Cultivate’24 was as much about people as it was about plants. With more than 10,000 attendees from across the green industry gathered in Columbus, Ohio, there was a lot of tree talk going on! Presented by AmericanHort®, the trade show is one of the largest events of its kind in the country and typically attracts attendees from every state and from 40 countries around the world.
Over the course of the three-day trade show, we connected with customers from across the country including the trio pictured in our headline image. Hailing from Lancaster Greenhouse and New Leaf Market of Lancaster, Ohio, Brian Neeley (left), Nick Krutsch and Alaina Williams happily took home three of our sample trees – a Mercury® Magnolia, a D. D. Blanchard Magnolia and a Royal Raindrops® Crabapple.
Sales representatives Pat Carey, Craig Hallman and Frank Holgerson were joined at the show by CEO Ben Rough and Communications Director Nancy Buley, who presented one of the 160+ educational sessions offered during the four-day event. Her session was among those recorded for purchasers of Cultivate On-Demand Education passes. These videos will be posted August 1 and will be available for viewing for six months.
With 650+ exhibitors showing off their best plants and products on the 8+-acre trade show floor, it was challenging to take it all in. But we made sure to visit as many of our customers as possible, most of whom showcased at least one JFS tree in their exhibits. We’re thankful for their faith in our trees and hope you will have the opportunity to purchase trees from their garden centers or from the garden centers supplied by the wholesale-only nurseries. Here, we shine the spotlight on several customers who featured JFS-sourced trees in their beautifully presented booths.
Nightfall® Snowbell
Styrax japonicus ‘JFS 6SJ’ PP 34817
Anchoring the corner of the Acorn Farms Nursery booth, this remarkable 2022 JFS introduction was a real crowd pleaser at the three-day trade show. Nightfall® Snowbell’s dark purple leaves and cascading form are unique among the Snowbells and help make it a popular seller at the company’s four Columbus-area garden centers, Oakland Nurseries. In the background, the Red Oak and Red Sunset® Maple were also grown from JFS bare root liners. Left to right, President and Founder Paul Reiner, Field Production Manager Graham Anderson and Farm Mechanic Justin Legros.
Gold Rush Dawn Redwood
Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Ogon’
The feathery golden-green spire of Gold Rush Dawn Redwood was the traffic-stopper tree at the Natorp’s Nursery booth, according to Sales Representatives Patrick Greeson and Jen Rowland. Grown from a JFS #3 VigorLiner®, it stood out among the golden-hued trees and perennials on the left side of the living color wheel. Royal Raindrops® Crabapple, Wildfire Tupelo and Crimson Sentry Maple rose above the right side of the booth, presenting a remarkable blend of reds, pinks and deep purples.
Primarily a wholesale grower and distributor of a full range of plants, the Cincinnati-area nursery offers over 1 million plants online for curbside pickup throughout the year and opens their nursery to the public during the spring and fall planting seasons.
Quick Fire® Hydrangea
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bulk’ PP16812
We were sad when longtime customers and friends Bill and Pat Schubert decided it was time to retire and sell Tree Tyme Nursery of Austinburg, Ohio. Purchased by Eric Eland, we’re delighted that the nursery is in good hands and continues to produce shade and flowering trees, deciduous shrubs, conifers and perennials of impeccable quality. Eric’s daughter, Abbey Eland, joined Sales Representative Mary Beth Miller in presenting their fine plants including a Quick Fire® Hydrangea trained by JFS from Year One to be a small tree. Super shoppers Tara Howard and MacKenzie Mehrl of Sheiya Market, Berlin, Ohio, were thrilled to have the opportunity to buy several plants at the close of the show.
Greenspire® Linden
Tilia cordata ‘Greenspire’
Grown from a JFS bareroot liner, a Greenspire® Linden towers above Sales Representative Jared Ritter and hundreds of gorgeous shrubs and perennials. The Petitti Family of Farms, headquartered in Perry, Ohio, is a collection of farms owned and operated by the Petitti family. Founded in an old garage in 1971, the nursery has long been known for its extraordinary Petitti Garden Centers that now include nine year-round locations serving Northeast Ohio communities. Today their website offers online shopping and fabulous resources for gardeners including planting guides, gardening calendar, blog and an archive of Gardening with Angelo, a popular weekly radio programs presented by the company founder, Angelo Petitti.
Red Sunset® Maple
Acer rubrum ‘Franksred’
Standing at attention at the entrance to the AmericanHort® gathering place, a Red Sunset® Maple grown by Willoway Nurseries, Inc. helped create an inviting space for conversation and relaxation. Introduced in 1966, Red Sunset® Maple is an enduring favorite that is planted widely across the continent. Its popularity began right here in Ohio after being named #1 in the Ohio Shade Tree Trials. Across the aisle, sales representatives Steve Miller, Andrea Dumm and Collin Gibbs show off a Bloodgood Japanese Maple that also got its start at JFS.
Bloodgood Japanese Maple
Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’
Home Nursery of Albers, Illinois, founded by a Czechoslovakian immigrant named Ernest E. Tosovsky, Sr., has been serving wholesale customers since 1921. Third generation members of the Tosovsky family currently grow and ship their fine plants to landscape and garden centers in 13 Midwestern states. They buy several thousand young trees from us each year which are containerized and grown to landscape size for their discerning customers. Sales Coordinator Zach Perkins noted that Bloodgood Japanese Maple, described and pictured in their Plant Library, is an enduring favorite.
Pink Cascade® Cherry
Prunus ‘NCPH1’ PP 27579
Eastern Shore Nursery of Virginia is a wholesale nursery supplying garden centers, re-wholesale nurseries, and landscapers with the highest quality container-grown ornamental trees, shrubs, roses and fruit trees. The latter are marketed under their Hollybrook Orchards brand and can be found at retail garden centers throughout the region, per their Find A Retailer resource. Longtime Sales Representative Mark Bolin is flanked by Limelight Hydrangea and Pink Cascade® Cherry, a newer JFS cultivar that is so popular with customers that Eastern Shore Nursery buys several hundred bare root trees per year for finishing in containers.
Gardeners! Please note that our nursery is strictly wholesale. To purchase these and other trees grown by our nursery, please use our Retailer Locator to find sources of JFS trees near you.
