Perennial Favorites https://www.perennialfavorites.com "Growing What Matters" Thu, 24 Sep 2026 20:57:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cropped-bloom.fw_-32x32.png Perennial Favorites https://www.perennialfavorites.com 32 32 140685406 2026 Open House Recap https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2026-open-house-recap/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2026-open-house-recap/#respond Thu, 24 Sep 2026 20:57:50 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=5632
Welcome to Perennial Favorites sign in a planter of perennials and grasses
News · Wednesday, September 2, 2026

On September 2, customers, partners and friends joined us at our Layton nursery for a morning tour, lunch, and an afternoon of talks from seven speakers across the green industry. Here's how the day went:

Check-in
Website demo
Welcome
Nursery tour
Lunch
Speakers
7:30 AM

Check-in, breakfast, and a first look at the new website

Guests checked in on the Sales Office patio, grabbed breakfast, and made their way into the Shipping Greenhouse, where our team gave an early demo of the new features on our website.

PF staff at the check-in table under the Check In sign
Check-in on the Sales Office patio.
Three PF team members presenting the website demo at the podium
The website demo.
A long row of container plantings with ornamental grasses and flowers inside the greenhouse Macahl standing beside a display of perennials in front of the framed Perennial Favorites photo wall Container arrangements of perennials and grasses Racks of mums and colorful annuals on display
8:30 AM · Welcome

Where we started, and where we're headed

Ken Cox speaking at the PF podium in front of a living wall of flowers
Ken Cox opens the day.

Ken opened the day with the story of Perennial Favorites. It started in 1992, when Preston and Melissa Cox saw a need for locally grown perennials that could handle Utah's climate. They began with two small grow beds behind their home, on land that was once part of the Scofield family farm. Two beds became four, then came the first greenhouses. In the early years, Melissa and her brother Mike loaded plants onto a small truck and trailer and visited nurseries up and down the Wasatch Front, building the business one customer at a time.

Today, between our Layton and Garland facilities, we grow thousands of varieties of perennials, annuals, grasses, edibles, and native and water-wise plants.

From Ken's presentation
Aerial photo of the farmland in 1972
1972The land, before PF.
Preston Cox clearing snow inside the first greenhouse
1992Preston clearing snow from the first greenhouse.
The PF team in 1998
1998The team.
The PF team in 2012
2012The team.
The PF team in 2019
2019The team.
The PF team in 2026
2026The team.
Aerial view of the Layton facility in 2026
Layton · 2026
Aerial view of the Garland facility in 2026
Garland · 2026

Ken also talked about what comes next. As Preston and Melissa prepare for retirement, Cort and Ken are taking on the primary leadership roles, backed by a team that has always been bigger than any two people. The West keeps growing, water keeps getting more valuable, and expectations for landscapes are changing. Our answer is smart plants in smarter landscapes: the right plant, at the right size, price and time.

"Our customers' success is our success."

Technology, and Iris

We've invested in online ordering, production and inventory tools, labeling and QR codes, and we're looking at RFID, automated scanning and AI. One example is Iris, the AI assistant we're using internally now and plan to open to customers in 2027. The goal isn't to replace horticultural knowledge, but to give knowledgeable people better tools.

Screenshot of the Ask Iris assistant panel
9:00 – 11:20 AM

Take the tour

Guests split into small groups and rotated through five stops, 20 minutes each, with the people who run each part of the nursery. Pick a stop to see more.

11:30 AM

Lunch in the Shipping Greenhouse

After the tour, everyone came back together for lunch and a chance to catch up before the afternoon talks.

Three guests smiling at a lunch table in the Shipping Greenhouse, with the flower wall behind
Three guests smiling at their lunch table
Guests smiling at a lunch table with racks of flowers behind
A PF team member filling bags from the popcorn machine
12:30 – 4:30 PM

Seven speakers from across the industry

The afternoon was livestreamed, and every talk is below, ready to watch. It covered propagation, growing media, water-wise landscapes, breeding, independent retail, native gardens, and bringing new plants from the wild into cultivation. Watch the full livestream.

