The Dance of Spring…

FINALLY here in the Northwest the sun is shining, plants are sprouting up through the ground, little lambies are everywhere in the fields surrounded by daffodils and flowing trees. Spring has always been my favorite season—and not just because I am a horticulturalist. It’s such a magical time of rebirth and new discoveries. It’s like the big giant chalkboard of life gets wiped clean each year and you get to start over.  The potential of the world is at your fingertips and you have a fresh perspective that anything is possible. For many people maybe that’s what New Year’s Eve does for them…but for me it’s the onset of cherry tree blossoms and daffodils. Its sitting in the sun, letting it warm my face and listening to the birds sing away in the trees. Life is happening all around me again and I feel alive with hope.

I suppose that is what drew me to horticulture in the first place. I always liked making mud pies and getting dirty and being outside. I loved working with my mom in the garden. She always had tons of vegetables and berry bushes and worked painstakingly out there day after day. Her garden was beautiful and it always made her happy. Me, on the other hand, not so sure I made her happy. I think I drove her nuts!! I also had quite the tendency to “burn the candle on both ends” as my mother put it while I was growing up.

When I was in high school I was the school pep commissioner (no surprise there really looking at me now) into all the sports, top GPA, yearbook, job and a ton of other stuff. I always loved to be busy. Not just a little busy–but super busy. I’ve often wondered about the whole ADD/ADHD thing with me, but moving fast has always been part of my genetic makeup and I am happiest when I am spinning as many plates as possible at the same time. I can keep a cool head about me when most can’t and have always been able to see the whole board while many peeps get caught on just seeing the first move.

So choosing a profession in horticulture seemed a perfect fit for me. Being in the nursery business is as crazy as it gets. It’s pretty much like farming, except it’s in little pots. Business is completely dependent on the weather, and that can really take a toll on you financially as well as emotionally. The weather dictates sales and it dictates your aches and pains. Your body takes a major hit as it is massive manual labor and the days are long and the work never ending. You make almost all of your money for the year in a three month span, so the pace is fast and furious when the season is on. So why do I do it? Why do I love it so much?

I tell people who don’t know that it’s a lot like going into McDonalds at 11:56 and no one’s there, but by 12:04 there are 100 people in line and the place is bananas with business. It’s completely exhilarating and can take your breath away!! I love the energy of it all!!! This is my twentieth spring in the horticultural industry and I am always surprised as how caught off guard I become when the whirlwind happens. And it always happens all at once. Always!! There is never a slow and gradual beginning. You wake up one morning to complete and utter chaos. And it doesn’t stop until the rush is over and everyone is served. I fondly refer to this as the “dance”.  At first it makes your head spin, and then as you regain consciousness, you start moving your feet to the music and away you go. Somewhere in the middle of the mayhem, you find moves you didn’t even know you had and you go even faster. Some people hate going a million miles an hour. Some people need structure and time frames and a neat schedule everyday to coexist with humanity. Not me…I have always loved the dance. My first job was a short order cook, so I suppose I got used to pandemonium and mayhem at 16 and bedlam has been my home ever since. A million things can come at me all at one time at a fast and furious pace…and it makes me giggle. I know…pretty nutty huh??!!

So finally, Spring has come and the dance has begun for me.  Lambies are in abundance, daffodils are popping up everywhere and people are out and about to catch the sun’s rays to rejuvenate their soul. For the first time in a long time I actually feel good about the ways things are moving. Maybe it was the super long, cold winter we had. Maybe it was the mountain of bills on my desk that have crept higher and higher over the last six months, or maybe it was just the gloom and doom of our economy that kept me in “worried” mode. But now…with cherry blossoms and tulips on my door step, I have a feeling of overwhelming wonderment and exhilaration again. It’s like I am in Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and I just open the door to Munchkinland. The view from my door is exhilarating with the all colors of the rainbow and it’s a whole new world I am about to walk into.

It’s the promise of spring that revitalizes my spirit each year and it’s the dance that I do in my job that keeps me coming back to my profession year after year. I suppose the two go hand in hand and I am quite fortunate that I get to do what I seem to have been born to do every day of my life. I’m glad…I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Thanks Mom!!!

Now go get dirty out there!!

