(NEW YORK, NY—SEPTEMBER,
2008)
 Echinacea
Purpurea ‘Green Envy’™
Echinacea appears to be the “it” flower of the
moment with new types emerging on all continents. One cultivar
that has captured the interest of growers is Echinacea Purpurea ‘Green
Envy’, a jade green colored floral bloom with brilliant
magenta veining. A green flower is, itself, a rarity; a bi-colored
Echinacea is an historic first.
Introduced at the 2008 Perennial Plant Association New Plant
Forum and shown to overseas buyers at Europe’s Plantarium, ‘Green
Envy’ is quickly proving to be a perennial with profit
potential.
“We’re experiencing an overwhelming demand for ‘Green Envy’ and
are happy to finally be able to satisfy the orders for the upcoming year,” said
Luc Klinkhamer, of CNB Greenteam.
‘Green Envy’ blooms retain their vibrant green hue from the time
they flower in mid-July through the fall months. Petals remain round and the
cone a deep green for a considerable period. In later stages of maturity, the
petals gradually elongate taking on a magenta veining, while the cone also
turns a dark purplish tone. The growth habit is identical to typical Echinacea,
with Zones 4-9, the optimum locales for cultivating it. The plant will reach
a height of between 30-to-36 inches. It is rugged and hardy, thriving in average
soils and hot, dry conditions, yet also resistant to the cold and frost. Blooms
last well cut or dried.
“Currently we are doing trials of ‘Green Envy’ as a cut flower,” said
Lennard van Vliet, managing director of Hortis Holland BV, who explained that
the trend is for new and unique flower colors. “We are continually trying
to meet this challenge of finding the new and novel, and the prospects of ‘Green
Envy’ are promising.”
As for its curative features, according to testing conducted
by Stephen Moring, a research scientist at the University of
Kansas and the country’s leading Echinacea expert, ‘Green
Envy’ has even more active healing properties than the
traditional purple variety. The potential health benefits that
can be derived from ‘Green Envy’ have not even
begun to be realized yet.
An
unexpected bonus that ‘Green Envy’ growers can
benefit from is the professional marketing muscle of the plant’s
developer, Mark Veeder. The New York-based breeder is the founder
and creative director of his own 10-year-old marketing and
PR firm. He has already unleashed a strategic global publicity
campaign that goes beyond the norm of catalogs. Consumer-interest
publications that report on home, garden, health and lifestyle
are being targeted with news on the “Green Envy.”
Stage
4 tissue culture plugs of Echinacea Purpurea ‘Green
Envy’ are available from North American Plants, McMinnville,
OR. For more information, visit GetGreenEnvy.com.
For more information, contact:
Rick Sorenson
Pride of Place Plants Inc.
Sidney, British Columbia
Fine New Plant Introductions.
www.prideofplaceplants.com
www.icangarden.com/neweden
Phone: 1 (250) 652-6713
Fax: 1 (250) 655-0306
North American Plants
Bonnie
Coy-Svenson
(503) 474-0872
orders@naplants.com |