Ross Shrigley speaking at the podium in front of a living flower wall
Ross Shrigley · Plant Select

Paid to Propagate: Mitigating the 5-Year Financial Risk of Tree Growing

Executive Director of Plant Select, with more than 30 years in the nursery, landscape and public garden industries.

Watch the talk · 30 min
John Bergman speaking at the podium
John Bergman · Berger

Perennial Partnership in Substrate Sustainability

Berger's West Coast Grower Advisor, with more than 30 years managing production at large breeding and growing operations.

Watch the talk · 20 min
Cynthia Bee speaking at the podium
Cynthia Bee · Utah Water Ways

Rethinking Landscapes

Sustainable Landscapes Expert for Utah's Slow the Flow campaign and co-creator of Localscapes.

Watch the talk · 35 min
Chris Fifo speaking at the podium
Chris Fifo · Darwin Perennials

From Breeding to Beauty 2026

Perennial Products Representative and Technical Services advisor, with 30 years in perennial production.

Watch the talk · 36 min
Moose Mountcastle speaking at the podium
Moose Mountcastle · Garden Gateway

Beyond Business as Usual

34 years as a grower, retailer, buyer and salesperson, and owner of Garden Gateway in Cache Valley.

Watch the talk · 25 min
Curtis Manning speaking at the podium
Curtis Manning · Meadow Pro

Native Gardens in a Dry Climate: Soil Prep, Irrigation & Planting Regionally Appropriate Landscapes

Founder of Meadow Pro, which designs ecologically based landscapes, and perennial production manager at Blooma Farms.

Watch the talk · 28 min
Richard Anderson speaking at the podium
Richard Anderson · Perennial Favorites

From Mountain Trail to Garden Path: Identifying, Evaluating, and Introducing Exceptional Perennials

Botanist and plant breeder, 20+ years at the Utah State University Botanical Center, and lead author of Wildflowers of the Mountain West.

Watch the talk · 29 min
4:30 PM

Closing remarks from Preston Cox

Preston Cox, who started Perennial Favorites with Melissa in 1992, closed the day by thanking our guests, our speakers, and the crew who made it happen.

Preston Cox giving closing remarks at the podium
Preston Cox closes out the day.
Five PF team members smiling in the yard with event programs
Part of the PF team behind the event.
The full Perennial Favorites crew in front of the trucks and greenhouses, with the PF logo
The 2026 Perennial Favorites crew.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to our speakers for sharing their time. Couldn't make it this year? Call us at 800-966-8049 and we'll make sure you hear about the next one.

Stop 1 · Propagation House

Propagation House sign on the greenhouse Macahl leading a tour group through the Propagation House, wearing a headset mic Jennifer explaining propagation to guests Tour group among flowering plants in propagation Guests looking at plants in the propagation greenhouse

Macahl and Jennifer led guests through our propagation houses, where every plant we grow gets its start as a cutting, a seed or a tissue-culture plantlet.

Propagation had about 1.1 million units scheduled through Open House week alone: 71% unrooted cuttings, 27% seed and 2% tissue culture, across a huge range of varieties with very different needs.

1.1Munits scheduled through Open House week
~60,000cuttings a week at peak
~160trays on each mist bed
11.5–16Kplugs on each mist bed

Most of our plants start as unrooted cuttings. They arrive from our suppliers, go into the cooler, then are stuck and set on the bench. Every variety has its own protocol for the type of cutting, rooting hormone, environment and rooting time.

  1. Receive
  2. Cooler
  3. Stick
  4. Bench

Seed comes from our suppliers or from specialty sources. Depending on the plant, it may be soaked, cold-stratified or given another special treatment before it's sown, by machine or by hand. Germination varies by species, seed lot and season. Guests got to see our seeding machine at work.

  1. Receive
  2. Pretreat
  3. Sow
  4. Germinate

In Prop 1 and 2, the goal is to push rooting while managing many different crops under one roof. Bench heat from our in-house boiler, a new mist system that adjusts to how quickly the air is drying out the cuttings, fogger fans, baffling, lighting and shade cloth all work together. As Macahl put it, "We're experts at maximizing the compromise." We can't create a perfect environment for every crop, so we create conditions that work reliably across all of them.

