RE: incomplete catalogs

Most of what I buy on Amazon is for gifts, so their suggestions of what
I'd like are laughable, and so I rarely pay attention to them. But I
think it is a good marketing tool.


I think it might be a good idea for some online nurseries. I might look
at them there because what I buy there is for me. Mostly, though, I
prefer to make my own choices - but you have to know what is out there
to make an informed choice. So sggestions just might catch myleft click.
I wouldn't want someone else's pre-planned garden, but I can believe
that some people would.


I can think of a couple of better local nurseries that do something
along those lines via demostration plantings. One that's a bit of a
distance from here has a few beds at entrances illustrating
combinations. What I also like is he has a large area devoted to mature
specimens of plants he sells so you can tell what to expect in future
years. He showed me a nice pyramidal conifer in a pot that had recently
arrived, but the tags that came with it gave a different description. He
ripped all the tags off and told me to come over here and see the one he
planted 6 yrs ago.


Kitty

--
Kitty 
neIN, Zone5

-------------- Original message -------------- 

> I've always liked Amazon's "we think you'll like" blurbs, but their current 
> page layouts are very cluttered to my eye. If you put something in your 
> shopping cart there you can barely find it again, the page is so full of 
> "what other people bought" and "what you just looked at" and other ads. But 
> my personal taste runs high on the minimalist side when it comes to the 
> printed page. I still think a garden catalog website might find it useful to 
> have that kind of feature. You know what request I get off my catalog 
> website the most? I mean, besides the people asking me to send them a 
> catalog, having ignored all the statements on there that say I don't do 
> that. People want to know who offers pre-planned gardens. And I think the 
> companies are responding to that - I see a lot more of them offered than I 
> used to (or maybe I'm just more attuned to it, could be). Seems like adding 
> a little info on what plants would do well with what you just bought is 
> right along those lines. 
> Come to that, I wonder if a brick & mortar nursery might find it interesting 
> to try too. Certainly none of the ones around me have anything close to that 
> idea. 
> 
> Cyndi 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf 
> Of james singer 
> Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2005 4:56 PM 
> To: gardenchat@hort.net 
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] incomplete catalogs 
> 
> 
> Hi, Cyndi. 
> 
> The things I find most annoying about Amazon are all the little "based 
> on your past purchases, we think you'll like..." when I went there to 
> find a specific book and not a new release about amusing tales 
> concerning deformed children. That's the main reason I've quit using 
> Amazon. Wading through all of one's past purchases to find what you 
> want this time is simply too tedious and too time consuming. 
> 
> On Wednesday, February 9, 2005, at 07:29 PM, Johnson Cyndi D Civ 
> AFFTC/ITSR wrote: 
> 
> > Actually I do like finding specials on the websites. I am finding that 
> > while 
> > I spend lots more time looking through the printed catalogs than I'm 
> > willing 
> > to spend sitting at the PC, I want to order on the web once I decide. 
> > Maybe 
> > it feels more immediate? And I will, occasionally, make an impulse buy 
> > on 
> > the web that I probably wouldn't have made if I were filling out an 
> > order 
> > form. I can't remember - has anyone done the type of thing that Amazon 
> > does, i.e., when you click to buy a plant, the site suggests "this 
> > other 
> > plant looks good with it and has similar growing requirements". 
> > I wonder if someone could come up with an online catalog that would 
> > recreate 
> > more of the experience I have with a paper one. Something like, when 
> > you get 
> > to the website instead of having to click on everything, you'd start a 
> > slideshow. It would look a little like a catalog page with color pix 
> > of the 
> > item and a very short description that you could read quickly (of 
> > course, 
> > that's relative...I read pretty fast). If you liked what you saw you'd 
> > click 
> > to stop it and get more info or buy it. Otherwise it would keep 
> > flipping 
> > through pages until all the items had been displayed. Now that I read 
> > what 
> > I've just written it sure sounds like I want passive entertainment, 
> > but I 
> > think I'd like it. 
> > 
> > Cyndi 
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message----- 
> > From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On 
> > Behalf 
> > Of Kitty 
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 5:21 PM 
> > To: gardenchat@hort.net 
> > Subject: Re: [CHAT] incomplete catalogs 
> > 
> > 
> > I was pretty sure you'd have a response about this Cyndi! I love 
> > printed 
> > catalogs, too, but I know they cost. Gene has given us a small taste 
> > of 
> > that. What do you think, though of the extra items on the webites that 
> > aren't in the catalog? Good or bad idea? 
> > 
> > Kitty 
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Johnson Cyndi D Civ AFFTC/ITSR" 
> > To: 
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 7:53 PM 
> > Subject: RE: [CHAT] incomplete catalogs 
> > 
> > 
> >> Bluestone Perennials and Old House Gardens both send me postcards, 
> >> usually mentioning a special or giving me a discount code for 
> >> ordering. It's a 
> > nice 
> >> reminder. 
> >> But I love printed catalogs. A web site is wonderful for ease of 
> >> ordering, but I don't find very many sites easy to browse through. A 
> >> stack of catalogs, a pad of stickies, a mug of tea and an afternoon 
> >> sitting in the greenhouse - that's how I spend a winter afternoon and 
> >> find the things I don't know about now, but can't live without next 
> >> spring. What can I say, the printed page attracts me...as the 
> >> 2000-plus books stacking up in the house will attest. 
> >> 
> >> Cyndi 
> >> 
> >> -----Original Message----- 
> >> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On 
> > Behalf 
> >> Of Kitty 
