Stay focused, stay positive

Here is a classic example of the types of issues you deal with in the nursery business. According to the HeraldNet, out of Everett, WA., "Bob Wolf is patiently waiting for his nightmare to finish melting." The snow began falling, "It started a week ago, when the snow fell so fast and furious at his business, Monroe Aquatic Nursery, he couldn't keep it from accumulating on the greenhouses." So all night Bob is running around trying to push the snow off the top of the greenhouses, to no avail. Next thing you know he has lost $40,000 in greenhouse that insurance doesn't cover.  I felt for this nursery since we have been in that situation before. Here you are staring at a huge loss of equipment during a time of the year when the only hope of re-cooping your losses comes months away, in spring. When asked if he was considering closing the operation he said, "God no...I would never let that happen".

I don't know what Bob or his nursery's financial situation is like, but I think it's important to focus on the determination to stay in business. Some of the  largest corporations in America, staffed with the most "talented' minds in finance can't survive without holding their hands out to you and me for relief. People like Bob are working their tails off to stay in business. No hand outs, just hard work and determination in the face of what can seem insurmountable odds.

There is no doubt in my mind that small business  is the engine that runs our nation. While all the attention is focused on the big operations, the small business just keep chugging along. It's not easy, and there is no promise of a happy ending. We don't go around looking for handouts. Sure we borrow money at times to stay afloat, but if we can't pay it back that's our problem. It's people like Bob and the other small business owners that are the backbone of our economic system. When I read stories of insurmountable odds, and the "let's get it done" attitude of people like Bob, it gives me confidence. A lot more confidence than the feeling I get when you see huge corporations line up to receive our tax dollars.

Bordier's Nursery Files Chapter 11

According to trollerbk.com Irvine, CA based Bordier's Nursery filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 23. With over 600 employees and $27,000,000 in sales it was a California staple, until now. Bordier's is a family owned company that's been in the nursery business since 1922. I came about this news because this blog had been showing up under searches for "Bordier's Bankruptcy". The only information I could find was the above web page. Bordier's also own's The Pinery Tree Farms which claimed to be the largest producer of Living Christmas Trees around. They produced all those sheared Christmas Rosemary and other trees you see at Home Depot and Lowe's. We did business along time ago with Bordier's when we had The Happy Frog Garden Center in Auburn. They seemed to be involved more and more with the chains, although I do know of independents that had done business with them.

Since information is scarce, if you can add to what we know it would be helpful.

Thank you Senator Boxer

After I wrote to my congressional representatives concerning my outrage at allowing themselves a raise Senator Boxer responded. I thought I would print her answer to my question as to what her position was on the pay raise. Here is her answer,

" Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the current financial crisis.  I appreciate hearing from you on this critical issue.

As you know, Congress recently approved a massive financial rescue package (P.L. 110-343).  I disapproved of the toxic assets purchase plan, as I do not feel that this is the most effective way to alleviate the ongoing credit crisis, and I worry about ever recovering taxpayer funds from these assets.  Thankfully, the Administration is now working to invest funds directly into banks, providing liquidity and giving American taxpayers an equity share in these institutions.

As we provide carefully targeted assistance to financial institutions, we must also take steps to get the fundamentals of our economy back on track, since we are in a recession and I want to ensure it is not a deep one. 

We need to get to work on a second economic stimulus package that provides emergency financial assistance to the states, addresses the housing crisis, creates jobs through infrastructure investments, and extends unemployment benefits.

Furthermore, I strongly believe that Congress needs to exercise its oversight responsibilities, and I am pleased to report that this work has begun.  Committees in both the House and Senate are holding hearings to examine what went wrong and who needs to be held accountable and what laws were not enforced.  In addition, we must determine if new laws are needed.  It is critical that good people be placed in regulatory positions.

Be assured that I will continue to speak out forcefully about the failures that led to this crisis and keep working with my colleagues to strengthen confidence in our markets while protecting the American taxpayers.

Again, thank you for writing to me.  Please feel free to contact me again about any issue of importance to you.

