Sunshine, Summer and Yellow Shirts

It’s been a busy summer here at GrowIt! headquarters. Actually you could say that GrowIt! headquarters itself has been on the road. We’ve been busy traveling across the country showing people what we’re up to, and connecting people to gardeners in their area.

Most recently, we took a trip out to the Washington, D.C. area, and had the chance to see our friends at Greenstreet Gardens! They’ve been uploading photos this spring and trying to help people with their plant problems. We also stopped by the Union Market in D.C. on Saturday and Sunday to hand out some free cucumber plants along with some t-shirts and good vibes! It was a great crowd, and we think we inspired some potential growers.

Earlier this summer we held a student contest. The idea was to see which students could get the most followers on GrowIt! We selected and interviewed five finalists, and then chose two winners from that group. Please join us in congratulating Brett Weiss and Sarah Swofford!

Brett is a student at Ferrum College, who had the awesome opportunity to intern with Disney this summer in their horticulture department. Brett sees the app as a cool way to find new plants and to show off his own collection!

Sarah is a student (and soon to be Graduate) at Texas A&M University. Sarah is what we would call an “ultra-fan” of GrowIt! as she was also a recipient of our student scholarship last fall. Sarah fell in love with horticulture almost by accident several years back. She’s now looking to find a career in the industry connecting people with plants.

Both of these students will be joining us in attending the Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago later this month. If you happen to be in attendance as well, please reach out to them and congratulate them!

As you may have seen throughout the summer, many brands have been holding photo contests on the GrowIt! platform. Some lucky users have actually won some hefty gift cards. Tomorrow, August 7^th, another contest begins. Suntory flowers is giving people the chance to win up to $100 for uploading a picture of a Sun Parasol Mandevilla onto GrowIt! with the hashtag #SunParasolRocks. It’s that easy to enter. While GrowIt! does not recommend any specific plants to all of its users, we do recommend that if you like/have a Sun Parasol Mandevilla that you upload it for a chance at some casshhhhhhh!

5 Plants for Early Spring!

At GrowIt! we stand by the ideal that all men and women were created equal. However, we also believe that all plants were not. Some plants bloom all summer long, but don’t bloom in the cooler parts of spring. Whereas some plants like it cool, but stop flowering in June.

Here are 5 plants that you’ve probably been seeing quite a bit of recently. They perform best in the earlier spring months before it gets too hot. If you’re looking for some last minute color for your gardens, through May these might be ok for you. However, these plants are not going to last all summer… and that’s ok! Basically what we’re saying is: take pictures of these plants when you see them, because they are in their prime now, and they’re only going to decline from here.

1. Hellebores – These early spring blooming perennials are favorites in a lot of collector gardens. Very popular in the Pacific Northwest and are generally hardy up to Zone 5 with some varieties even managing to over winter in Zone 4. So as long as you aren’t seeing temps lower than -15 to -25 degrees Fahrenheit your chances are good at this popping up every year. Some varieties have an awesome lime green bloom color which is not easy to find in the plant world!

From User: luriegarden

From User: indianajones64

2. Erysimum or Wallflower – A great flower for beginner gardeners looking to dabble in those early spring bloomers. Erysimum offers a great range of colors. Also, it’s one of the spring-bloomers that prefers the sunny spots. If you live in a warmer area (not the tundra of the Midwest) you might even see this come back for you!

From User: chaletnursery

3. Bleeding Heart or Dicentra – This perennial has one of the most unique flowers. It actually looks like a heart! Beautiful pink and white blooms year after year. However, they often stop flowering when the summer heat starts setting in.

From User: sidraisch

4. Tulips and Daffodils – We couldn’t leave out these bulbs! While tulips and daffodils are some of the most famous plants across the globe, many forget that they do not last into the summer. This is why tulip festivals are always held in the early parts of spring. Sometimes even as soon as mid-May these will begin to go out of flower. Take photos of these ASAP before it’s too late!

From User: nickflax1

From User: mrsjenclarke

5. Osteospermum – Sometimes referred to just as “Osteos” these can be a little tricky. Most varieties on the market prefer the cooler spring temps over the heat of the summer. However, some companies are working on varieties that can stand up to the heat! Before you buy this one, be sure to check the tag to make sure you know whether you’re getting something for spring interest or something that might last a little longer.

From User: cleigh

Another spring flower of note is Pericallis or Cineraria. You might have seen a lot of these on GrowIt! recently! This is because Suntory Flowers is giving away $200 in total prizes to people who upload a picture of their Senetti brand pericallis onto GrowIt! with the hashtag #SenettiRocks in the comments! One winner will receive $100 and two second place winners will receive $50. How cool is that? You could win some cash for your garden just by uploading a photo!

Be sure to stay tuned as we’ll be getting ready to see even more color in the garden as the temps get warmer! Next time we’ll be talking about all those plants that love the heat!

It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than That!

Over the past weekend we were invited to be a part of Chalet Nursery’s Garden Faire event in Wilmette, Illinois. The first weekend in May is the grand opening of spring in the Midwest. When we showed up to the garden center, it was about a quarter to eight in the morning and there was already a line of people waiting to get inside! It’s clear that people had enough of Old Man Winter and wanted to get some plants in the ground.

We couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. It was 70 degrees and sunny for the most part. Also, we were able to camp out next to the popcorn guy so that wasn’t bad either!

Plants looked great as well, and the selection was fantastic. Even though some of the more prominent summer annuals weren’t available yet, the wallflowers looked fantastic and so did the lobelia baskets.

We held a raffle as well! Four lucky people are set to win $25 gift certificates to Chalet Nursery and four luckier people are set to win GrowIt! t-shirts. We also had an AMAZING run-in with one of our GrowIt! fans this weekend as well!

Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Youtube.

Those are all examples of mobile apps that are the first thing downloaded when someone gets a new phone. This past weekend, we learned that you can now add GrowIt! to that list!

Last summer while we were doing events in the Chicagoland area we had the chance to talk to a lot of people about what we are doing with GrowIt! Because we are currently only a mobile platform some people couldn’t use GrowIt! from the beginning because they didn’t have a smartphone. Turns out that we left an impression on those folks too!

We actually had one fan stop by – in a GrowIt! t-shirt no less – and tell us that last summer she was unable to use the app because she did not have a smartphone. However, she said that back in December she finally upgraded to an iPhone. Can you guess what the first app she downloaded was? Yep! It was GrowIt! We honestly, thought she was kidding at first but she assured us that she downloaded it right at the Apple Store! How cool is that?

She now uses the GrowIt! app as username “booter13”, and really enjoys helping people identify plants that they have questions about. She said that it’s a lot of fun and that she enjoys spreading her passion for gardening.

At the end of the day that’s what GrowIt! is all about: Spreading a passion for plants. We’re just glad we can make people smile while doing it. It truly was a great weekend capped by an AWESOME interaction with one of our users.

Holiday Contest!

It’s time to kick off the first annual GrowIt! Holiday photo contest!
We will be awarding special prizes to the top three photos uploaded to GrowIt! during the holiday season.

How will we be judging the photos?

• Obviously each photo must be a picture of a living plant. Cut Greens, Christmas Trees, Food, and Silk Flowers DO NOT COUNT!

• The picture must show some sort of Holiday Cheer! No matter which Holidays you celebrate, it’s the time of year to decorate and be with family and friends.

• And lastly if you can get a picture of Santa holding your plant there may be bonus points involved.

So get out there and let’s see those Poinsettia and Christmas Cactus pictures!