Re: the economy
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: the economy
  • From: &* <k*@comcast.net>
  • Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 08:55:35 -0500
I don't recall when I started doing plant sales but it has to be at least 15 yrs. I used to divide my plants and cut pictures out of catalogs and tape them to the containers. When I got my first computer in 1995 I started making my own tags.
I suggest buying early if the price and selection are better then. No one says you have to plant immediately. I'm too busy with my sale to plant early, often my new purchases don't get in the ground until June. I order new plants to arrive in April and I pot them up to the next size and care for them as if they were in a nursery waiting for sale. They develop better root systems while they wait and by the time I can get to them they are better developed. I have also found via trial & error that bareroot plants do much better this way here. Our springs are usually too wet to put them directly in the ground. I pot them, give them an initial watering and then set them on the south side of the house under the eaves so they get very little new water. As the pots begin to dry out, the plants growth trigger kicks in to reach for more water. If they were in the ground they often just rot from too much moisture.
Most local purchases I treat the same way. Often I can divide a too full pot, pot up half, plant half. 

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message ----- From: "Catharine Carpenter" <cathycrc@comcast.net> 
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2010 4:13 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] the economy



Great to hear! As a consumer, I like purchasing locally, but am torn
between buying early and risking losing plants to low temperatures or
soggy soil, or waiting and losing out entirely. So happy everything
worked out for you. How long have you been doing your sale? Plant
lovers in your neighborhood certainly know about it and plan for it!
Cathy, west central IL, z5b

On Apr 30, 2010, at 8:57 PM, Kitty wrote:


Most of it was gone by noon.
I'm tired.  I intend to cut it back next year; make it more
manageable.  A one day sale - Saturday.  Anyway, I'm glad the
uncertainty is over and I've got a little cash for some home
improvement.

Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
----- Original Message ----- From: "james singer" <inlandjim1@q.com>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Friday, April 30, 2010 6:55 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] the economy



Excellent. A few days ago, when you said you had 800 pots, I wondered
what you'd be left with and worried that you were setting yourself up
for disappointment. This is great.


On Apr 30, 2010, at 5:37 PM, Kitty wrote:


....has rebounded.  At least here it seems to have.

All year I was unable to take my vacation time, office was too
hectic.  I ended up taking almost every afternoon off in March to
get it in before my anniversary date.  March was so deliciously
superb that I got a ton of stuff potted - and more in April -
together with what I'd potted last fall and some items I'd ordered.
I ended up with well over 800 pots for my spring plant sale.  I had
to take 2 days off just to set it up.  It's a 2 day association
garage sale and rain was looming but it looked like Friday would be
safe.  Still, I thought I'd end up stuck with half my stock and have
to lug it back into the backyard.

Word got out and the eager buyers swooped in at 6:45am Friday.  They
picked me clean - even the seedlings and cuttings still in the
backyard that I was holding over for use in my August sale.
Everything gone. Fast, very fast. People were grabbing things I
hadn't even tagged yet because I thought I'd get to them for
Saturday.  People that showed up after work  wondered where the sale
was. I had to apologize profusely; this has never happened before.
And then there's tomorrow.  Geez, I hope it rains so I don't have to
face them.

I think people are ready to shop.  At least for plants they are.


Kitty
neIN, Zone 5
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Inland Jim
Willamette Valley

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