Barbara Boxer United States Senator

Thank you senator for answering my e-mail. It would have been nice however, if you had answered my question. If we ran our businesses like you run yours, we would be out of business. I love this money line from The Senator, " It is critical that good people be placed in regulatory positions."

How true that is!

Bare root arrives today

We are having our bare root fruit trees arrive today. This is earlier than we have ever brought them in before. We get our trees from Dave Wilson Nursery, in Hickman CA. Bare root is one of those seasons that reminds one just how many years we have been doing this. While unloading and healing in the fruit trees is hard work it means that we have something timely to sell. We figured that if we brought them in early this year we might get a few early sales. All of our trees are semi-dwarf types. We don't even carry standard trees anymore. Even the growers at Apple Hill use semi-dwarf trees. They can be kept smaller, and produce fruit earlier than standard trees. We will see if this year fruit sales are as good as vegetable sales last spring. With the interest in growing your own fruit and vegetables, semi-dwarf fruit trees should be popular.

Congressional pay raise

While I have always tried to keep politics out of my blog, this time I just have to speak up. For our congress to vote itself a pay raise during a time when we are being asked to bailout various private enterprises, boggles the mind. I just wrote my congressional representatives an e-mail expressing my disgust with this action. The actual amount of money is minuscule, when compared with the money we are supplying for the bail outs. It's the symbolism of an institution so out of touch with everyday life that they find it perfectly o.k. to vote themselves a raise, while the rest of us are just doing our best to get by. This crosses party lines. Every citizen of The United States should be outraged, and contact their representatives to ask for an accounting.

This is a great opportunity for you to get involved. I have rarely written to my congressional representatives in the past. This time it's different. It has become clear that our elected officials have lost touch with reality, and it's our job as their employers to set them straight.

My 2 cents!

Last native nursery for Western Sydney closes retail

It appears that the same garden center issues we deal with here are issues being addressed in garden centers worldwide. According to The Hawkesbury Gazette, "Hawkesbury plant lovers will be forced to travel elsewhere following the announcement Cranebrook Native Nursery would be closing its retail nursery permanently on Christmas Eve." I would appear that our friends "down under" are loosing another retail garden center.  "According to Cranebrook Native Nursery owner Peter Adcock, the move is due to the nursery's inability to compete with larger retailers such as Bunnings." "We are the second native nursery in western Sydney to have closed and now the area will not be serviced by a native nursery." I assume Bunnings is like Home Depot or Lowe's? According to Peter,"The sad thing is the trend towards 'McDonald's gardening' - where everyone goes to Bunnings where you can get cheap stock, but the range is very small." He also say's, "No-one wants to be involved in plant-only nurseries anymore. There just isn't a way to make it financially sustainable." Ouch!

I am sorry to see this development. It sounds like the same issues we are dealing with here.  I hope that they will find success with their new direction.

Gardening trends for 2009?

I am not one for following trends. It's more fun to be a part of creating new trends. Never the less I enjoy reading what people think is coming down the pike. The Garden Media Group has released it's trends forecast for gardening in 2009. Entitled "Gardening goes back to the future-GIY style" What's GIY? Grow it yourself. In February of 2007 we we're told by Nursery Retailer Magazine that the new trend was DIFM, (Do it for me). I guess that's out the door. The trends listed include, "Eco-boosting", "Locavore", "Info-Lust", and "Bubbling".

For fun here is the list from 2007.  Did these trends come to pass? You be the judge. I found some of the trends for 2009 interesting, like "Global Colors". According to The Media Group, “'Colors are bold, crazy, exaggerated, and in-your-face, almost like pop-art, and reflect a playful spirit in the face of world events,'” says Donna Dorian, former style editor of Garden Design Magazine." This explains why I enjoy visiting Monica's new Daycare, which includes the use of these very colors. "Info-Lust" is interesting, as we have been talking about it here for years. Two other trends seem counter-intuitive, "Locavore" and "Worldly", yet we discussed them here in 2007. 

