Video Tour is Up!

Well today we did a happy hour of sorts through Twitter. We posted a special that lasted from 2-5pm CST and posted a few videos that takes you through a virtual tour of the facilities. These are posted on youtube. Here they are:

Inside Tour:



Outside Tour:



Just an inside look at what we do everyday, hope you like these! BTW they are narrated by your truly!

SSSSSLLLOOOOWWW

Well the economy just stinks, that I am sure most of us know. We are keeping our chin up but also being realistic. On July 10th we started working a 4 day week, one to cut costs but also because there is less work to do. We have a small skeleton crew working, myself, Holly and Minera our water woman (kinda like Wonder Woman!) Anyway, it is very quiet on Fridays so we hope that things turn around soon, we are getting lonely here! I will say that by working 4 days we have improved efficiencies in the lab. The crew there was on a more relaxed schedule, now the technicians are working longer hours on the 4 days in hopes of making up lost time they would get on Friday. It is always better to work a few long days than a series of short days. I have asked others in the industry are doing but I don't get specifics, just the ol' "We're hangin' in there"

I am excited about the upcoming tradeshows we have, hopefully we will get to see many customers face to face and talk about the Spring of 2010. It will be nice to get a feel for what everyone else thinks this spring season holds for us, I am pretty sure we already know what Fall has in store :((((. I have posted a survey on what companies are doing to survive this slow economy, if you are interested in expressing your opinion, please do so here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=
Lw4WHJ_2fWQDZh07LWXq3wLQ_3d_3d

I would love to hear from you, maybe share ideas if you have them! Even though things are down we are not all doom and gloom. We are working on several exciting projects that are going to make for an exciting future. Remember all good things come to those that wait. I am looking forward to next week, I think we will post another twitter special, if you are not following us you should here: www.twitter.com/MGNLiners we post things like specials too good to be missed, also we keep you updated on what we are doing around the nursery. We are always up to something!

Nandina Blush Pink™ set to release

Well the HOT weather just won't quit so hopefully it will be a great time to start the official release of our newest Nandina, Nandina domestica 'AKA' or Blush Pink™ Nandina, P.P. 19916. You will see this one at the TNLA Expo in Dallas, TX from August 14-16th. Just check it out in the Flowerwood booth or the Magnolia Gardens booth, we will be in booth 1015! This Nandina will be an exclusive to the Southern Living® Plant Program, I am super excited about it being that it is the first patent Magnolia Gardens has even been granted. Here is the tag that you will see:
A little about this plant,

Nandina domestica 'AKA' is a new Nandina discovered by 3 employees at the Magnolia Gardens Nursery tissue culture facility. April Herring (that's me!!), Kay Herring (Mom!) and Adriana Garza (Our Greenhouse supervisor). This is were we got the cultivar name 'AKA' Interestingly enough AKA is the word for red in Japanese, which in the summer we think the new growth is nearly red, this was really neat considering we were going for a Japanese theme in our marketing. This new Nandina is a sport of Nandina domestica 'Firepower' with some added spice. Blush Pink™ Nandina PP# 19,916 will provide year round interest with its blush pink colored new growth as it continuously blushes from spring till fall. The selection of this plant was made based on its unique and long lasting blush pink colored young foliage in contrast to the typical lime-green colored young foliage of 'Firepower'. Blush Pink™ will remain compact at maturity with a height of 2'-2.5' and a width of 2.5'-3'.

Hardiness: USDA Zones 7-10
Plant Use: Perennial
Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Sun
Water Requirements: Medium

Here are some more pictures of this beauty!

Here I am holding the first one gallon, this is from the original liner found back in July of 2005.

Our first rooted crop!

Our first large crop of liners, look at that color!

Here is a comparison of Firepower, left, Blush Pink right.

Our first 3 gallon crop.

The color remains all year, this is taken in July.

and finally, the winter color is just as nice as Firepower.

Want to know more? contact me at April@MGNLiners.com

Today's Harvest

We the victory garden is producing nicely. Today we harvested the first watermelon. We popped it into the fridge and the employees had a nice treat in the afternoon. Things are slow here but I have managed to keep myself busy mainly by trying to grow new plants, some successes followed by a few failures. It is so sad to see good plants die but this Texas heat has not let up! We have been nearly 100 for 3 weeks now, the heat is just so intense. Many plants can look good in the Spring and Fall here but the real test is the summer. If it can't survive a Texas summer then we are not able to add it to our product line unless we can finish fast before the heat hits. So far most plants are holding up with the exception of some Agapanthus, had a little meltdown on some of those! Other things on my plate include getting ready for 2 tradeshows in August and redesigning the Web site....ahhh yes busy. Our first patented plant is set to release at TNLA Expo so we are super excited about that. I will write about that one tomorrow!