Fran

www.stepables.com

STEPABLES® Tough Ten™ Plants

Have you ever been confused as to which plant to purchase? With 160 STEPABLES® to choose from, the choices can be quite overwhelming if you’re not sure how to narrow down the hunt.

This year we thought we would make certain choices really stand out for you and easy to understand. We polled our growers and found ten plants that stood out for durability and success in the garden.

Each plant has certain attributes that make it stand out in the crowd and deliver as one of the Tough Ten™. Whether it stands out as a great water-wise plant like Sedum ‘John Creech’ or our most amazing bloomer, Blue Star Creeper, our Tough Ten™ list will ease your mind and relieve some of the pressure it takes when purchasing a plant.

Even if you have a “brown” thumb, one of these plants will still work – even for you!

Of course, we always want you to select some of the other plants from our entire line as well so they don’t feel left out; but if you can’t decide, you can rest assured if you pick one of the Tough Ten, you will have chosen well.

Now spring is close at hand, go get dirty out there!

Fran
http://www.stepables.com

�

 

Stachys densiflora ‘Alba’
THE plant to get when you want drama in your landscape!
I love this plant!!! The deep green color bounces off other plants, and the texture is indescribable!

I first found this plant years ago and sat on it for quite some time before I put it into the program. We finally had enough of it to put into production and introduced it at our national tradeshow. This plant was the center point of our pathway in our booth and I have to admit…it was the bomb! Thousands of people walked all over this plant and it came out unscathed!

Last year I planted it in and around my boulders in my own landscape and have never been so impressed with a plant’s performance. Not only did it hug and curve around each bolder, but its color and texture really set off all of the other plants surrounding it.

This August, once again at out national trade show, my little Stachys was in full bloom and was once again, the cornerstone of my booth. It is a very beautiful plant when it is in its full bloom glory and really made people stop and take notice of it. So it surprised me when I had one gentleman so totally disturbed that we sold plants you could walk on, that he actually yelled at me and said, “You can’t walk on that!”
“Oh yes you can!” I exclaimed and I truly believed I saw his jaw drop when I jumped up and down on the Stachys! To my complete surprise, he then took off his shoes and socks and ran right thorough my plants in the display. What a site!! He was very apologetic and became quit the believer. And my little Stachys was the plant that did it for him…even in full bloom is withstood mine and his bouncing and prancing around all over it!

This is definitely a plant you must have for your garden. In many areas it will be evergreen, it reseeds a bit…not a ton, but a few freebies each year and it is stunning when it is in full bloom. Try it as a border plant, try it on a slope, try it in a container or try specifically around boulders and rock. It doesn’t matter where you’ll put it, I know it will become one of your fav’s too!

Until next time…go get dirty out there!

Fran
www.stepables.com

Fran’s Favs-Trifolium repens Atropurpurea

Yet another killer plant!

 

Terrific color, excellent performer, tremendous bloom and all around outstanding plant! This is what should be the headlines for Sedum pachyclados.

I have planted this sedum in and around my yard for years. It is by far one of the best plants to use when planting a wire basket. It is easy to get into the gaps and fills in full and lush. It is super simple to trim and keep neat, plus has a great texture that shows off other plants well.

Sedum pachyclados is also one of the best sedums to use when you want to create a dramatic planting in your landscape. The color and the texture bounce tremendously well off any hardscaping. When given room, this plant will roam for a long time. It grows above ground and also sends out runners underneath the soil. Now, don’t get into a panic…it’s not like bamboo! It just grows and glides at a very nice clip…filling in completely wherever it goes.

Besides all of the other killer features of this plant, the nicest by far you will notice is when you water it. It has a lovely habit of catching water droplets in its little gray rosette…just like little diamonds. Thus it’s name, White Diamond. 

Try planting this near a place where you can see it after it’s been watered. The shimmering reflection of the little water droplets is stunning!

I suggest giving this plant a real shot this upcoming year in your garden. I promise, you will not be disappointed!

Until next time!

            Now go get dirty!

                       Fran

 

ACEANA inermis ‘PURPUREA’

I simply adore this plant!! I have it planted in three different locations in my landscape. The house I live out now has a lot of brick, so my color palette was really driven to the burgundy tones to bring out those deep, rich red colors of the brick. I instantly chose the Aceana Purpurea (Purple New Zealand Bur) as I knew it was a perfect choice for the landscape.