Back in 2006 we we're told that blogging really was'nt of any use to garden centers, or garden center owners. My how things have changed. I find it interesting that so many of the subjects we have been talking about over the years are now exciting trends. That's the nature of trends, by the time the media notices them we are already moving on to the next thing. Waiting to see what is "in" for the new year means you are already late to the party. Better yet is to be a trend setter. I still stand by my post of February 2007, "following trends is safe but boring, bucking the trends and creating your own style is scary, but ultimately more rewarding."

Widening our focus

As much as we would like the nursery to be a year round business, here in the foothills and mountains the winter time causes most people to stop most gardening activities. I suspect most garden centers are that way, unless they are in a urban location where walk in traffic is greater. This time of year is when the money made in spring starts to dwindle away. This year even more so. So rather than get a second job we decided to create a new job. "Miss Monica's" Garden Valley Preschool is coming along nicely. We heard from the state that they may be out to do the inspection in January. Once the inspection is complete we will be open for business. I know that spring will come again. The nursery will once again be busy and winter soon forgotten. Yet, I am much more enthusiastic about the daycare right now. We have been hearing from so many people just how much this was needed. We are confident that the daycare will be a success!  The daycare, unlike retail has a steady income stream once you have the numbers. This is the exact opposite of the nursery, where you have tremendous ups in spring, and lows in winter. Of course this year who knows what next year brings.

I enjoy working on the child care. It lifts your spirits when you walk in and see the colors we are working with. It's most likely the only type of business that could get away with using these colors. Monica has used her talents to create a mural for the kids to hang their artwork. We have been building cubbies for toy storage as well as the kids cubbies. They are all being painted different colors.

What's great about the location is it allows us to work in the daycare, while being able to see if anyone enters the garden center. Of course once the daycare is up and running I won't get to hang out there much, but until then I enjoy the warmth and colors during this rainy, and cold time of year. We have also set up a swing set in the playground which is right next to the garden center. We also put a gate in where Monica will be able to take the kids into the garden center directly from the playground.

The lesson I have learned from our project is to open your mind to the possibilities. Don't fail to see the big picture. As nursery people we sometimes see the world from only the perceptive of being a nursery person. There may be other business and personal opportunities around you that you fail to notice because of a narrow perspective. We had wanted to build a daycare in this area 10 years ago, but got caught up in the nursery business. The nursery business is a wonderful career, yet it's not all there is. Maybe there is something that can compliment your garden center business. Maybe it has nothing to do with a garden center. We need to supply our community with what it want's. The nursery is one part of the equation, and now the children's nursery is another part. Today with it being cold and snowy, I think I'll enjoy working with the second part of the equation, which is warmer and drier.

Embracing change can be nerve racking at times.

This information just in. According to Amy at Garden Rant NPR (National Public Radio) has laid off Ketzel Levine, who authored the NPR "Talking Plants" Blog. This is sad news, but not unexpected. We are seeing layoffs at all the major news outlets. For the last few years we have been talking about how the power is shifting from the traditional media outlets to non-traditional media. What is non-traditional media? Stuff like this blog. We always kind of knew this was coming down the pike, but it's still kind of weird to see it happening. Our responsibility to our readers has just taken a big leap. People are still looking for the truth. Where can they find the answers to the important questions in their lives? It will become more and more important to find those bloggers that you trust and can go to for information.

Sure, you can still write anything that comes in your head without any thought of what the consequences are, but that kind of blog will soon be ignored for more insightful writing. Right now people are figuring out where the good blogs are, and using them for much of their information. What are we telling our readers?

Are you a blogger that want's to help support small, locally owned business? Then your writing can have a direct impact on people, and their businesses.  You now have the power to influence the world for the better. The power has shifted form major media and paid writers, to bloggers, and for the most part un-paid writters. What's your motivation to keep writting? How about changing the world?

I think many of us bloggers are a bit afraid of this power shift. It was easier when you had major media to do the "important" stuff, while we wrote whatever. Now we are charged with the responsibility of actually having to account for our writting, and the resultant effects. Sure no one pay's us, but we still choose to write and people read what we write. How are you going to use this new power to influence your world?

