Pantone Color For 2019

The pantone color for 2019 is Night Watch.  This color emulates the feeling of lush greenery and the healing power of nature.  It's a rich, luxurious and classic shade of green.

Pantone Color for 2019

Pantone Color for 2018

The pantone color of the year for 2018 is Ultra Violet.  A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade.  It communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.

Pantone Color for 2017

Greenery

The pantone color of the year for '17 is Greenery.  "Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment.  Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalize, Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose".  This is according to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute.  One thing I can guarantee is Leatrice lives far away from Shelton, Nebraska, possibly in another country even.  Greenery "satisfies our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalize".  What the hell does that even mean?  Here's what I think of greenery.  Greenery in the plant world is fantastic and has been fantastic since the creation of the lime green leaf on the ipomea.  There simply is no plant that tolerates our summers like ipomea (sweet potato vine).  You want a beautiful berm in your front yard, plant ipomea.  Many of these plants will grow a 6 feet circle and literally laugh at our 100 degree summers.  If you put them in a pot, be careful of the pot size.  Some of these vines get huge.  There are some newer varieties that are more compact but I still would not plant them in a pot smaller than 12 inches in diameter.  Most like full sun but a few will do well in the shade.  Always check the tag for best placement when planting.

Pantone Color of the Year is Greenery

Gardening the unique crop.

Try Tasty Purple Cauliflower in 2016!

Sunpatiens are Spectacular!

Nothing beats a sunpatien for the bloom power in the heat of summer!

The race continues to bring the newest plant genetics to the market and it is no exception with New Guinea impatiens.  There are some spectacular genetics available.  You must be careful when buying these plants because the height varies immensely with variety.  Some of these would be unsuitable for growing in a container because of their height.  They can range from 10 inches tall to 30 inches tall.  Check the tag when you purchase them.  We have found that the variety we grow for containers is spectacular.  They are easy to care for in warm weather and the warmer it gets the more flowers they produce.  They will flower well with moderate levels of fertilizer.  Here are the keys to success.

• Do not under any circumstances buy them or plant them out in the landscape early.  They will not like a cold spring.  If you are placing them in the landscape I wouldn't plant them at any time before the 15th of May.   If you are planting them in a container that you can move around and protect from cold, wet weather than you can plant them earlier if you want.  
• When you buy them, place two fingers on the stem, directly above the soil surface and gently pull.  If the stem feels solid and does not break off, you can buy this plant.  As we grow these in the early spring greenhouse we can see some issues with fungi and it can turn the stems to mush.  
• Even though some of the literature says you can plant them in full sun, I would not.  Some afternoon shade, or filtered sunlight is fine.  I would not plant them in a hot, full sun site. South side, next to the house would not be a good idea.  

Trends for 2016

The 2015 Pantone color of the year was Marsala.  We had several combinations with plants of the marsala color.  They sold horribly.  We discounted them, they still sold horribly.  Just because the pantone color of the year is marsala doesn't mean they'll buy marsala.

The 2016 pantone color of the year is a blending of two shades:  Rose Quartz and Serenity.  If you enjoy following the decorator pantone color of the year hear is a link for you.  We follow the pantone color of the year mainly out of curiosity.  We have learned that just because somebody declares the pantone color of the year, doesn't mean anybody will buy it to decorate their outdoor living areas.

Trends in the industry.

Trends for 2015.

Several years back we had a friend who owned a small shop in a mall that sold decorator items and the newest, trendy, items for decorating the home.  She would always attend her buying shows in Atlanta months before the items were needed and she was always on top of the latest trends and especially colors.  When she returned from her buying trips we would always call her and ask what the hottest color would be for the year.  Our hope was that the popular colors in home interior would also be popular colors for decorating our outdoor living areas.  We would work hard to make sure these colors were available in our combos.  Some years it worked, others not so much.

Pantone color of the year for 2015:  Marsala

We'll have several clematis that fall into the Marsala color scheme such as Alannah and Rosemoor.  We'll also have the new Easy Wave Burgundy Velour petunia.  This one will be spectacular but only if you put it in a big, big, pot or better yet plant it in the ground to cover a 4 feet circle.  An absolute explosion of marsala color.  Another marsala petunia new for this year will be Proven Winners Supertunia Black Cherry.  We have it in a combo that is spectacular.

We believe this year will also be like last year and the pastel colors will still be very popular.  The trend last year was for a pot with some really bold colors that pop from a block away and other pots in coordinating colors of pastel.  We'll have them all.  Some combos we grow 200 pots, others we only grow 42 pots.  The best color selection is always early in the season as the most popular color combos sell quickly.  We believe we have good inventory of popular combos but coming early will assure that you get the pick of the litter.


The hottest trend in horticulture now is the vegetable garden.  Across the industry, people are buying vegetables and planting gardens in a huge way.  As always we will have a huge selection of tomatoes and peppers.  Tomatoes of every style and peppers of every color.  Colored peppers have been very popular and we do a market pack where you buy six sweet bell peppers, all a different color.  I would highly recommend the white diamond pepper.  It is delicious and they always come back and ask for "that delicious white pepper you sold me last year."  We'll have heirloom tomatoes, grape, cherry, slicers and sauce tomatoes.  My recommendation for a slicer is a Biltmore.  Ten ounces, not a blemish on it, meaty with few seeds and a delicious taste.  Visit our facebook page at Bump Up Pot NE to see more pics of this one.  Another tomato that has delicious taste is an heirloom called Nebraska Wedding.  It is longer season, 105 days, but the wait is worth it.  I have heard from several that this tomato is the best tasting tomato of any.

Biltmore Tomato grown by Raymond R. of Shelton