This year we also added a new propagation inventory system. It tracks what was scheduled, what was produced and what's ready, so we catch shortages earlier. It's a behind-the-scenes investment that means more reliable product for our customers. The biggest challenges are the ones you'd expect: very different crops sharing one environment, new and obscure varieties with no established protocols, seasonal differences, and constant testing and refinement.

Prop 3: holding, not pushing

Prop 1 and 2 are designed to push plants through rooting. Prop 3 has almost the opposite job, and guests could feel the difference in temperature and humidity as soon as they walked in. Built about two years ago, it stages and holds finished liners and plugs and houses our stock plants. Moving finished plants here frees up the active propagation benches faster, which increased our total propagation capacity.

Our stock program keeps about 140 varieties. A stock plant isn't just a plant. It's future production material. Cutting quality depends on timing (time of year, time of day and the plant's stage), on the type of cutting (juvenile or mature, soft or woody, tip or basal) and on its source: a dedicated stock plant, production inventory, a plug or an outdoor stock bed. Different sources can give very different cutting quality and rooting results.

Macahl then demonstrated a collection: what makes a good tip cutting and what gets rejected, why we take basal cuttings from plants like Agastache, and how we divide Ephedra and Veronica (Veronica two different ways). The collected material went into the cooler, just like a real collection.

Stock needs constant oversight. It has to be ready when cuttings are scheduled, kept at sustainable numbers and refreshed once it has served its purpose, since older plants bring more maintenance and pest problems. We scout diligently, use targeted treatments and rely on biocontrols (predatory wasps, predatory mites, lacewings, Orius and Cryptolaemus) to keep clean material going into propagation.

Adding a new plant comes down to three questions. Can we find it commercially, and if not, can we realistically maintain stock ourselves? Can we propagate it, by which method, and with what expected loss? And can we do it successfully again? Repeated success is what gives us confidence, and that can take multiple seasons or even years.

  1. Sourcing
  2. Protocol
  3. Repeatability

Propagation isn't just sticking cuttings or sowing seed. It's managing plant biology, environment, timing, sourcing, inventory and repeatability together, taking something naturally variable and making it consistent enough to produce reliably at commercial scale.

Stop 2 · Shipping House

Guests around the packing tables in the Shipping House Guests watching the processing line Crew member at the label printer on the processing line Tour group in the Shipping House with plant racks Crew members at the conveyor with a rack of plants Guests between rows of racks in the Shipping House

With the shipping crew working live behind them, Ken walked guests through what happens after a customer clicks Submit Order, from an electronic order to a rack of plants ready for the truck.

Sales reviews every order for availability, quality and special instructions. Once it's confirmed, the order goes to Shipping, where it's routed to a truck and assigned to a pulling crew. Our custom pulling app shows the crew the exact crop, quantity and current location of every plant, so there's no guesswork as crops move around the nursery.

Pulled racks are watered and staged, and our system prints retail labels straight from the customer's order, in the same order the plants were pulled, with customer branding, pricing and plant information. The processing line does another quality check, cleans and deadheads, labels and verifies counts. Each rack gets a final count and a rack label with the customer, order number, counts and truck stop.

  1. Submit
  2. Review
  3. Confirm
  4. Route
  5. Assign
  6. Pull
  7. Water
  8. Label
  9. Process
  10. Verify
  11. Ready to load

Our systems handle the complexity so our people can focus on the plants, and on getting customers exactly what they ordered.

From our dock to your door

Jason Lewis, our Fleet Manager, picked up where Ken left off, with loading and delivery. We treat delivery as the last step in the growing process, not just transportation.

Our fleet runs from 53-foot semis for big seasonal loads, to straight box trucks for weekly top-offs and tighter drop spots, to gooseneck truck-and-trailers up to 32 feet, with extra box trucks added in season. Plants ride enclosed from our dock to yours, out of the weather.

