We can't control the message anymore

I had an interesting conversation with an employee of a small garden center. She is thrilled by the use of new media. She wants to post pictures of events, special plants, and people at the nursery. She wants to create a community of people who love the garden center. In other words, “she get’s it.” She understands that the use of new media, and creating community is an important job at the garden center. Problem is the owners don’t think the same way. What if she says something they don’t agree with, or feel shouldn’t be posted. They are concerned about loosing control of the message.

Here is the issue. We can’t control the message anymore. Even if the owners keep her from doing social media for them, someone else will. Ever heard of Yelp? Yelp publishes reviews of businesses online. You can log on, and tell everyone what you think of a certain nursery, or garden center, or any business. The surprising thing with the nursery in question is they get favorable Yelp reviews. Over a dozen people have taken the time to rate the business, and say something positive. People are paying attention, and they are online.

To the lady working at the nursery, and anyone wanting to make a go of it in the garden business the answer is, get online. If the owners won’t let her do a blog or Facebook page for the nursery, then she should do one for herself. Start a blog about gardening in your area. Become the expert at gardening in your world, whatever size that world is. There is a place for people who have a passion for what they do, and are willing to lead. Create a group of loyal readers who trust you, and look forward to the next post or entry. Build your value as a trusted resource for the area, and your group. Who knows, maybe that will be the nucleus of a new garden business in town.

Independent Garden Centers & Nurseries

When this blog got it's start 5 and a half years ago, none of us could have seen where the whole social media experiment was headed.  I remember back in July 2006 a nursery trade publication contacted me about the relevance of blogs for nurseries and garden centers. They had been researching the subject, and happened across my earlier post “Plant Trafficker”. They had some questions about whether the nursery trade should be interested in blogs. According to them, "the consensus amongst most nursery consultants was there is no relevance, and no reason for nurseries to be interested in blogging, or bloggers.”

Well, we know how that turned out. Looking over one of those trade publications the other day, it seems that about a quarter of the articles deal with how to use this new medium to help our businesses. I find it amazing how everyone is offering advice on how to do social media now. Many of the same people who said it wasn’t relevant then, now want to sell you on the program. It’s social media, not rocket science. That’s what's so scary to the traditional media, and PR firms. How are they going to make money, when the power of your advertising efforts are in your hands?

It seems many of us are on the same page, at the same time. To get things started a new Facebook group has been created with some friends who are in the independent garden center business. Susan Harris of Garden Rant and Mary Ann Newcomer of Gardens of the Wild Wild West will join me as group administrators. It’s a “secret” group. It does not show up on web searches. It's open to Independent Garden Center people world wide. See if the following applies to you, and whether you would be interested in joining.

“This group is for people involved in the day to day business of Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries. That means people who WORK FOR IGC&Ns. No vendors. No media. No exceptions. If you add any ‘friends’ to the group they MUST currently work directly for an IGC&N. Please help us enforce that! How to use this group? Ask for help about anything. Report successes and failures, especially about your use of "new media". (No one's an expert in how IGCs can best use all these new tools, so we need to communicate with each other!)”

If your interested in becoming involved you will need a Facebook profile. Once that is done we will need to become friends. You can friend me here. Send me a note requesting membership and we will take it from there.

Hines Nursery for Sale

This could be the end of a long saga. After years of discussing Hines Nurseries, and their problems at this blog it looks like the once powerhouse of a nursery is done. According to Grower Talks, "Bids for the business assets will be accepted until February 23, 2011; if there’s more than one bid, an auction will be held February 25, most likely in Delaware. The case lists three debtors: Consolidated Horticulture Group LLC, New Hines Parent Company LLC, and Hines Nurseries LLC. All three make up the Hines business, owned by Black Diamond Capital Management, which bought Hines in its first bankruptcy sale in January 2009." The article continues, "Hines reported sales of $123 million last year, and about 900 employees at eight nurseries in Arizona, California, Oregon and Texas." 

We have talked about Hines Nurseries and their problems for the last few years. Here is a list of the posts concerning Hines. 

