National Garden Looks to PlantFind for Materials Sourcing

After more than a decade of planning, a new National Garden is being constructed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. As part of the United States Botanic Garden (USBG) at the foot of the U.S. Capitol, the much-anticipated National Garden lies on a three-acre site adjacent to the USBG Conservatory.
 
Scheduled to open in September 2006, the National Garden will comprise a series of gardens, all featuring a diverse selection of plant specimens hardy to USDA Zone 7. Included will be a Lawn Terrace linked by a tree-lined path to a Rose Garden of disease-resistant roses well-suited to the Mid-Atlantic region. Also included will be a Butterfly Garden, a First Ladies Water Garden, an open-air amphitheater, and a Regional Garden showcasing plants native to the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont. USBG Executive Director Holly Shimizu says that the Regional Garden will be the "heart" of the National Garden, conceived as a "living laboratory" where visitors from around the world can learn about the importance of environmental stewardship as well as delight in the beauty and naturalness of a small creek with its associated plantings.

The American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA), also located in Washington, D.C., is assisting the USBG in locating the many varieties of interesting plant material specified for the garden. ANLA has asked Bosh Bruening, vice president of the industry firm PlantFind to be the primary industry contact. PlantFind's Web site, www.plantfind.com, is the largest Internet-based business providing plant locating services to the nursery and landscape industry trade.

"We welcome the assistance in locating plants by Bosh Bruening and PlantFind," said a spokesperson from the National Garden. "We are anxious to use the Internet plant sourcing solution that PlantFind offers, to help us locate and purchase the plant material for the garden."

PlantFind also noted their excitement about the project. "Companies will have the ability to look at the products the National Garden is looking for and provide quotes for them through PlantFind's proprietary Request For Quote (RFQ) system," says PlantFind president Michael Ferraro. "We are very pleased to have come so far in the last five years with technology in this industry and are looking forward to the next five years and what it will bring."

Companies wishing to have a limited free access to PlantFind, to provide quotes for the National Garden project should contact PlantFind at 877/473-3363 ext. 223 for a complementary user name and password.