Highlights from Day One of the National Green Centre

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- The second annual National Green Centre welcomed an enthusiastic turnout that grew as the day progressed Sunday. By the time the Day One highlight event got underway, the Sweet Melissa Plant Fashion Show played to a standing-room-only crowd gathered “on the runway” to ogle and cheer some 50 new plant introductions.

Some 1,800 attendees either made it to Overland Park Convention Center on Sunday or have registered to attend Monday, when the show concludes. National Green Centre executive director Sarah Woody Bibens said the unseasonably pleasant weather this weekend – which is projected to last through Monday in the greater Kansas City area – should ensure a big walkup crowd on the show’s last day. In turn, the show, which debuted in St. Louis last year, should match attendance numbers of the inaugural National Green Centre in 2011 (approximately 2,200).

“With the nice weather we’re expecting a good turnout [Monday],” Bibens said. “Today’s attendance is encouraging. It should make for a great show for everyone.”

Here are some highlights from Sunday:



Hottest ticket: Dr. Michael A. Dirr’s early morning seminar attracted virtually attendee at the center in the early going. Dirr, an internationally renowned plantsman, whose teaching, lectures, seminars, garden center tours and plant introduction programs have touched literally millions of lives through the years, talked about “The Flowering Shrub Revolution.” He told the receptive audience that customers are telling hort specialists that green is not a color and that they are hungry for new introductions that span the color spectrum.



Hottest 60 minutes: The Sweet Melissa Fashion Show created a buzz appropriate for the runway. Models from the area showcased 50 new plants from dozens of prominent plant companies, as the audience took notes on what will be “hot” for 2012. Growers, retailers, landscapers and garden writers alike were treated to the beautiful – and in some cases, the unusual – new offerings that should literally shape the landscape this year.



Hottest new product: The new containers from Flat Tire Décor drew steady crowds to that company’s booth, keeping company spokesman Mike Hottinger very busy throughout Sunday. Flat Tire Décor designs, develops and markets unique and innovative products from tires that have reached the end of the road.

With a little creativity and concern for the environment, these tires are getting a shot at a repeat performance. Because of the uniqueness of the tires and the manufacturing process, each Flat Tire Décor product has its own distinct character, texture, and story. No two products are ever identical.

The National Green Centre concludes Monday, with a full schedule of educational seminars, as well as hundreds of plants and hard good items that are making their 2012 trade show debut in Kansas City.