Petunia ‘Opera Supreme Lilac Ice’
Park Seed Company
‘Opera Supreme Lilac Ice’ is a new trailing grandiflora petunia that offers a unique flowering pattern and a longer season of bloom. Instead of setting new blooms only at the end of each stem like other petunias, ‘Opera Supreme Lilac Ice’ flowers all the way to the base. This dense flowering eliminates the “empty center” look of many mature
hanging basket plants. Trailing up to three feet long, this lovely plant begins the new season a few weeks ahead of other varieties and finishes several weeks later. The prolific blooms combine lovely shades of lilac and purple. A packet of 10 seeds sells for $3.95 exclusively from Park Seed Company, (800) 845-3369, www.parkseed.com. |
Petunia ‘Opera Supreme Lilac Ice,’ Park Seed Company
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Changing Colors Dahlia
Dutch Gardens
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Changing Colors Dahlia
Dutch Gardens
Dutch breeder Pim Hoekstra discovered Changing Colors Dahlia in a group of his dahlia trial seedlings. Each flower on the plant is different because the flower undergoes a dramatic color change as it matures. Some of the flowers start out white and develop lavender and purple coloration, while others start out lavender or purple and mature to white. Every 4-inch to 5-inch flower is unique, giving this plant a truly unique appearance. Changing Colors Dahlia grows 24-26 inches tall and 18 inches wide and blooms from mid-summer to fall. Three top-size clumps sell for $12.95 exclusively from Dutch Gardens, (800) 944-2250, www.dutchgardens.com.
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April in Paris
Jackson & Perkins Roses
April in Paris boasts an elegant bloom form, intoxicating fragrance and excellent garden performance. April in Paris is a high-centered, richly perfumed cream and pink blend hybrid tea rose that inherited the beautiful characteristics of both its famous parents—Pristine and New Zealand. Each 4.5-inch bloom has over 30 petals that slowly spiral open and last over a week in a vase. Each bloom is framed by a lush backdrop of glossy dark green foliage. Plants sell for $19.95 exclusively from Jackson & Perkins Roses, (800) 872-7673, www.jacksonandperkins.com. |
April in Paris
Jackson & Perkins Roses
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Lovestruck
Jackson & Perkins Roses
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Lovestruck
Jackson & Perkins Roses
Lovestruck is one of the brightest, showiest floribunda roses ever introduced. Each bloom is a work of art—from the handpainted look of glowing hot-pink petals to the dramatic white reverse. Large clusters of bright 4-inch ruffled blooms are borne on long stems on a compact, highly disease-resistant plant. Lovestruck’s tidy, rounded shape and compact 3.5-foot height make it a perfect container rose in an urban garden setting.
The vigor and continuous blooms also make Lovestruck an ideal plant for a dramatic mass planting. Plants sell for $16.95 exclusively from Jackson & Perkins Roses, (800) 872-7673, www.jacksonandperkins.com.
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Peony Bartzella
Wayside Gardens
Peony Bartzella is one of the new hybrid crosses between a tree peony and an herbaceous peony. This delightful plant offers gardeners the wonderful heavy blooms of a tree peony with the nice compact form of an herbaceous type. Bartzella is a beautiful double yellow flowering form that performs well to USDA Zone 8. Plants sell for $29.95 exclusively from Wayside Gardens, (800) 845-1124, www.waysidegardens.com. |
Peony Bartzella
Wayside Gardens
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2008 Green Thumb Award Winners – Tools, Supplies and Accessories
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Escar-Go!® Supreme™
Gardens Alive!
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Escar-Go!® Supreme™
Gardens Alive!
Escar-Go!® Supreme™ is an organic bug, slug and snail killer that does not harm pets or wildlife. All of the active ingredients are from natural sources. Iron phosphate, the active ingredient in the original Escar-Go!, has been proven in university tests to effectively kill slugs and snails. Slugs and snails eat the pellets and cease feeding, go to a hiding place and die. With the addition of Spinosad to the formulation, Escar-Go! Supreme also kills insect pests such as cutworms, earwigs, pill bugs and sow bugs. Any Escar-Go! Supreme that isn’t eaten by pests will biodegrade. A 13-ounce package of Escar-Go! Supreme sells for $9.95, or 2.25 pounds sells for $19.95, exclusively from Gardens Alive!, (513) 354-1482, www.GardensAlive.com.
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Nature’s Avenger Organic Herbicide
Beaty Fertilizer, Inc.
Nature’s Avenger Organic Herbicide is a fast-acting citrus oil-based herbicide that strips off a plant’s waxy cuticle. Just spray it on a weed and the resulting dehydration leads to the death of the plant. The citrus aroma is a pleasant change from the oily odor of other herbicides. The active ingredient in Nature’s Avenger is d-limonene, which naturally occurs in citrus rinds. Nature’s Avenger is child, pet and environmentally
friendly, and it is OMRI listed for organic gardening. Nature’s Avenger in a ready-to-use spray bottle sells for $14.99 postpaid from Beaty Fertilizer, Inc., (800) 845-2325, www.millsmix.com. |
Nature’s Avenger Organic Herbicide
Beaty Fertilizer, Inc.
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The Kombi Forever Shovel
Beaty Fertilizer, Inc.
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Kombi Forever Shovel
Beaty Fertilizer, Inc.
The Kombi Forever Shovel may be the last shovel you ever buy. This is a tough shovel with attitude, and it puts ordinary shovels to shame. Its wedge shape and sharpened teeth make it a multi-purpose garden shovel that also cultivates, weeds and edges. The Kombi Forever Shovel is an ideal tool for moving perennials,
shrubs, roses and small trees from one location to another. Two models are available—a fiberglass “D” handle or a steel long-handled shovel—that each sell for $79.95. Available from Beaty Fertilizer, Inc., (800) 845-2325, www.millsmix.com. |
PotHoles® Drainage Discs
Aspen West Partners, LLC
PotHoles® Drainage Discs give container plants perfect drainage in one easy step. Simply place one in the bottom of a pot, then add soil and a plant. A PotHoles Drainage Disc eliminates soil messes by covering the drainage hole, and the disc’s hydroponic filler (sealed between two layers of porous, breathable, rot-resistant material) holds moisture for plants while improving oxygen flow. PotHoles come in two different sizes—5 inches in diameter and 6.5 inches in diameter. PotHoles Drainage Discs are available from Charley’s Greenhouse & Garden, (800) 322-4707, www.charleysgreenhouse.com, and Florian Tools, www.floriantools.com.
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PotHoles® Drainage Discs
Aspen West Partners, LLC
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Essex Plant Supports
Gardener’s Supply
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Essex Plant Supports
Gardener’s Supply
Tall flowers such as peonies are spectacular in the garden, but they often end up with their heads on the ground when the first rainstorm hits. Essex Plant Supports are designed to be sturdy and attractive as they support upright flowers. The 6mm steel uprights are powder coated for durability, and the graceful arc supports stems and flowers naturally, like a garden bouquet. When the growing season is over, simply snap them apart for compact storage. A set of two Essex
Plant Supports sells for $24.95 (extra large– $29.95) exclusively from Gardener’s Supply, 1-800-955-3370, www.gardeners.com. |
Since 1998, the MGA Green Thumb Awards have recognized the best new gardening products available each year in gardening catalogs and websites. The Mailorder Gardening Association, the world’s largest nonprofit association of companies that sell garden products directly to consumers,
sponsors the MGA Green Thumb Awards. For more information contact Schultz Communications at 505-822-8222
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