2 join Monrovia’s New Plants team
Monrovia has expanded its New Plants program team, with Fela Lafi taking on the role of new plant trials manager and Georgia Clay as plant selections manager. This expansion intends to allow Monrovia to trial and test more plant material and bring more new plants into the market.
Lafi joins the plant hunting team and will manage plant trials at all Monrovia nurseries, work with data collection, and explore new plant testing opportunities with breeders. She joined Monrovia in 2022 as an intern while studying horticulture at Oregon State University. During that internship, she was hired as a propagation team leader and was promoted to assistant buyer of green goods.
“Premier Introductions Inc. (PII) is proud to collaborate with Monrovia Nursery in trialing and evaluating new introductions,” said Michael Dirr, Ph.DD., PII founder. “Monrovia’s multiple locations provide extensive geographical performance data. The trials manager, Fela Lafi, shares photos and text, one of the few licensees to do so. This information is critical to assessing adaptability, propagation, production, and consumer acceptance. Further, it allows PII to adjust breeding strategies to improve plants that fall short of expectations.”
Clay will be focusing on new plant choices, bringing selections to market, managing intellectual property and developing breeder relationships. She will also continue her consumer outreach, participating in Monrovia’s webinars and plant care videos. Clay joined Monrovia in 2019 and has been an integral part of the company’s plant hunter team.
“Bringing new plants to market is a big undertaking,” said Jonathan Pedersen, president and CEO. “Adding to our team will allow us to evaluate more plant material, and ultimately bring more exciting new varieties to our garden center customers.”
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