More on plant branding

Here is a link to one of our more popular posts concerning plant branding. There are lot's of great comments including this one from last night. It's from Jim Monroe of Hort Couture who's business, "offers the most sought after new plants and genetics from the world’s best breeders and plants people. The marketing of upscale plant products as 'couture' quality identifies with our industry’s leading demographic. Fashion conscious women make up the vast majority of consumers purchasing color for their gardens and containers. Upscale packaging, marketing assistance and gorgeous plants are what make this program so appealing." We had quite a conversation back in August when the subject was "Where is the Passion?" The conversation got very interesting after author Amy Stewart was quoted saying,"We told Hort Coture that their handbags-and-high heels marketing was sexist and insulting–that it assumed that women were only interested in plants as fashion accessories. (And that women give a shit about fashion accessories. Have these people met any women?)"

Jim's comment from last night includes this, "Hort Couture is a brand that will never be in the box stores. My wife and I grew up in the industry and truly feel impassioned to help the IGC (independent garden center). We have yelled this from the roof tops since the day we started our company in late 2007. It is an important message for the independent to hear from us." This dovetails with the recent news that Monrovia Nursery is exploring the idea of selling to the box stores. Monrovia has for the last 15 years dealt exclusively with independents. According to Monrovia the economic downturn has forced them to take this route for their very survival. The independents have supported Monrovia for years through advertising, and paying more for Monrovia's plants than other wholesale nurseries charge.

Jim's message is timely as I was thinking about this last night. While I support Monrovia's right to sell to whom ever they wish, I feel a bit let down. We have supported Monrovia for years and to receive a letter threatening to sell to the boxes if we independents don't pony up an add, additional $22 million in booking's leaves one with a bad taste. They had hired a box store specialist from bankrupt Hines nursery before the letter was ever sent out. We only found out about this yesterday. This has been in the works for awhile. We have heard from quite a few people who say Monrovia has no choice but to sell to the box stores.  How in the world did they ever get to this point? This make Jim's statement, "Hort Couture is a brand that will never be in the box stores," that much stronger.

Whatever you think about Hort Couture and their branding efforts, the fact that Jim say's they will never sell to box stores is quite a statement. Jim's comment continues, "I hope independents will support our efforts to help the industry. We really do care and are working tirelessly to help right now. Our sales are very strong in the midst of so much bad news. We are blessed with this. I enjoy all of the opinions here and learn from them."

My blog has always been a work based on a passion for the nursery business.  By having a forum for all to speak their minds it helps the business of horticulture. It wasn't that long ago when our trade was very insular and not good at changing with the times. By allowing a forum for gardeners, garden bloggers, garden media, horticulturalist, nursery owners, etc. we become a more open minded and nimble trade. Jim is able to hear someone who doesn't like his branding, and speaks her mind. He also here's from those that approve of his efforts. This is valuable information as we go forward into a new era for the trade. We must become a more open industry, willing to listen to different points of view.

Monrovia confirms rumors, Hines exec. hired to explore box store channels

According to Today's Garden Center, "Monrovia CEO Miles Rosedale confirmed this morning they have hired Mike Trebing, former Hines Nurseries senior vice president for sales and marketing, to explore the box store channel. "Yes, he's absolutely on board," Rosedale says. "We're certainly looking at the channel, we've tried to make that clear." You may remember Mike was the one who after Hines first bankruptcy said, "As an outcome of the bankruptcy, Hines has emerged with one of the cleanest balance sheets in the nursery business. " This is before the second, and final bankruptcy a year later. Yikes! As we continue reading the Today Garden Center report we hear Miles Rosedale CEO of Monrovia say after being asked weather they will sell to the box stores, "We really don’t know at this point. We haven’t done business in the box channel in 15 years …but it wouldn’t be prudent, facing our demise, so to speak, to not consider all the channels, and that’s what we’re doing." That explains why they hired Mike Trebing.

"Like" my Facebook page?