Inside, they travel on rolling racks and custom shelving built for high-density crops, locked down so nothing shifts, tips or gets crushed, on air-ride suspension that cushions root balls and blooms. Our drivers know they're hauling live plants, not freight. They watch plant condition and transit time the whole route, double-check every manifest, and unload with smooth lift gates, leaving you a clean drop space and stocked shelves.

Peak season90 days
  • 63 days on the road
  • 367 hours of driving
  • ~16,000 miles
Rest of the year270 days
  • 122 days on the road
  • 378 hours of driving
  • ~14,500 miles

Average per truck. Peak season packs about as much driving into three months as the other nine combined.

The goal: the quality we grow in our greenhouses is exactly the quality you receive.

Stop 3 · Production

Production sign on a tent at the production building door Tour group inside the production building Guests inside production with flowering plants in the foreground Guests watching production equipment Tour group in production behind trays of young plants Tour group outside the production building

Adam Rigby, our Production Manager, welcomed guests to the planting shed, where plugs become the finished pots that ship to you.

Production plants for about 10 acres here at the nursery, and for the last couple of years for our Garland facility, an hour north. Here that means 26 greenhouses, 12 D-frame houses and 151 outdoor beds, each holding 2,200 to 3,300 gallon pots.

1.6M+plugs planted this year, as of September
22,000plugs a day at full speed
2 × 6planting lines × crew per line
564soil towers used last year

TV screens and handheld tablets show the crew the day's queue: the pot size, where each crop is headed and how many of each variety to expect. A soil tower rides the elevator up the Pack machine, and sensors in the hoppers drop soil onto the conveyor as it's needed. We go through up to five towers a day of Berger mix, about 60% peat moss and 25% natural fiber, plus perlite, lime and a wetting agent.

  1. Soil
  2. Fill pots
  3. Dibble
  4. Plant by hand
  5. Label
  6. Water & feed

A crew member marks each pot with a dibble, and every plug is planted by hand. Down the belt, the Label Gator, an automated print-and-apply labeler from Great Lakes Label, tags each pot, replacing slow hand labeling. In the watering tunnel, every plant gets two treatments: Nutriculture, a water-based nutrient feed for fast root growth and a steady supply of food, and mycorrhizal fungi, which grow a web that works like extra roots. It helps the plant reach hard-to-get minerals like phosphorus and come through transplant shock much better.

On the gallon line, Echinacea, lavender, Gaillardia, Perovskia, Phlox paniculata and ornamental grasses (except blue fescue) also get wood chips, which hold in moisture, keep the plants from drying out and hold down weeds.

This season, 22 H-2A seasonal workers, our "Amigos," are part of the production crew. Some are here for three months, some for ten. It's a big sacrifice to be away from their families that long, and we're glad to have them.

As Adam put it, flowers feed pollinators like bees and butterflies, support local biodiversity, hold soil in place and clean the air. We're proud of what we grow.

Stop 4 · Outdoor Growing

Guests touring the outdoor growing area past lavender Guests walking the outdoor beds with mountains behind Tour group among outdoor perennials Cort Cox, in a headset mic, speaking to guests outside greenhouse 2 with Ethan behind him Hoop houses behind rows of outdoor perennials Guests under the shade structure with orange blooms in front

Hosted by Cort Cox and Ethan.

Stop 5 · Trial Garden

Guests gathered under the Trial Garden tent Guests walking up to the Trial Garden Trial Garden beds of perennials and conifers Trial Garden bed with guests A guest looking closely at plants in the Trial Garden Trial Garden host talking with guests under the tent

Hosted by Adrea Dent.
]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2026-open-house-recap/feed/ 0 5632 2026 Catalog https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2026-catalog/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2026-catalog/#respond Wed, 24 Dec 2025 16:36:52 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=5186 2026_PF_Catalog-1]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2026-catalog/feed/ 0 5186 2025 Catalog https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2025-catalog/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2025-catalog/#respond Sat, 04 Jan 2025 17:41:58 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=5052 2025_PF_Catalog_NoPrice

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2025-catalog/feed/ 0 5052 2024 Catalog https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2024-catalog/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2024-catalog/#comments Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:00:20 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4868 Perennial-Favorites-Catalog-2024

