Power Picks – Yard/Landscape Edition

At GrowIt! we see a lot of plants. I mean A LOT of plants. Seth and I literally travel the country to see plants. If we’re not checking out plant photos on the app, we’re out in the garden taking photos of our own.

Over the last year, one thing has become clear. Everyone has their own opinions on plants. Some of that depends on where you live. Plants that perform in Florida, just might not cut it in the tundra that is the upper Midwest. However, some of the opinions out there are just based on who you are.

To highlight examples of differing opinions, Seth and I thought we would give you our top 3 plant picks for landscape, container, and indoor use. I’ll let you be the judge at who has the better taste in plants….. but clearly it’s me.

-Mason, Cofounder of GrowIt!

The Picks for Yard/Landscape Use are in!

Seth’s Top 3:

1. Whopper (large) or Dragon Wing (medium) Begonia – These plants are dynamite! They thrive in shade and in sun. They have bright red or pink flowers that cover most of the plant. This plant pretty much looks awesome every time I see it.
2. Angelonia/Summer Snapdragon – If you are in the northwest, I apologize for picking this plant as it may not do too well for you. This plant loves heat and loves sun, and if it has enough of both can look really good in the landscape.  They have a bunch of great colors and it can get you outside the normal petunias if you are looking for something different.
3. Butterfly Bush – If you are a sucker for butterflies, then you have to try this plant out! It comes in an array of colors and many different sizes from a small 3′ bush to a large 8′ bush. It’s flowers are very fragrant, and butterflies love landing on the cone like flowers. It is a perennial for much of the country. It really has been one of my favorites for quite a few years.

Mason’s Even Better Top 3:

1. Lantana – The Michael Jordan of plants. Lantana is a garden champ. Here in the northern states it adds great color all summer and provides good coverage. Down South, Lantana is even better. It can actually grow into a small hedge! Some blooms even give you three colors at once. What more could you ask for?
2. Dusty Miller – No garden is complete without “The Dusty”. Dusty Miller is the single greatest accent plant on the market. Possibly the most underappreciated plant out there, Dusty Miller can grow almost anywhere, and can take a beating. From far it just looks like a white plant, but up close you see that there is a texture there like none other.
3. Salvia ‘Black and Blue’ – I will challenge you to find a truer blue in the plant kingdom. There are tons of purples and even some navy blues out there, but none is as blue as ‘Black and Blue’. This plant is a killer. It does well in the occasional dry spell and provides color all summer long. It’s also great in the fact that it gets pretty big and can provide some height in combination with all of those groundcovers.

For more pictures of these plants, search for them in the app in the Search feed under the “Plants” Tab.

We’d love to hear about your favorite plants! Leave us a comment or upload them to GrowIt!

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.