Page 8 - 2015 Spring Gazette

First-Rate Crops Image: Endurio Blue Yellow with Purple Wing viola
for the Second Season
By Jeanne Svob, Seed Business Manager; and Dennis Meisch,
Assistant Product Business Manager

While fall often plays second fiddle to the peak spring sales season,
it’s still important. Autumn is an opportunity to draw customers back
into your garden center to renew their tired landscapes and enjoy a
fresh flush of color that can last until the first hard frost.

A number of fantastic options are available to entice fall sales!
Garden mums, of course, are still top sellers. Ornamental kales add
interesting color and texture to flower beds and combo planters,
as do ornamental millet and ornamental corn. For me, though, the
superstars of the fall season are pansies and violas. These hardy
annuals provide bright spots of color through the fall and will often
overwinter to re-bloom even better in the spring.

The Viola Advantage
While I’m a big fan of pansies, violas are gaining popularity due to
their phenomenal tolerance of both heat and cold. Sure, they’re

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