Make no doubt about it, our little hobby (blogging) has completely changed the face of garden reporting.  The media outlets know it, which is why they have started their own blogs. Unfortunately for Ketzel, and others like her, the large media outlets have other problems that blogging just couldn't solve. We knew the world was changing, but the speed that it's happening has caught a lot of us off guard.

Garden Center Mentoring

Some great comments both here at at my e-mail concerning my nursery mentoring idea. Let's address the issues you brought up. Patricia, here in California Fava Beans are a winter cover crop. As long as the temperature don't fall below 21 degrees F. the plant will live. If they are not rotated into the soil as a cover crop in spring you should get beans by  April.

Benjamin, the best time to start a business might be right now! It's harder right now to run an existing business since expectations have been built up over the years, and when things go funky it's harder to change gears. Starting a business now would mean that your starting at the bottom of the current economical phase, and could adjust your expectation accordingly. When the recovery occurs, you already have a lean, happening business, that can ride the wave up.

Steve, sure you could call me a consultant. It's like the controversy around wheather we are "garden centers", "nurseries", "garden shops", "independent garden centers", "locally owned garden center", etc.  Call me a "consultant", "mentor", "garden dude", whatever. It's all semantics. Since I don't travel much, and don't have an up and running "consulation" business, I chose "mentor".

John, I sure hope you are right.

Victor,  like you I have spent hour upon hour both at my nursery and here at this blog helping people who are interested in starting a garden center. As far as the conultant label, see my answer for Steve.

Mary,  you are not hopeless. I wish we had even more customers like yourself. Growing things can be a passion for which there is no cure.

Steve,  it is hard to compete with free, unless the information is worth more. Steve say's, " In my opinion, it will be hard to compete with a FREE message board or blog and the strength of numbers in a community (like the LinkedIn group you started)." Message boards, this and other blogs, etc., are all out there for the viewing. Want to know something specific about your plans to operate your garden center? Head to a message board and ask. Who is answering you? What quality of advice are you receiving? What if you need the answer today? The internet is now so full of information that it is becoming harder, and harder to just wade through all the information. Besides, you and I might enjoy staring at a computer screen all day to find what we are looking for, or taking part in message boards, but not everyone does. This a mistake I have made in the past. Assuming that the majority of people actually enjoy, or know how to do the things you and I find fun and might take for granted.

You know who I am. I didn't start out thinking, "people need to trust me". I just started publishing my thoughts. The trust comes over time, if it's deserving. I think that is one of the barriers for a lot of people, finding a trusted adviser. You can call me a consultant, but my business is running a nursery. That's why the mentoring moniker came about. I don't know of any consultants that have a current garden center business.

Someone to talk to

I receive e-mail all the time from folks interested in starting a new garden center, or nursery. The latest was from a mother of two small children, wanting to start a nursery in Nebraska. She has a successful landscape business now, and feels a garden center is needed in her town. There are so many questions. Where can she find the answers? You can try and find a local garden center owner who will work with you, although as the new competition they may be less than willing. You can search the internet for your answers. This has been one of my favorite ways to find the info I need. What I have found is just because I enjoy looking for the answers in a million different places on the web, most other people do not. They don't have the time or inclination to spend hours staring at a computer screen. That's the nature of the internet, the answers are generally there, but it's finding them through all the noise that is the hard part. So you want to start an e-mail campaign, or a company blog, or just want to know if this idea or that makes sense in the garden center world. Wouldn't it be nice to have a friend in the business already? Someone who could help answer the questions you think are silly, but have been driving you nuts? Someone who has been there before, has a eye to the future, and speaks honestly about the issues.

I am interested is starting a garden center mentoring program. This would be a program geared toward the smaller type operations that I have been involved in over the years. It would be very reasonably priced, something just about any one starting out could afford on a monthly basis. This is not a on site nursery consultation business, or meant to take the place of a nursery consultation business. There are some really good consultants out there that can cover that aspect. (I can always give you the name of a couple whom I like if you need that type of service).

Late at night, ideas come into your head that you wish you could bounce off someone who has been there before. Of course, just because they have been there before doesn't necessarily cut it. You also want someone who has an eye to the future, and the willingness to embrace change. Imagine the possibilities!

