Partners in perennials

Late last year, Proven Winners and Walters Gardens announced a new strategic partnership to market perennials under the Proven Winners brand name. The goal? Help retailers increase sales and improve profit margins by selling larger quantities of their best perennials.

Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Mich., has long been recognized as a leader in perennial production and, more recently, perennial hybridizing. Niles Riese, vice president of sales for Walters Gardens, said working with Proven Winners meshed well with his company’s goals.

“We recognized that Proven Winners is the No. 1 plant brand in the market,” he said. “This partnership will help us add value to our products.”

Mark Broxon, executive director of Proven Winners, said the partnership makes good sense for both companies.

“We have long been impressed with them [Walters],” Broxon said. “Their perennials are top-quality, and they’re really committed to breeding and consistently producing a superior product.”

Photo courtesy of Walters GardensThe logistics.
Approximately 30 Walters Gardens varieties will be added to the existing line of Proven Winners Perennials in 2011, and the program will expand as more new varieties are added each year. The Proven Winners propagator network (EuroAmerican Propagators, Four Star Greenhouse, Pleasant View Gardens in the United States and Nordic Nurseries, Dentoom’s Greenhouses and Sobkowich Greenhouses in Canada) will also offer these perennials.

Walters Gardens will continue to serve the grower community at-large while fulfilling its commitment to the Proven Winners line. All plants offered by Walters Gardens will continue to be sold as bare root and plug liners through their existing sales networks.

The partnership between Proven Winners and Walters Gardens officially begins in July 2011 for the 2011-2012 selling season. Proven Winners Perennials varieties offered by Walters Gardens will be introduced at this year’s California Spring Trials, as well as in each of the propagators’ 2011-2012 catalogs.

For retailers, things will really heat up in spring 2012. Garden centers will have a wide variety of Proven Winners perennials to fill benches. And the selling season will be supported by extensive marketing efforts by both Proven Winners and Walters Gardens.

The perennials will be sold in Proven Winners branded pots with tags. Both companies plan to engage in plant trials to assure that the best performing perennials are offered in the various regions Proven Winners serves.

For more: Proven Winners, www.provenwinners.com; Walters Gardens, www.waltersgardens.com

Sarah Martinez is managing editor of Garden Center Magazine.