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IRVIN ETIENNE
Angela Treadwell-Palmer Introduces New Plants
PHOTO COURTESY ANGELA TREADWELL-PALMER
She didn’ t know it( until now), but when I first met Angela Treadwell-Palmer, I stalked her. Just a little bit. My earliest memory of her is at the Perennial Plant Symposium in Chicago in 2002. She knew plants. She knew people. I knew she was going places and was going to make a mark in horticulture. I knew I wanted to know her.
Angela is a busy woman these days. As founder and co-owner of Plants Nouveau, a plant introduction company she started in 2006, she travels often to meet with breeders and growers in Europe and the U. S. to evaluate their latest efforts. Meanwhile, there is the usual paperwork of running a business waiting to be dealt with. Somewhere in between trips, she has to connect with her husband and children. And hey, why not be the consummate over-committer and do some lacrosse coaching, too? Like I said, she’ s a busy woman.
PRETTY ROSES
Angela got her start in plant evaluation and introduction at Conard-Pyle, her first postcollege job. She started in sales, which she wasn’ t exactly gung-ho about, but the company saw her as a valuable asset and didn’ t want to lose her. One day, she was led to the rose trial garden and asked what she thought of a plant.“ What do you mean?” she asked.“ Just what do you think about it?” was the reply.“ I think it’ s pretty.” That’ s what they hoped to hear. More importantly it’ s what they wanted to hear from a woman because they knew most of their customers were women. And so Angela became the first woman in 100 years to evaluate roses at Conard-Pyle. In time, she traveled the world searching for better plants for them to introduce to the market. Angela stayed on until an opportunity at the Chicago Botanic Garden beckoned, and long enough to be part of the release of one of the most important roses in recent history.
BREEDING BREAKTHROUGHS She arrived at CBG during their groundbreaking work with Echinacea. It was a dream job and she loved Chicago. She was certain Chicago would be home for a long time. Then her husband got a job offer he couldn’ t refuse; they couldn’ t refuse. It was time to move back East. But not before she was part of one of the most important perennial releases in recent history.
Angela is proud to have been involved in introducing two revolutionary plants to the horticulture world— the original Knock Out ® rose and Echinacea Orange Meadowbrite™. Both of these plants truly changed gardening— an impressive resume from only two jobs.
Settled back East, Angela wasn’ t sure what she might do next. A good friend offered her an opportunity. Some plant breeders in Holland were not being properly compensated by the people handling their patents, so they were looking for more honest representation. With a list of potential clients in hand, Angela began making contacts and soon was working with some of the top breeders in the Netherlands. Her first introduction was Echinacea‘ Pink Double Delight’, which she is proud to say is still being sold today.
SPREADING THE WORD
Plants Nouveau was a one-woman operation until Linda Guy joined Angela in 2011 to double-team the horticultural world with great plants. They introduce plants covering the spectrum of possibilities: Perennials, woodies, tropicals and annuals. Early success was with Echinacea from AB-Cultivars of the Netherlands. They also have introduced colocasias, cannas, and caladiums from Brian Williams of Louisville, Kentucky. Hydrangeas from Europe and Zone 6 camellias from the U. S. are now part of their catalogue. It’ s not about the location of the plant breeder. It’ s
about the quality of the plants being bred. But how to get the word out about these great plants? Angela has been a GWA member since her Conard-Pyle days. When I asked her why she is a member, she said that she likes being with the people who educate others about plants.“ It’ s an excellent way to reach out to potential customers because the members of GWA access such vast and varied audiences.” She enjoys getting GWA members excited about Plants Nouveau’ s introductions and then seeing them get their readers, listeners and viewers excited about the plants too.
I’ m glad that over time I did indeed get to know Angela. Her commitment to the horticulture industry and its people, her quest for new and better plants as well as her desire to make all of us better gardeners makes her one of the most important people in horticulture today.
Irvin Etienne, a director of the Perennial Plant Association, is horticultural display coordinator at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. An award-winning blogger, he writes for Indiana Gardening and other magazines.
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