Bord Bia launches Plants for a Purpose promotion

Bord Bia today launched the Plants for a Purpose promotion, to encourage the purchase of plants by novice and new gardeners.  The initiative is funded by the EU, Ireland and the Nursery Stock industry.

The information and guidelines consist of a series of six colour-coded plant stickers carrying an easy to understand symbol showing the type of conditions for which the plant is suitable, eg; sun, shade, moist.  A leaflet explaining the planting conditions in more detail is also available.  Large colourful display boards will be placed in garden centres at point-of -sale announcing the promotion and a customer loyalty scheme allows the consumer to get a complimentary pack of easy to grow plant seeds with every three plants purchased from the Plants for a Purpose promotion.

Michael Maloney, Director of Horticulture, Bord Bia said:  "While more and more consumers are becoming interested in gardening a significant number claim to have little or no knowledge of plants. This promotion seeks to simplify choosing suitable plants for all garden types and compliments the gardening leaflets produced last year."

The campaign is part of Gardening - a better lifestyle undertaken in 2005 in which a series of twenty gardening leaflets was developed in conjunction with the Garden Centre Association and distributed to the consumer via garden centres nationwide.  The Gardening - a better lifestyle campaign is a major initiative funded by the EU, Ireland and the Industry to promote gardening and plants to the public, particularly amongst the novice gardeners and new home owners.

The Plants for a Purpose promotion will take place in garden centres throughout the country from mid-February onward.

For further information contact: 

Background

The information on the six colour coded stickers will be reflected on the information boards at point of sale. 

Yellow – Sun – Areas exposed to long periods of sunshine. Plants adapted to direct sunlight and well drained soils.
Orange – Patio – Usually sunny, exposed areas where plants are grown in pots and containers.
Purple – Coastal – Exposed areas along the coast with strong sea breezes and high salt content.
Blue – Damp – Persistent moist, damp conditions, but not waterlogged.
Red – Dry – Areas exposed to drying winds and/or excessively drained soils.
Navy – Shade – Areas of partial or full shade. Tip: check suitability of plant for dry or moist shade.