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2024-catalog/feed/ 4 4868 2023 Catalog https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2023-catalog/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2023-catalog/#respond Wed, 11 Jan 2023 17:42:05 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4481 Catalog-2023-No-price-1

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2023-catalog/feed/ 0 4481 Hot Picks 4/14/22 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/elementor-4413/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/elementor-4413/#respond Thu, 14 Apr 2022 22:05:43 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4413
3.5" Dianthus Olivia Wild
3.5" Sedum Silver
3.5" Sempervivum Dea
3.5" Sedum Blue Elf
3.5" Delosperma Icicle Pink
3.5" Sempervivum Blue Boy
3.5" Sempervivum Averil
3.5" Dianthus Fire Star
3.5" Delosperma Salmony Pink
3.5" Sedum Chocolate Ball
3.5" Dianthus Kahori
3.5" Sempervivum Jade Rose

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

Did you know Coral Bells are native to the intermountain west? Yes, a reddish to pink flowering, green-leaf species and a yellowish green flowered type grow generally on north facing rocky ledges in our canyons. Garden Creek Canyon, for instance, is west of Arimo, Idaho and a great visual destination to visit a riot of late spring flowering Coral Bells. A rock climbers’ paradise, the alum root, as it’s sometimes called, thrives in the rocky crevices of the quartzite uplift. A dwarf form of the Garden Creek Coral Bell, the ‘Sandia Mountain Alumroot’, Heuchera pulchella, is part of our ever-expanding collection of this plant at Perennial Favorites. Note, there are several pages of Heuchera on our availability listing on-line and in our catalog. A long story unfolds as one looks in the rabbit hole of Heuchera hybridization. Just as our nursery was beginning 30 years ago, the reigning ‘Perennial Plant of the Year’ was ‘Purple Palace’, a new hybrid from a California Coral Bells. Its shades of purple and green with white flowers have been a feature in numerous shade gardens. Although new introductions like ‘Obsidian’ are available. Purple Palace still retains its prominence in our listings. There are dozens more to check out as well as propagators using tissue culture that provide an avenue for new introductions. Check out the newest ‘cutest’ Coral Bells in this weeks’ availability list!

Think the comments on internet posts are tough? See what happened when the Washington Post asked its readers to write intentionally angry letters to actual headlines.

Headline: 20,000 Pound Pavement to Help Homeless

Response: Are you people idiots? What the homeless need are homes, not ten tons of additional pavement!

Headline: Maryland Agrees to Tobacco Settlement

Response: Well, that’s all we need – an entire settlement of people devoted to their cancer sticks. What’s next, a drunk-driving commune?

Headline: C.C. United Se Une Hoy a Campana Solidaria Pro Centroamerica

Response: I was disgusted with the sloppy spelling for this article.  There were so many typos, I couldn’t understand a word.

A headline from a local newspaper in Brookfield, Wisconsin: Appleton Airport May Soon Be Known as Appleton Airport.

Free: Piano with matching bench seat, very good condition, all keys work probably. Source: Gettysburg Area Merchandiser

Free Vain Screening. Source: Boston Globe

Free rent in exchange for elderly woman. Source: 11points.com Submitted by James Hutchinson, Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania

 

Spotted in the classifieds: “For sale: cemetery plot, $200, so I don’t have to spend all eternity beside my ex!” New Castle, PA

“Now hiring. Cemetery superintendent.  The ideal candidate must be able to supervise in a fast-paced environment.” A.S., via internet

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/elementor-4413/feed/ 0 4413 Hot Picks 4/8/22 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-4-8-22/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-4-8-22/#respond Wed, 06 Apr 2022 17:40:27 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4388
3.5" Sempervivum Purple Passion
#1 Arabis Snowfix
3.5" Delsoperma Salmony Pink
#1 Geum Tempo Yellow
3.5" Sempervivum Dea
4.5" Primula Oakleaf Yellow Picotee
#1 Phlox Emerald Blue
3.5" Penstemon Firecracker
3.5" Sedum Green Ball
3.5" Delosperma Golden Wonder
#1 Iberis Purity
#1 Arabis Antique Rose