I now have a Facebook Page for The Blogging Nurseryman. You can see the link for it in the side bar to the right. It's the place for conversation that you or I feel is important, or interesting. Here is a tip. Your news feed on Facebook is set at a default of 250 "Maximum number of friends shown in Live Feed". If you don't increase that number, you will miss a lot of the updates for pages you have "liked." It's a Facebook glitch. Increase that number to about 1000, and you'll see all the pages you have "liked" in the past.

To change your Live Feed number scroll all the way down to the bottom of your News Feed page. At the bottom you will see a link that say's "edit options". Click that link and a box titled "News feed settings" will open. Change the "maximum number of friends shown" in Live feed to 1000 or more.  After I did that, lot's of pages started showing up in my news feed that I had missed before.

Wikileaks and the nursery business

Over the last few weeks on thing has become clear for all to see. There are no secret's anymore. Whether it's state secrets, or company secrets, there is no expectation of privacy. Just a few years ago the letter that Monrovia sent to customers would have stayed with the customers, eventually being dispensed through the various trade magazines. Now the letters contents are published on The Internet for all to see. Two interesting things happen. First, customers of Monrovia (retail nurseries) chime in with their opinions, and if Monrovia wishes they can read what the customers are saying about them. You would hope the company monitors what is said online about them.

The second interesting thing that happens is gardeners writers,  garden bloggers, and people in allied trades apparently find what is happening very interesting. They feel they have something to say. And they do. Monrovia, or any company can also see what they are saying. For the first time customers, and customers of the independent nurseries have something to say, and have the ability to say it. This is something new and novel.

Where is it headed? It bodes well for companies who engage the customer online, and listen to what is being said. It would seem that these days advertising is being usurped from the companies, and put in the hands of the customer. It's become a whole lot more difficult to control the conversation. If you can't control the message, you had better have nothing to hide.

Does plant branding work?

When the customer walks in Home Depot to buy flowers, they most likely feel as if they are buying "Home Depot flowers". They don't think they are buying "Color Spot Flowers". Color Spot is a major supplier of bedding plants to the boxes. Same holds for vegetables. They are buying Home Depot vegetables, not "Bonnie Plants vegetables." Now when they buy fertilizer they likely know in advance they are going to Home Depot to by "Scotts" fertilizer, or "Miracle-Gro" fertilizer. The branding Scotts has done with their fertilizer (dry goods) has caught on with the customer. The plant world, not so much. Our experience is the same. We have people who ask for a particular brand of fertilizer, and if you don't have that, they likely will leave to find it elsewhere. I have never had anyone ask for a branded plant. No one at my store asks for a Proven Winner or Monrovia plant. So it would seem that branding works well on dry goods, not so well on plants.

Monrovia's current difficulties are not a result of their excellent branding attempt. But it hasn't helped the situation either. When things we're rocking in our trade Monrovia's branding did set it off from other suppliers. These day's their branded plants represent a higher priced item. Some retail nurseries like Armstrong Nurseries here in California even had entire sections of their garden center devoted to Monrovia.  Monrovia supplied their branded plants with the distinctive "Monrovia" printed on the side, plant stands, POP (point of purchase) signage, handouts, etc. Much like the Entenmann's bakery rack at the end of your local grocery aisle.  It's in the store, but it's maintained by Entenmann's people. Like a mini-store in a store. Monrovia had the same idea. They wanted us to separate their plants from the other plants in the nursery. You might even have a Escallonia from one supplier in the main part of the nursery, but a Monrovia Escallonia was kept in their section. Much like Macy's, where pants are separated by brand like Ralph Lauren or Dockers. It was a new, and interesting concept for the nursery business. It seemed to make sense, as so many other reatilers like Macy's where doing it, and being succesful.

It doesn't work with plants! For whatever reason people just do not respond to wholesale nurseries attempts at branding. They will respond to the retail brand however. In our case the customer want's to by a Foxfarm, Botanicare, or Humboldt Nutrients fertilizer. They want to buy a plant from The Golden Gecko Nursery. They don't care if it's from Monrovia, Blooms, or anywhere else, as long as it's healthy and the type of plant they want. They may even like the idea that it's from the little nursery down the road. Some plant branding works, but it seems only for smaller, more niche oriented operations like Annie's annuals. They are local to nor Cal, and specialize in "rare and unusual annual & perennial plants, including cottage garden heirlooms & hard to find California native wildflowers." It's attractive to plant geeks.