I have grown this plant for a long time but have never featured it in any of my landscapes. I am so glad I did! What a find and what a show stopper!

The first place I planted the Aceana was in my front yard as a primary focal point. It has simply stolen the show from all of the other plants surrounding it. In the sun, this plant turns the most amazing shade of burgundy. It grows at a decent clip-6-10 inches a year and has been a real treat to watch fill in. The deep, rich burgundy tones really took on the gray boulders placed behind it to make one stunning effect.

I am quite certain most people have never seen an outdoor red carpet…especially a living, breathing one! I think I get more comments on that front corner than anywhere else in my yard.

I have also placed it straight across from that boulder in a little cavern of rocks. I used the same dark gray boulders as the large ones, only smaller. And against the brick, the Aceana seems to take on a much richer red tone. It still is very attractive, just not as deep as the burgundy from across the yard.

The last place I have used it is in a container. Now this is where this cool plant blows my mind! It is a completely different color with only morning light. It has a much more amethyst tone to it, don’t you think? How cool is it when a plant simply changes its color depending on light? A lot of plants simply become less vigorous with low light situations, not this little perennial. He simply changes color and get’s a move on. That’s the kind of plant I like!!

Now you can see why I have chosen this plant as one of the 2009 Fran’s favs!

Try it out this spring! I am sure you will love it!

One word of caution though…NOT a plant to have around animals or kids, unless you cut off the blooms just before going to seed. The seed heads turn into little burs that will stick to clothing, paws or little hands. Lucy, my Jack Russell loves this plant! However, I have to pull the little burs out from inside her paw pads…you would think she’d stop laying in it wouldn’t you…nope! She loves it and plops down into it any chance she gets! And I thought Jack Russell’s were smart!

Until next time! Now go get dirty!

Fran

www.stepables.com

�

This year (for 2009) we put something new in motion: Fran’s Fav’s

Every year I will pick 5 of my favorite STEPABLES® to feature in photographs and articles here on the site, but also in magazines and TV shows throughout the country.

This little idea is very exciting to be because I am asked to speak all over the country and the number one thing people ask me about is which plant is my favorite. Well, they all are!!!

My plants are like children to me. I don’t have a favorite–no way. They all have certain, lovely qualities that bring them to my program. Each one solves a particular problem in the landscape. All of them have different characteristics; different attributes that make them special. So special in fact, they are given the honor of becoming a STEPABLE®.

For those of you that read my blog, you know my daughter Rachel is my garden tour buddy. She has quite a wonderment about flowers and I hope that someday she will decide to get dirty with me out in the garden instead of just saving all of the slugs from total annihilation in my yard.

However, I have not introduced you to my son Mitchell. He has been, and continues to be my all time hero. His heart is bigger than any that I have ever known. He will do marvelous things in this world I think. I am not sure what yet, but there is definitely something big for him on the horizon.

Now, for those of you that do not know me very well, I have one wicked back. Twenty years of manual labor has made me pretty gimpy and I have postponed major back surgery for years. Why? Well, simply because I am chicken. Something about my spine turning to metal makes me a little uncomfortable, and again, chicken. I am hopeful that I can continue to strengthen my body, shape up the old bones back to a viable state and conquer the onslaught of old age, but in the meantime I have my boy to rely on.

Mitchman saves my hide day in and day out. I am an incredibly stubborn girl. Anyone who knows me will say I am wildly tenacious at the very least. I continually put myself in places and positions I have no business being part of. Mitchell is always saving me from myself and has actually mastered the art of telling his obstinate mother she is whacked out of her mind and to move over so he can do the heavy work. Quite the undertaking I assure you.

Mitch is a delight to work with and puts in a days work comparable to any employee I have ever had. That young man never shirks a task and it does not matter if it is the dishes or the garbage, he generally will have a smile and a hug for me at some point during the deed.

For the past 4 years Mitchell has helped me build my booths for our annual trade show. He has done everything from spray painting flooring, happy guys and wheelbarrows to planting STEPABLES so tight to enable thousands of people to walk on them over a 3 day period. We are usually the first people in the show to set up and the last to leave. It is tremendously grueling work.

So, I thought this year would be really cool to give him the opportunity to see what it was like to get the real scoop on what people actually think about STEPABLES–rather than just building an amazing display and never hearing the kudos that go along with it.

