Southern Living magazine and Plant Development Services Inc., have partnered in an exclusive Live Goods Licensing Agreement to develop and market a collection of plants under the Southern Living brand.
The collection, which will be marketed throughout the United States and Canada, will include shrubs, trees, bedding plants, groundcovers, tropicals, ornamental grasses, seasonals and related green goods. Greg Smith, president of PDSI, says the partnership will create new opportunities for participating nurseries and plant breeders nationwide.
The collection will feature innovative new plants to solve landscape problems for all consumers and will be available to consumers in spring 2008. Randy Hunter, vice president of Agility Marketing, the brand manager for PDSI and the Southern Living Collection, says the collection should be ready to introduce to members of the green industry in time for industry shows in late summer and early fall.
“This isn’t just another plant program,” Hunter says. “This programs seeks out and integrates into the collection plants that help consumers better solve those landscape issues.”
Smith says the partnership will create a collection of the highest quality plants under the recognized brand of Southern Living. “Consumers have an increasing appetite for plants that solve real problems in the American landscape,” Smith says.
PDSI is expanding its grower group network and evaluating plants to meet the anticipated consumer demand. Smith says the company is identifying primary contacts from Europe and the Far East to bring new plants to North American consumers. PDSI is particularly interested in plants with unique performance characteristics that can be patented, branded and introduced to the consumer market, Hunter says.
“We’re looking for relevant plants that help consumers,” Hunter says. “We’re not just grabbing plants and sticking the Southern Living label on them.”
The collection will include eight to 12 plants across all categories in the first year and will grow to include more over time, Hunter says.
Plant breeders with potential new cultivars and growers interested in the program should contact PDSI by clicking here.
