Re: Aconitum (color sells)

**"* B* <g*@otherside.com>**

My first thought would be seek a way to be a part of the solution as opposed
to.......

If you have enough customers wanting larger size plants in bloom, then
develop a line of fully mature containerized plant for the customers with
the desire and money to have what they want when they want it. Baptesia is
going to be a bit of a stretch with its slow grow rate, but.... If you have
the customer base there is actually more money in that line than in the
"instant" line you are presently selling. Notice the weatherman's
qualifier... If you have the customer base.....

Here at my nursery I stay in my own area of expertise...I do not try to
be all things to all people. I specialize in shade perennials with a strong
bent toward the native. I write articles, I take photos and I grow the
plants I promote in my garden. There is a hard copy catalog that I write, a
web site I try to keep up to date with a newsletter. I do slide
presentations and lecture using the slides I took in my garden. I introduce
the concept of the 12 month garden... in the shade... over and over. That is
what I do and where I have my good time. My business is sharing my good
times, introducing my plant friends. Remember ... the only reason to be in
business is to serve.

Gene E. Bush

Munchkin Nursery & Gardens, llc

www.munchkinnursery.com

genebush@munchkinnursery.com

Zone 6/5 Southern Indiana
----- Original Message -----
From: "C.L. Fornari" <clfornari@mail.com>

- For garden communicators this thread brings a challange. How to respond
to an industry whose motto is "Color Sells." Many

good plants are often unavailable because they aren't in bud in the garden
center. (I heard someone from the box stores once say

"If it's not in bloom, we have no room." He proudly felt that the decision
to only stock plants in flower was good business.) Others,

such as the daylilies Melanie mentioned, won't make it to market at all
because their size is outside the norm. And there are those

who want fast-food plants. At the garden center where I work, many
customers see the baptesia in the demonstration garden and

say "I want that! Where are those?" but they'll change their mind when they
see three or four thin baptesia stems in the pot... if they

can't have the mature size plant right now, they don't want it at all.
I don't intend this post to be moaning about box stores or customers who
want instant gardens... I want your thoughts on how we, as

garden communicatiors, can continue to encourage people to ask for and buy
the plants that are not in bloom, or those that take a

few years to mature. It comes back, I think, to keeping people interested
and excited enough so that they will become gardeners not

just garden consumers.
C.L. Fornari
www.gardenlady.com

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