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

  “Right isn’t always popular and popular isn’t always right” or so the saying goes. At a U.N.L.A. convention and trade show some 20 years ago, I was hunted down by Preston Cox and Kent Miller following a lecture by a colleague of mine from Utah State University. The passionate lecture on Utah Native Plants seemed to suggest an immediate need to change from current plant choices to almost singly using intermountain native plants. Oops! Yes, we need to take immediate steps to address restraint in overwatering. Plant choice helps but isn’t the most productive way to achieve our overall goal. For instance, the southeast European native ‘Aubrieta’ has been grown at Perennial Favorites since our beginnings 30 years ago. It is a moderately long-lived plant, water efficient to boot, and hot and dry is what this 3-4” spring bloomer prefers! For 2022, we are featuring the Audrey Series, a vigorous, large flowered, longer blooming Rockcress in shades of blue and purple and the Axcent Series of compact, heat resistant plants in red, purple, lilac, and violet eye. We live in a hot and dry climate. We can choose popular and right and put water savings in the bank to boot! We carry a large selection of intermountain natives to blend with the older stand-bys like Aubrieta. Go water efficient. Get popular!!

A DRUNK MAN REPORTED MISSING IN TURKEY JOINED HIS OWN SEARCH PARTY FOR HOURS

When Beyhan Mutlu disappeared, his wife was rightfully distraught. The 50-year-old Turkish man had last been seen by his friends on Sept. 28, 2021. They had all gone out together and spent the night drinking in the province of Bursa in northwest Turkey before Mutlu vanished into thin air – only to reemerge helping out in his own search party.
   In a real-life scenario worthy of Charlie Chaplin’s finest films Mutlu had wandered off alone after his night out and slept in a cabin in the woods. And when his wife and friends couldn’t reach him for hours, they called the police and formed a search party.
   It was only after Mutlu woke up and began to find his way home that he stumbled upon a group of civilians in the woods who had volunteered to help police look for him. Unaware of their endeavor, he began quietly following the herd and keeping pace – becoming utterly confused when they began shouting his name. “I told them I was Beyhan Mutlu, but they continued to search,” he said.
   Only after his drinking buddies arrived and confirmed that Mutlu was who they were looking for that police and volunteers realized what had happened. Fortunately, rescue officials found the incident more humorous than aggravating – and gave Mutlu a ride home.

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-4-8-22/feed/ 0 4388 Hot Picks 3/31/2022 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-3-31-2022/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-3-31-2022/#respond Thu, 31 Mar 2022 21:15:13 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4360
4.5" Lewisia - Elise
3.5" Sempervivum - Cobweb
#1 Heuchera
#1 Saxifraga - Touran Pink
3.5" Geum - Koi
3.5" Dianthus - Olivia Wild

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

   You say it all started with ‘Johnny Jump-ups’! Yep, two hundred years ago when the ‘Brits’ were collecting every sort of plant and gardening was becoming fanciful, a certain Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet was procuring every sort of Viola Tricolor she could lay her hands on. Her gardener, William Richardson, cross-bred many of these selections and what we now know as ‘the Pansy’ was off to the horticultural races. Other well-to-do gentry, not to be outdone, continued crossing species Violas and before long Viola x wittrockiana, a pansy with a ‘face’, erupted to lead the pack! As a young lad, my dad and I drove over to my Uncle Frank’s nursery on a cool overcast fall day.  Pansies nestled in wood flats were individualized using the two-inch wood shavings (no plastic in the early 1950’s). Two by four cold frames stored hundreds of flats. Leaf mulch was heaped atop the congregation to finish off winter protection. The organic, earthy smells surrounded us as we chose flats destined for a client’s yard. Perennial Favorites’ Pansy varieties traveled to all parts of the intermountain west in the fall of 2021. Now, in early 2022, we have the most current tender and more hardy Violas listed in the annual and perennial section of the 2022 catalog. Check us out on-line or beg a hard catalog from Ken, Dane, or Brendon. Better yet, stop by and check out our facility and get your catalog to boot!