We will see how this plays out in the future. Perhaps as independent retail nurseries find themselves sourcing more local, niche type plants a branding effort like Annie's might work. Still, I think it's more important to brand the retail nursery when it comes to plants. Send me my plants in a plain black container. Put a nice hang tag with a great description and picture on it, but put our name on it. My customers don't care that it came from XYZ wholesale nursery.

Does Monrovia already sell to chain stores?

I received a couple of comment's that say Monrovia already sell's plants in plain black containers to Costco and Fred Meyer's. Check out this comment and the one following. The first comment by Eddie claims, "I don’t think Monrovia is being completely honest with us. I’ve been a loyal customer of theirs for years and I have developed some important relationships with some of their inside people. From them, I have recently been told the following:-They did hire an ex-Hines VP a while back to try and generate big box business. -Three representatives from Home Depot have already walked one of their nursery sites. -Their Glendora property is being sold and is in escrow. -They already do business with chain stores including Costco and Fred Meyer. Knowing this it is hard not to be cynical about the letter they sent. Are they just looking for a business excuse to sell to the chains? If that is their intent, why don’t just come clean and tell us that? It sure did seem like they were hiding something on the call I listened to."

The second comment by anonymous states, "Eddie, you exactly right. I was an inside. Fred Meyer and Costco gets a ‘Garden Ready’ (generic unbranded tag) and a black pot.

I also did hear about the mass merchant person hired. That was long before anything was announced that they were in trouble. Also known was the boxes that toured the nurseries. Unfortunately as large as this nursery is, it is still small enough that everyone else knows what is going on.

They are probably looking for a way to sell even more product by begging the IGC’s to risk their bottom lines, but since those numbers probably won’t happen- their backup plan will be sell to the boxes. And surprise, that plan is probably already in place. What a smokescreen. Do they think their IGC’s will be fooled?"

I have had quite a few visitors to my site who use the search terms that included the name "Mike Trebing Monrovia". Mike is formerly of Hines Nurseries, now bankrupt. Mike is known for saying that, "we have the cleanest balance sheet in the industry” after the first Hines Bankruptcy. Could this be the "mass merchant specialist" we are talking about?

I don't question Monrovia's right to sell to whomever they wish. The letter we independents received said IF they didn't have an increase in pre-bookings to the tune of 22 million they would then possibly have to sell to the chains. So which is it? I don't think there is a whole lot of difference between a Costco, Fred Meyers (which we don't have in my neck of the woods) and Home Depot. As a matter of fact I would say that Home Depot is a step up from Costco when it comes to plants.

Does anyone have more information concerning Monrovia already selling to the mega-chains?

I am a customer!

I want to address Sid's comment at my post about Monrovia Nursery. Sid say's, "I have no ties to Monrovia but I do feel there are a lot of questions here that should have been directed to them first." Further into the comment Sid say's "In my opinion, Monrovia has made a sincere and concerted effort to help independent garden centers and they at least deserve the chance to explain themselves. Several years ago Monrovia responded very well to the outbreak of SOD in our industry. They are like all of us not a perfect company but I believe they have operated with good moral integrity and I hope they are able to survive this. They at least deserve a fair chance without being drug through dirt making it even harder than it already is for them." We received the letter from Monrovia and had no intention of divulging the the contents of the letter. Right after we received the letter I wrote this post.  There was no mention  of Monrovia. The post was more about the crazy changes we are seeing in the nursery trade.  To my surprise American Nurseryman published what was going at "Sprout", their website. Once the news is in the public domain it begs to be commented on, which is why I wrote this post.

