Perennials Marketing Contest
2007 Grand Prize Winner

CANADALE NURSERIES LTD.
"Down the Inspirational Perennial Path"

Canadale's easy-to-navigate 'Design and Inspiration' display gardens allow customers to find great ideas and planting combos for their own gardens.
This 26' x 20' Perennial Garden is artfully planted with the freshest of in-bloom perennials. User-friendly signage and handouts help with the plant selection process for novice and experienced gardeners alike.
Another view of the same Perennial Garden. Note the container, strategically potted up with perennials.
Canadale's in-house printing department produces life-sized house facades which are used as backdrops for a series of front yard display gardens.
The Perennial Garden handout. On one side, a replica of the garden, with every plant numbered. On the other side, a complete list of every plant. Could it get any more convenient?

Our heartiest congratulations go out to Canadale Nurseries Ltd. of St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, winners of the North American-wide 2007 Perennials Marketing Contest sponsored by Plant Publicity Holland and the Perennial Plant Association.

Established in 1955 by Bill and Joan Intven who arrived in Canada three years earlier from Holland, Canadale is a thriving 110 acre production nursery, wholesaler and garden center. Today, the operation is run by two of the Intven's seven children, Tom and Pauline Intven-Casier.

"One of our strengths is our extremely dedicated, devoted and talented staff. Without them neither the nursery nor the garden center would be possible," said Pauline, Canadale's V.P. and Garden Center Manager.

Display gardens sell plant material
At Canadale, the design and inspiration gardens take center stage. "The concept came from a South African horticultural tour that Tom took a few years ago. Their garden centers were a wonderful source of inspiration and we've put some of the finer concepts, like the layout of their display gardens, to good use," Pauline explained.

In one easy-to-navigate area, at least 12 different styles of demonstration gardens are featured. There are a series of front yard gardens, complete with life-sized house facades as backdrops. A pool garden, a back deck garden with hot tub, an ornamental grasses garden, a deck and patio container garden, a water garden an oriental plant themed garden, but, according to Pauline, the "absolute star", is the perennial garden.

The more blooms, the better
The demonstration gardens are not large. Typically each is in the 26' x 20' range. But that's enough space to give customers great ideas for their own gardens. Some of the plants are actually planted in the ground, but most are just sunk into the earth, pot and all, and then top-dressed with mulch. "This allows us to easily replace plants on a regular basis to ensure that everything is in its full bloom glory. Customers need to see plant material at its best, it's what makes the sale," said Pauline.

Good information helps 'close' sales
"We understand the value of good signage," she went on to say. "Every plant is labeled with its common and botanical name. We also have handouts at each garden. On one side is the planting design of that particular garden, on the other, the name of every plant in the vignette. It's all about making buying plants as easy as possible for our time-pressed customers."

Perennials are front and center
Canadale is big on perennials. They are used in almost all their demonstration gardens, not only the perennial garden that won the contest. "We're also trying to teach our customers that perennials are wonderful container plants. The concept seems to be catching on, as well it should. Who wouldn't love an attractive container by their front door filled with blue hosta, purple leafed heuchera some tall miscanthus and variegated ivy spilling over the sides" exclaimed Pauline.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Canadale is obviously doing something right. In densely populated and abundantly garden centered south-western Ontario, they draw dedicated customers from as far away as 200 miles in every direction.

When asked who will be taking the Perennials Marketing Contest prize-winning trip for two to Holland, Pauline sighed, saying, "We're still drawing straws for that wonderful gift."

Full contest details and entry forms for the 2008 Perennials Marketing Contest will be available online at www.perennialandnurserynews.com in early April.