If this kind of program interests you, I would love to hear from you.  Actually I would love to hear from anyone on what they think of this? You folks have always been there for me with advice I can use. You can either leave a public comment here at the blog, or e-mail me at trey@thegoldengecko.com to keep it private.

We are changing the horticultural world, and may not even know it!

Our business is always slower in the winter, and December has never been a 'barn burner" for us. This year it has been so slow, and we can't blame the rain. It's been pretty sunny, without any storms to keep people away. It's weird, but hearing about other struggling businesses is somewhat comforting, in that we realize it's not something we are doing that is keeping people away. They are cutting back, and spending their money on things that they feel are important.  It may be that cup of cappuccino, or the once a night out for dinner, or we hope the gift of a living plant. The bottom line is we in our industry have been hammered by a series of events. We have gone over the different issues here, so there is no need to go over them here now. What we do need to understand is that changes are taking place that will eventually result in a whole new nursery industry, or industries. It's hard to see these changes when we are all so focused on just getting through winter to spring. That's the nature of being focused, you put blinders on so that you can get done what needs to be done. That's one reason I haven't posted as much on this blog lately. We are focused! We are building our new daycare, as well as keeping the garden center going. The daycare business is our answer to getting another job. We are entrepreneurs, so when we realized that we needed some more cash flow to even things out, Monica could have taken a second job. We have commercial property so instead we decided to create a whole new business. That's our second job!

It has been liberating for me. I have always wrapped my life around the "nurseryman" moniker. That's what I have been for the last 30 years! There is a lot of ego involved with the garden center. It's our baby, and we want it to work.  Yet, due to series of event's which are effecting all of us, we realized to keep the baby growing we had to do something to get to spring.

Admitting that things are tough, and that we need to do what ever we can to keep the garden center going, allowed us to open our eyes to stuff that was happening around us that we hadn't paid attention to.  The fact is that we are all in that situation. We need to open our eyes to the events going on around us, while still remaining focused on our day to day goals.

I guess my point is, even though times are tough we need to stick together. There is comfort in having people who have been through, and are going through the same issues. There is also comfort in hanging with people who are optimistic, and willing to talk about the big picture, all the while focused on  our day to day business. If you interested in hanging with us, check out our LinkedIn group, Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media. We have 144 member's as of today! Members from all around the world, who are positive and forward looking. There are discussions going on that could change your business, and life. I believe that our group is changing the horticultural world, even though we cannot see it at this time. If your interested, here is the link to check it out.

Things are happening that we cannot see, because we are so focused on our day to day business.  We are in a transformational time, and we know it. It's scary when thing's change, especially as much as lately. But I am confident that those of us who do our best to embrace change, will be the most able to survive, and thrive. You may think it's easier for me to embrace change, since I have been talking about it for the last four years. No, it's not easy, and that's why I believe it's the right thing to do. If you want to be a part of that change, in an industry that is crying out for it, join your fellow garden center enthusiasts. We don't know where we are headed, but at least we will be headed there with a group of positive, forward looking people. That's the kind of crew I want to be part of in rough seas.

Let the "big boys" fret about generation x and y

I think all the angst that we see concerning how to attract generation x and y, and other non-gardeners to the garden is best left with the larger concerns. The larger nurseries and chain stores need the growth that was around a few years ago. Many are public traded companies, who's stock holders demand a certain amount of growth. These type of companies are worried about the (seeming) decline in gardening. Where is the growth to come from? I think there are plenty of people out there to sustain the businesses of most smaller garden centers. We don't need the constant growth that a place like Lowe's or Hines nurseries require. We are in a much better position to reach out to those people who might enjoy gardening, but maybe don't know it.

This is the key to the proper use of the internet by smaller concerns. The internet allows us to reach out to, and  connect with, a smaller group of people who would really enjoy what we have to offer. This smaller group's numbers would not be enough to sustain a Home Depot, but would be enough to sustain and grow a smaller nursery. We don't need quite the numbers that larger concerns need.