I have to tell you that was an incredibly cool moment for me. It was not the feeling of passing of the torch off to the next generation or anything like that. It was just a sense of watching my son coming into manhood and being so very proud of whom he has become. Mitchell has such a capacity to learn. We have always called him the Renaissance man because he can learn anything. He gets his hands into all kinds of things no one would expect and then masters them completely. From his ability to melt your heart with the way he plays his viola, to the cool vibes he gives off when he is jammin on his guitar, this young man does it all.

What is fun is that he really gets the marketing aspect of my business. He understands at 15 what most business owners never master in a lifetime. He truly amazes me.

So, it was so much fun watching him react one on one with people. He had never really heard the oou and ahhh from an actual customer. He had never heard the giggles and the statements like “You can not really walk on these can you!??” He had never seen them as I have, spontaneously strip off their shoes and socks to run through the plants. I just think it was cool that he got to see “the experience” that is STEPABLES.

I think that he really got something out of the event. I hope he was able to feel that personal satisfaction that comes from making a product that you can be proud of. Manual labor is very satisfying work. I have done it my whole life. However, having a great conversation with someone about what you made/created is the real treat in life. You know you have built something amazing, but when you hear it from someone else, that it was indeed an excellent effort and a job well done, well then, that just makes it worth the effort. That is what any person really wants to hear at the end of the day I think.

Well Mitch…Great job! Well done. You are undoubtedly the hardest worker I have ever met and your efforts, along with your smile never go unnoticed. You can have a job in my company any day. You have certainly earned it!

Okay everyone, go get dirty out there, and try ripping your kids off the video games long enough to share a moment in the dirt with them. You may find you have more in common than you thought!

Fran

www.stepables.com

I have had a fortunate life. I have been hit hard a few times in my life, but I have always been able to brush myself off and get back up. But it is the Best Days that I think keeps a person going in this world. You hang on, knowing at some point, some day, a bright shining moment will happen. I have seen a few of those Best Days come and go. Numero uno was definitely the day my kids were born…hands down. My wedding day ranks number two (my ex husband had something to do with that). We threw one heck of a party. The day I got the keys to my current house would be third. Craig had something to do with that one. Without his belief in me, I would be nowhere. There is nothing so satisfying like knowing you can make it back from anywhere. That is a strength I hope I can carry with me the rest of my life.

Today was one of my Best Days.

I flew to Macomb Michigan (near Detroit) to present a giant check to the winner of our display contest. This year Denewith’s Greenhouses won our Definitive Display contest and our first “Steppy” Award. Their display was inventive, fun, well placed, well merchandised and was a first class act all the way. We deliberated for a long time over all of the entries, but Denewith's by far hit the majority of our point struture and made a display worth being proud of.

I met some amazing people today. People who believed the same way I do; that if we just reach out to others they will reach back. Denewith’s Greenhouse did just that. They understood the message I was trying to send out to my growers, retailers and customers. Step Forward, Give Back. They built the cutest STEPABLES® display. It was awesome; but what was amazing is the entire staff really put their heart and sole into it as their matriarch is a cancer survivor and they wanted their charity to be the Komen Race For the Cure®. Not only did we present the Race For the Cure® with $5,000, but Denewith’s also raised $1,100 on their own to give as well. Wow! They got so inspired they did their own fundraising campaign too! That was so cool.

Tracy Denise was the lady with the mission. What a talent! She and her staff built the display and gave it their own special touches that definitely put them over the top for Best Display.

What an amazing group of people! What an amazing day! It took us a while to set everyone up for the photos. The heat and humidity in those greenhouses would melt anyone and we were all pretty drenched by the time we were done with the presentation, but everyone had smiles the whole time.

Maureen Meldrum was present from the Komen Detroit Race for the Cure®. I loved her!!! She was great! She was a lovely person with an awesome attitude and it was a privilege to meet her. And she is an avid gardener too! A great personality and good taste all in one…can’t beat that!

At some point or another we even had the entire Denewith’s family and staff there. It was a very special moment I will never forget.

Thank you to all the staff at Denewith’s. Thank you to Maureen and the Detroit Race for the Cure®. You have helped me grow my heart bigger today. You given me another Best Day to hold and cherish forever.
Life is good!

Go get dirty everyone!

Fran

www.stepables.com