DOWNERS GROVE, IL – Inspire consumer interest with the “Year of the” program from the National Garden Bureau! The “Year of the” promotion is ready to help growers, garden retailers (both on-line and brick-and-mortar) and garden communicators encourage consumers to discover and embrace four exciting crops per year. Promotional materials for the four 2018 “Year of the” crops are available now.
Resources are available on National Garden Bureau’s website: www.ngb.org.
Each year the National Garden Bureau (NGB), the non-profit organization that promotes gardening on behalf of the horticulture industry and its members, promotes the use of selected crops for its “Year of the” program. For 2018, those crops include:
· Annuals: Year of the Calibrachoa
o A relative newcomer but comes in many beautiful colors and designs.
· Vegetables/edibles: Year of the Beet
o Tasty, easy-to-prepare, healthy and can grow anywhere!
· Perennials: Year of the Coreopsis
o Cheery, delightful native plants to brighten any garden.
· Bulbs: Year of the Tulip
o Beautiful in the vase or in the garden!
The National Garden Bureau Board of Directors selects crops which consumers can grow successfully. Each “Year of the” crop is easy to grow, genetically diverse and includes lots of new varieties—all traits that will help consumers and their gardens flourish.
Promotional Materials
To help spread the word and the use of these crops, NGB offers free promotional materials for grower, brokers, landscapers, garden centers, master gardeners, extension personnel, garden communicators and speakers. These materials range from printable fact sheets to photos and logos which can be used in catalogs and advertisements, on websites and in other appropriate marketing materials. For seminars and presentations, free PowerPoint presentations showing many varieties of beets, tulips, coreopsis and calibrachoa are available on NGB’s SlideShare account.
Another new aspect of NGB’s “Year of the” program is a video about the edible class, produced by and starring cook, author and storyteller Jonathan Bardzik. This fun, humorous and interesting video can be viewed here and shared by any person or company who wishes to promote gardening and cooking with beets.
Promotion Works
NGB began the “Year of the” programs in the early 1980s. Over that time, these programs have generated tremendous consumer and industry publicity. The entire industry—breeders, brokers, seed companies, growers, nurseries and garden centers—are urged to highlight these flowers and plants when planning their 2018 marketing.
Publicity of the 2018 “Year of the” crops to the garden writer community began in August 2017. Publicity direct to the consumer will begin in January 2018. Visit the National Garden Bureau website to download photos, logos, fact sheets and much more. These tools will help the home garden industry promote the crops to consumers and encourage gardening with these specific classes.
Join the NGB Social Media community, now almost 65,000 strong! Follow NGB on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram and share the posts about these four featured crop classes.
For more information about this program and/or membership in National Garden Bureau, please email Diane Blazek
Founded in 1920, the National Garden Bureau is a non-profit organization whose mission is to disseminate basic instructions for home gardeners. NGB publishes and sponsors “Year Of The” fact sheets annually featuring flowers and vegetables, including new introductions, which are especially suited to home gardens.
Source: National Garden Bureau
