Shrub Madness

February 18th, 2014

   Whether you care about college basketball or not, you’ll be hard pressed to ignore all of the Tweeting, Facebooking, water-cooler talk and bracket-forecasting bravado that will surround “March Madness” in the coming weeks.

Will Pinky Winky hydrangea be good enough to win Shrub Madness?

   That’s the title of the NCAA tournament that starts with 64 of the nation’s top college basketball teams and whittles them down week by week to the prestigious Final Four… and ultimately to a single champion.

   The folks at Michigan’s Spring Meadow Nursery, which produces the popular line of Proven Winners ColorChoice shrubs, got to thinking, “Why should basketball fans have all the fun? Why not a tournament for plant geeks?”

   So for the first time starting March 3, we’ll have “Shrub Madness.”

   Spring Meadow put together a Plant Selection Committee that picked 64 favorite Proven Winners ColorChoice shrub varieties and lined them up in playoff brackets – just like the March Madness pair-offs.

   But instead of waiting to see if Incrediball® hydrangea’s stout branches can fend off the aggressive root offense of Red Wall® Virginia creeper, the winners of these matchups will be determined by fan voting.

   Specifically, plant geeks can go to http://www.Facebook.com/PWColorChoice and pick their favorites through each of the six rounds of competition.

   To sweeten the competition, Spring Meadow plans to give away five collections of plants that make it to the final four – to be known forthwith as the “Floral Four.”

   Dozens of additional prizes are to be awarded along the way.

   The beginning brackets include a mix of familiar, top-selling varieties such as Pinky Winky® hydrangea, Lo & Behold® ‘Blue Chip’ dwarf butterfly bush and Brandywine™ viburnum as well as more obscure varieties that only a hard-core plant geek will know and love. (Happy Face® White bush cinquefoil anyone? Marie Rose™ New Jersey tea? Sugar Shack™ buttonbush?)

   “With more than 32,000 fans weighing in on the competition, this is anyone’s game,” says Stacey Hirvela, Proven Winners ColorChoice social media specialist. “Time and again, our fan base has proven their love for hydrangeas. But they’re a hungry bunch. They’re a smart bunch. And they know a good plant when they see one.

   “I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if a truly garden-worthy but less-than-showy plant makes it to the latter rounds.”

   Shrub Madness will run from March 3 through April 4.

   By then, the coast should be clear to stop picking and start planting.