> >> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 4:45 PM 
> >> To: gardenchat@hort.net 
> >> Subject: Re: [CHAT] incomplete catalogs 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Not sure. But I think it might just happen much the same way the 
> >> Internet has. Ten years ago most people wouldn't think of ordering 
> >> things over the internet, but now that they see how easy and 
> >> convenient it is, every year more business is done that way. There 
> >> has to be incentive and 
> > convenience. 
> >> It could start with something like a mailorder nursery owner asking 
> >> his customers if they'd like to just get a postcard. But then he'd 
> >> have to monitor that group to see how many purchased. Also, if a 
> >> nursery did 
> > decide 
> >> to do that, they had been have a darned good website. 
> >> 
> >> I can think of 2 nurseries that have done postcards in recent years. 
> > Surry 
> >> Gardens and Eastern Plant Specialties, both in Maine. They never 
> >> replied 
> > on 
> >> this method solely, but sent a card for specific reasons. I think 
> >> SG's catalog was delayed at the printer, and EPS has done it as a 
> >> fall 
> > promotion 
> >> and sometimes to push early sales on wildflowers because they have to 
> >> be shipped early. I think Sunlight sent one once too. 
> >> 
> >> I think a lot of gardeners would be happy at the thought of saving a 
> >> few trees. But I don't think I'd want to come home to a mailbox with 
> >> nothing but bills, a few catalogs would alwasy be nice. 
> >> 
> >> Kitty 
> >> ----- Original Message ----- 
> >> From: "james singer" 
> >> To: 
> >> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 6:12 PM 
> >> Subject: Re: [CHAT] incomplete catalogs 
> >> 
> >> 
> >>> Totally agree. So how do we get from here to there? 
> >>> 
> >>> On Tuesday, February 8, 2005, at 05:41 PM, kmrsy@comcast.net wrote: 
> >>> 
> >>>>> searchable catalog on 
> >>>>> CD a number of years ago; once it's installed, 
> >>>>> one updates it on line. 
> >>>> 
> >>>> That would be a wonderful way to go for many catalogues. I buy one 
> >>>> thing from AMLeonard, and not very often. But they send me about 10 
> >>>> catalogs a year. What a waste. 
> >>>> 
> >>>> But I know paper catalogs will never completely disappear. Even if 
> >>>> you have the online catalog and it's in your favorites, what makes 
> >>>> you look there? When you are prodded by the lush pictures in your 
> >>>> mailbox, you are stimulated to shop. My preference would be an 
> >>>> oversized postcard with a few gorgeous pictures that reads, "The 
> >>>> ABC catalog is updated for the sping 2005 season. check it out at 
> >>>> www.abcnursery.com ! Use this coupon code for $5 off your order of 
> >>>> $35 when you order online." 
> >>>> 
> >>>> Everybody saves on a deal like that. 
> >>>> 
> >>>> Kitty 
> >>>> neIN, Zone5 
> >>>> 
> >>>> -------------- Original message -------------- 
> >>>> 
> >>>>> I think that's right, Ceres. That probably is the way it's going. 
> >>>>> Logee's has web specials, for instance. And lots of other places 
> >>>>> [including Best Buy and HD] have stuff on line that is in neither 
> >>>>> box store nor catalog. HD, incidentally, published a searchable 
> >>>>> catalog on CD a number of years ago; once it's installed, one 
> >>>>> updates it on line. 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> On Tuesday, February 8, 2005, at 11:16 AM, Cersgarden@aol.com 
> >>>>> wrote: 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>>> In a message dated 2/8/05 9:57:16 AM, kmrsy@comcast.net writes: 
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> << Parks Countryside catalogue >> 
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> Kitty, this is not new. I have not rcd the Countryside issue yet 
> >>>>>> but this year I rcd 2 copies of the catalog. I have received 4 
> >>>>>> copies of Van Bourg (none with the correct spelling of my name) 
> >>>>>> for several yrs & have called them several times. This 
> > is 
> >>>>>> the 
> >>>>>> first year I have only rcd 1 copy only. The have a free gift if 
> >>>>>> you order on line. No doubt this is the future! Ceres 
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------- 
> >>>>>> -- 
> >>>>>> --- 
> >>>>>> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> >>>>>> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>>> 
> >>>>> Island Jim 
> >>>>> Southwest Florida 
> >>>>> 27.0 N, 82.4 W 
> >>>>> Zone 10a 
> >>>>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C] 
> >>>>> Maximum 100 F [38 C] 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
> >>>>> -- 
> >>>>> -- 
> >>>>> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> >>>>> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> >>>> 
> >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
> >>>> -- 
> >>>> - 
> >>>> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> >>>> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> >>>> 
> >>>> 
> >>> Island Jim 
> >>> Southwest Florida 
> >>> 27.0 N, 82.4 W 
> >>> Zone 10a 
> >>> Minimum 30 F [-1 C] 
> >>> Maximum 100 F [38 C] 
> >>> 
> >>> -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> >>> - 
> >>> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> >>> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> >> 
> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> >> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> >> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> >> 
> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> >> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> >> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> > 
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> > To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> > message 
> > text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> > 
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> > To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> > message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> > 
> > 
> Island Jim 
> Southwest Florida 
> 27.0 N, 82.4 W 
> Zone 10a 
> Minimum 30 F [-1 C] 
> Maximum 100 F [38 C] 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the message 
> text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE GARDENCHAT
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index