As far as dragging them through the dirt, once the news is out there it needs to be reported on. I have been a supporter on Monrovia for well over 30 years. We are all facing challenging times and I have sympathy for Monrovia's plight.  Perhaps they will be able to make everything o.k., and keep the company running. That being said, you do wonder why they feel the box stores are the answer to their problems. After years of supporting Monrovia as a independent only supplier, to find out that we need to pony up 22 million dollars or they will start selling to the box stores leaves a bad taste. The box stores have never supported Monrovia, and now they will enjoy Monrovia plants and all the good will that independents have built for them. Yes, you have to do what is necessary to survive. It still doesn't make it easier.

It use to be we only read about news like this through the trade magazines, usually a month after the fact. Of course The Internet has changed all of that. Not only do we get the news much quicker, but we also get to hear from others with an interest in the comments. That is the biggest change that garden centers, and any business had better understand. The customer now does the advertising for the business. Through rating services, and comment features the people who support or don't support a business now have a say. If they like you, they spread the word. If they don't, they spread the word. I, and many of the people who contribute to this blog are customers of Monrovia. We as customers want our voices heard. It's  getting harder and harder for companies to control the message. These are the times we live in.

Carolina Nurseries, another one bites the dust

Carolina Nurseries at 686 acres, was the largest wholesale nursery in all of South Carolina. According to Today's Garden Center "the conglomerate, ZZ Acquisitions LLC - an affiliate of The InterTech Group - foreclosed upon the 686-acre nursery during a public auction after no one stepped forward to outbid the debt it was owned by the owners of Carolina Nurseries, according to the story the nursery is now in foreclosure." The article continues, "ZZ Acquisitions loaned Carolina Nurseries $12 million in March of 2009 to keep it afloat, but the nursery operation was unable to repay the loan or find other financial backers. The local county, Berkeley County, actually considered buying the property for nearly $17 million, but council members voted against the idea" What to say? We are going through enormous changes in the nursery industry. It makes me glad we are a small, almost tiny nursery. We do most of our business with small, or medium sized wholesale operations. That will increase as we see more and more of the largest wholesale operations going under, or selling to the box stores. Hopefully small nurseries will be able to grow their own or find wholesale nurseries that can fill their needs.

Boy, if their was ever a time to embrace change it's now. That's hard for me to do. I like to know what's coming down the pike, and anymore you just don't know. This extends beyond the nursery business and into much of our daily lives. Who of us has not been buffeted by these strange winds that are blowing. Take heart in the knowledge that even the biggest players, with all the resources available to them are having a very rough go of it. We small biz take so much to heart personally, that when bad stuff happens we go over board blaming ourselves. Take pleasure in the little things that we often miss when so much is happening around us. The world is so desperate for a positive, upbeat message, why not be the one to give it. It may just be what gives your small business the edge it needs to succeed.

Questions about Monrovia Nurseries financial situation

A couple of questions arise from the comments we have received concerning the Monrovia Nursery issue. Commenter CD asks," "What happened to all of the money from the Azusa land. I grew up 15 minutes away from there and at the time they sold it I am guessing they received at the least $100 million dollars. That is a very low estimate for the peak of the market which is when they sold it. 500 acres at at least $200,000 an acre. I believe the property was 600 acres and they kept 100 acres. That money is somewhere in the Rosedale family bank accounts. So instead of asking struggling retail nurseries to bail them out why don’t they dip into their own deep pockets, cut costs, and buckle down like everyone else is doing. That letter makes me sick." I remember taking a tour of that Azuza land. Beautiful property overlooking the valley below. At the time housing prices we're still rising and the thought of that historic old nursery being paved over was depressing, yet understandable. So CD's question remains, what happened to that money? Commenter JB mentions, "'GE Capital, Corporate Finance today announced it provided a $100 million asset-based credit facility to Monrovia Nursery, one of the world’s largest producers of container grown plants. The loan will be used for working capital needs. GE Capital Markets served as co-lead arranger.'" He continues, "when Monrovia purchased Wight and Berryhill nurseries the press release specifically says that Wight and Berryhill would not sell the Monrovia brand…“'The Monrovia Nursery Division, which included the California, Oregon, and North Carolina operations, focused on Monrovia’s branded products, while the new Wight Nurseries Division used the Georgia and Ohio facilities to produce non-branded products for retail, wholesale, and landscape customers'”.

