DESIGNER GARDENS AND MICROGREENS HEAD JOHNSONS 2015 RETAIL OFFER

Ranges of Designer Garden Collections - a brand new 'border in a box' concept - and Microgreens - the closest thing yet to instant vegetables and loved by leading chefs - lead the Johnsons retail seed offer for the forthcoming 2014-15 season. 

Eye-catchingly presented in a beautiful box with designs by leading illustrator and printmaker Hannah McVicar, each of the Cottage Garden, Fragrant and Cut, and Wildlife-Attracting Designer Garden Collections includes 12 packets of carefully chosen annual and perennial flower seed varieties, plus an easy to follow seed sowing and planting plan to encourage the creation of beautiful borders. 

The three collections each come in a compact counter-top display unit containing eight boxes.  Each Designer Garden Collection has a recommended retail price of £9.99, making it an inexpensive gift with a high perceived value or a bargain for the purchaser's own use.

Microgreens are becoming trendy thanks to celebrity chefs - and it is easy for consumers to produce their own in as little as two weeks on the kitchen windowsill, says Johnsons.  Best described as ultra-baby leaf vegetables, these seedlings add a fresh and punchy flavour to just about any savoury dish from sandwiches to steaks, stir-fries to soups, or used simply as an attractive and tasty garnish.

Johnsons offer Microgreens in two formats.  A high quality, reusable growing tray and three packets of seeds to get home chefs started is merchandised in a display box, each containing 12 trays.  In addition there is a mini-range of eight Microgreen varieties such as beetroot, basil and rocket, merchandised on a small stand for consumers to buy separately.  Great for year-round sales and suitable for many positions in-store, Microgreens can be raised successfully even by a young child or someone who has never grown a seed before.

Strong sales of gardening and cookery guru Sarah Raven's flower collections in the past two seasons have encouraged Johnsons to launch her Kitchen Garden range, reflecting Sarah's belief there is nothing more rewarding than using produce fresh from the garden to enhance any cooking. 

Sarah Raven's Kitchen Garden range comprises 16 vegetable collection packs, segmented into four categories with varieties specially chosen by Sarah for their outstanding flavour.  The double-size packets have great visual impact and include an introductory message from Sarah.  Each has a RRP of £5.99.

The Indoor Cress Garden has been added to the Little Gardeners range of seeds and kits to encourage youngsters to grow - and with a RRP of just £3.99 it is ideal for impulse till-side sales.  Each complete growing kit contains a packet of cress seeds, a growing mat made from 100 per cent-recycled growing material, a growing tray and a cut-out sheet of characters.  The counter-top unit contains eight kits.  Combining education and fun, the Little Gardeners range is supported by its own website for children www.little-gardeners.co.uk

Also new to Johnsons main range for 2014-15 are six seed varieties, including four 'exclusives', such as mildew-resistant Zinnia Pinwheel and Pepper Lunchbox Mixed, which produces a crop of snack-sized fruits perfect for including in a packed lunch or picnic.