A New Zealand City Council Fired Its Official Wizard After 20 Years Of Service:
  
   When Ian Brackenbury Channell first appeared in the town square of Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1976, locals were befuddled and bemused.  Standing on a ladder while dressed in a cloak and pointy hat, the self-described wizard addressed passersby and cast spells.
   While the police initially tried to forcibly remove him, residents protested in Channell’s favor.  Channell continued freely performing on a daily basis and was even declared a Living Work of Art in 1982 by the New Zealand Gallery Directors Association.
   His true legacy began in 1998, however, when he accepted the city’s offer to become the official, state-appointed wizard of Christchurch.  For nearly a quarter-century, Channell earned an annual tax-free salary of $11,000 from the city – until October 2021, when the city council terminated his contract.
  Determined to leave aesthetics related to “The Lord of The Rings” behind, the city council curated a new tourism campaign that no longer had any use for the wizard of yore and city spokesperson, Lynn McClelland, said he would ‘forever be a part of our history.’
   But the move left Channell pounding his staff in a furious rage.  ‘It implies that I am boring and old, but there is nobody else or anything like me in Christchurch,’ he said. ‘it’s just they don’t like me because they are boring old bureaucrats and everyone likes me and no one likes them.’
   And even though Channell had hoped for Christchurch residents to rally behind him to keep his job, his last paycheck from the city came in December.

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-3-31-2022/feed/ 0 4360 2022 Catalog https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2022-catalog/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2022-catalog/#respond Thu, 23 Dec 2021 16:10:27 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4301 PF_Catalog_2022_No_Price_LR

]]> https://www.perennialfavorites.com/2022-catalog/feed/ 0 4301 Hot Picks 10/01 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-10-01/ https://www.perennialfavorites.com/hot-picks-10-01/#respond Wed, 29 Sep 2021 19:00:51 +0000 https://www.perennialfavorites.com/?p=4235
#1 Rudbeckia Goldsturm
#1 Dianthus Kahori
#1 Phlox Ka-Pow White Bicolor
#1 Gaura Ballerina White
#1 Muhlenbergia Undaunted
#1 Coreopsis Sunfire
#1 Achillea New Vintage Violet
#1 Armeria Sweet Dreams
#1 Penstemon Shadow Mountain
#1 Miscanthus Morning Light

From The Desk Of Bill Varga

Have you noticed the bright red to red orange rosehips adorning our Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii) this year? Yes, fall color doesn’t always need be associated with the dramatic color change in our mountains. For sure I’m not down-playing the riot of fall color associated with our Big Tooth Mountain Maples. Our Wild Roses are just close at hand! Well, make some rose hip tea then. Boil some water and pour over fresh rose hips. Use a ¼ to ½ cup hips to 1 cup water. Seep for 10-20 minutes and strain any pulp from your brew. The fresh tea could provide up to 75% of your daily value of Vitamin C along with lesser values of other daily vitamin needs. The plant is also getting something out of hip development. Rest! Yes, the time is near for a break. Slow down and prepare. So, in your garden stop deadheading or pruning your ornamental roses. Breathe, let mother nature take her course, but don’t quit caring. Slow the regular watering, water deeply, but less frequently. If fall and winter rain is below normal, consider an occasional drenching, this is especially important with one or two year old landscape additions. Be in tune and go with the flow!

Puns & Portmanteau’s

Karmageddon: It’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it’s like, a serious bummer.

Lasterday: Any day before today.

Left Bank: What the robber did after his bag was full of loot.

Misty: How golfers create divots.

Mosquito: An insect that makes you like flies better.

Mouse Potato: The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.

Onosecond: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake.

Paradox: Two physicians.

Parasites: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Percussive Maintenance: The fine art of whacking an electronic device to get it to work again.

Perfect Pitch: What it is when you throw a banjo in a dumpster and it didn’t hit the sides.

Pharmacist: A helper on the farm.

Phonecrastinate: To put off answering the phone until caller ID identifies the caller.

Polarize: What penguins see with.

Primate: Removing your spouse from in front of the TV

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