"Hmmm in their letter to the garden center owners it’s interesting they mention that the creditors are providing strategy advice to sell to the box stores? when it’s obvious that they would tell them to cut costs first. Bank advisers have pushed Monrovia, which has sold exclusively to independent garden centers, to strongly consider selling through the big box channel. And while it’s a last resort, Rosedale says if any material ever does go through the big box channel, it would not have the Monrovia brand on it. (Wight and Berryhill don’t sell branded items.)"

"They must think their buyers just fell out of the coconut trees. Large nurseries must have a place to lay off excess inventory and it smells like Monrovia’s was Wight and Berryhill. Why don’t they just dump it in China like many of the large Oregon nurseries are doing. Maybe they are but something else is out of whack here."

"How bout all the IGC’s signing a letter that asks Monrovia what they did with the 100 mil and what they’ve done recently to reduce costs? Also, what did they do for the garden centers in Oregon who had a spring wipeout. Were terms extended? How did they handle that? Anyone know? This just doesn’t sound right. Threatening their long term customers (partners?) is backfiring. Oregon’s spring was a disaster. I wonder how Monrovia extended their hand to help."

Commenter Keith Miner say's, "Monrovia Nursery has spent millions of dollars trying to brand themselves in an industry that doesn’t respond to brands very well. They have ads in all of the garden magazines, commercials on gardening programs, lots of point of purchase signage, picture labels, custom containers, wood kiosks and sign holders, starting a tool line and soil line,….etc…….This costs millions of dollars a year. All of this leads to expensive plants for their customers who pass that on to the consumer. Although generally their quality is exceptional and selection unmatched."

"I don’t think this investment in themselves has paid off. But, don’t you think for a second that their plan all along was to market to the chain stores under another brand. Because you can’t put out all that money to all of those consumers without making your plants available to a large share of the market which just happens to be chain stores. Oh, I’m sure they will have an untouchable plant line that the chain stores can’t get and will only be available to the independent nursery, and that will be the plan to keep the independent nurseries happy."

Finally Patrick say's,"Word on the street is that Lowes has already signed a contract with Monrovia and Home Dept was at one of their sites last week. I believe that they are already planning on selling to the big box stores and its already too late. The letter that was sent out is more of a damage control measure."

These are some good comments and questions. What happened to the money from the land sale? Where has the money loaned from GE gone? Did Monrovia plan all along to sell to the boxes, and are using the current economic downturn to facilitate that? If Patrick is correct, and they have already made arrangements to sell to the box stores, that would change the entire dynamics of the letter sent to the independents. What's your take on all this?

Monrovia Nurseries Financial Woes

What to make of the news of Monrovia potentially selling to the box stores? Monrovia finds itself in financial problems, like so many businesses these days. I am sure they look back and see places where decisions could have been made that might have prevented this. Who of us hasn't found ourselves doing the same thing? The current sour economic conditions have thrown the whole horticultural industry into a tailspin. It's no ones fault. It just is what it is. Monrovia has for years sold only to independents. Independents have done their best to support Monrovia. The current financial situation caused many independents to cut back, or cancel their spring bookings. Now Monrovia finds itself having to ask it's customers to increase their spring bookings by 22 million dollars. If that figure cannot be reached they may have to start selling to the box stores to make up the difference. We feel bad Monrovia has come to this point. We do understand it may be the only way out for them, but nothing will be the same after that. Think about it. Independents who have supported Monrovia for all these years have to buy a whole lot more, putting their bottom lines at risk, or Monrovia is going to sell to the box stores?

Talking to some industry friends, some say they don't mind if Monrovia has to sell plants to the boxes, as long as it's not the exclusive varieties, or in branded containers. Monrovia would sell plants to box stores in plain black containers, and continue to sell independents the branded green containers with Monrovia printed on the side. Really? Looking back now I wish Monrovia had stuck with black containers. When times we're better, the branded containers represented a higher end product. Now it signals a more expensive product. Customers, who have access to information like never before, are not going to see this? "Gee, I heard you can buy Monrovia quality plants cheaper at the box stores in black containers." Same plants, different packaging and pricing. A box store dream. Bottom line, once your in bed with the chains, it's hard to get out.