So my thinking is, if your a big concern then you certainly have a lot to think about. You are going to have a harder and harder time sustaining the growth you need. You do need to worry about where all those gardening customers are coming from. If you a smaller concern that uses the internet to connect to a smaller, more loyal group of people you really don't need to worry about the big picture. Instead focus on your own corner of the picture. There are people out there just waiting to hear our message of hope and a brighter future.

Unlike Black Friday, where so much of what is bought will be useless in a couple of years, our offering of plants and flowers actually become more valuable with time. Adding oxygen to the environment, and providing the peace of mind we all desire, a small garden center could be the most environmentally hip place around. With all the talk of green this and that, we actually walk the walk.

So lets quit obsessing about how to appeal to generation x or y and instead appeal to the people who are receptive to our message already, despite their age. I know the weather in many parts of the country is just not conductive to winter sales at the garden center. Never the less, shopping at the local, smaller garden center during the holidays should be one of the most enviromentally aware things people can do. It's a statement of hope, and a soild, positive thing that people can do to improve their quality of life. What a wonderful message to our children when we plant a tree. Yes, we may not be around long enough to hang our hammock in it, but someone will.

The Day Before Black Friday

I write this on Thanksgiving, a day before the awful named, Black Friday. Why do we put so much energy towards this day? It's as if we are not doing our part for the economy if we don't shop. So many businesses depend on the sales they make around this day, it makes me wonder if we have totally missed the point of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Being a small business, I hope everyone that has a small business will find people knocking on their doors tomorrow. Yet, I dispise Black Friday and everything it stands for. It seems to be a day where shopping is some type of patriotic act, where if you don't shop the economy will go to "hell in a handbag."

I don't want to see the economy get any more disconbabulated than it already is, yet the idea that only through buying stuff over the next few weeks will solve our problems, just seems so wrong. I guess it also has to do with the fact that in the nursery business winter is very slow for us. We don't have a mad rush of people coming through our door on Black Friday. Matter of fact, it's usually one of the slowest days of the year for us. So maybe I am just bitter?

No, I am not bitter. I love the holidays, just not the forced buying that goes on. It reeks of herd mentality, and I have never gone along with the herd. If so much is riding on the period just before Christmas, we need to re-look at our businesses and ask why? Why are we not selling enough during the rest of the year that so much rides on these few weeks? I realize that Spring is our Christmas season, and we count on that two month period for profitability the rest of the year. Never the less, spring happens because of a natural urge by people to get outside, not a holiday, which after all was not created as a way to sell stuff.

There is an opportunity for garden centers to reach out to people like myself. People who are looking for more than the tension that comes with trying to buy everyone a gift, when they really can't afford it. People who just don't want to pile on the "buy" bandwagon. People who would rather give gifts that have meaning behind them. Or people that don't give gifts they buy, but give the gift of their time or effort.

Being in a business that does not have the mad rush to buy mentality of Black Friday, might make it easier for us.  I would suggest that the time is right for us to identify those people, and give them an opportunity to try something different.  We, in the garden business world are perfectly poised to be the "alternative" to the madness. Greenery, fresh air, hope, camaraderie, flowers, trees, longevity, and timelessness are the attributes we offer. We just need to get that message out, and they will come.

Thanks

My e-mail is down, and if you didn't notice the blog is very slow today. The server is going bonkers. Oh well, it's time to turn off the computer and get ready for work. We will be closed tomorrow, but open on Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the slowest for us. Everyone heads to the mall, I guess. We will be heading over to some friends for the holiday.  Most of our family has spread out around California, and it's hard to get together anymore. My youngest daughter is still close, so she will go with us to celebrate.

With so much going on around us it's hard to remember to take the time to be thankful. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving! I hope you will take the time tomorrow to savor the day. Don't think about tomorrow, or worry about what happened yesterday.  We are here NOW! Look around you, and give thanks that we live in the most exciting, and wonderful of times. We don't realize it since we are so focused on the problems, but the seeds of a better future are being planted right now. Thanks for coming by, and planting those seeds of hope with me.

Happy Thanksgiving!