I have a had a good relationship with Monrovia for over 30 years, ever since their logo was a man wearing a fedora hat smoking a pipe. Remember that? It is a quality company with lot's of great people. If we had lot's of cash on hand, and a belief that next year people would be coming in to buy landscape plants, we might place a spring order. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of cash on hand, and frankly I don't see next spring being much better than this spring. Did you see the jobs report today? Monrovia's plea to buy more from them does not fall on deaf ears. Reality sometimes bites, as Monrovia and many of us in the business can relate.

We have been talking at this blog for years about the fragmentation of the nursery industry. Those that sell to box stores, and those that sell to independents. Monrovia is one of the last major wholesale players that has been exclusive to independents. Independents will have to buy from more local or regional wholesale nurseries, which has been the trend  the last few years. Monrovia's quality plants in box stores will make it even harder for small nurseries to stand out. We have to find a new direction if we are going to survive and thrive.

The box stores will continue to dominate, and are getting better and better at doing it. Independents, better find your niche and claim it for yourself.

Update: There are comments at my last post that relate to this issue. Read them here.

Update: Steve Cissel of 10-20 Media sent along a link to an article at The Ellison Chair in International Floriculture. It's interesting to note that production and supply of nursery plants is much declined from last year. In addition quality has dropped off significantly as nurseries try to hold onto un-sold plants for future sales. Inflation is starting to rear it's head. "I have no doubt that in 2011 there will be plant shortages.  Some plants may not be found at all and some we may have temporary outages.  Prices are going to go up", say's the author. Higher wholesale prices, diminished quality, and reduced inventory. What are we going to do? Absorb the costs, or pass them along to a public that is being trained to expect lower prices?

Monrovia Nursery, buy from us or we go to the box stores, or out of business.

Look's like the cat is out of the bag. According to "Sprout" the journal of The American Association of Nurserymen, "Monrovia Growers, Asuza, Calif., has announced to its customers that the company must 'show significant improvement' to spring bookings or risk a distressed sale of its inventories, and has extended to them the opportunity to purchase excess, 'specially priced,' top-quality plants." Here is the real juicy part. According to Sprout, "Monrovia long has sold its brand, 'Distinctively Better Plants,' exclusively to independent garden centers, but has been repeatedly approached by mass merchandisers; its creditors now are urging the company to sell Monrovia’s quality plants in generic containers through Big Box channels. Lenders have given Monrovia a January 31 deadline." This is a horrible development brought on by the poor economy. Unlike Hines Nurseries which sold to the box stores on a regular basis, Monrovia always supplied mostly independents. Monrovia was always a quality company and I enjoyed working with them in the past. Let's hope they can pull this off and stick with the independents. I doubt it though. Wow, times are changing fast.

Challenging times in the horticultural world

The pressure of trying to make a go of it in the horticultural world these days is forcing huge changes within the nursery world. Companies that are use to doing business one way, find themselves contemplating doing business in way's they might have never contemplated earlier. This is effecting not only the small operations, but the largest companies, too. Who you sell to, who you buy from, and well just about every aspect of your business. Changes made at large horticultural concerns will effect everybody that buy's or does business with those large concerns. I had been talking about how the horticultural industry is fragmenting into two camps. Those that service the box stores, and those that service the rest of us. I fear this is going to accelerate, leaving the smaller garden centers with fewer and fewer suppliers that they can call independent only suppliers.

Over the next few months the changes that are taking place in the horticultural world are going to become even more noticeable to those of us in the business, and eventually the customer. After being in the business for over 30 years part of me is sorry to see what's coming down the pike. These are challenging times to be in the horticultural businesses. From these difficulties we have to hope that a leaner, more sustainable model for garden wholesale and retail will emerge. It's just that changes can be painful to watch at times. These are some of those times. Fasten you seat belts!