The spring season so far...

Over at Today's Garden Center they have a report about how spring is going for retail garden centers this spring. Titled, "Spring a Mixed Bag For Garden Retailers" the report shines the light on some bright spot's, and not so bright spot's across the country. Truly a mixed bag. The weather has been the number one reason for most businesses reporting a decline in sales. That coupled with the economy makes for some challenges. Some are doing better than last year. One respondent mentioned the up tick in gas prices helping their business. Seems people are staying closer to home, and working in their gardens.

We have a storm moving in today here in northern California, which is rather late for this kind of activity. People here are just now planting their summer vegetables. We'll have to wait and see how it all unfolds, but so far we are doing alright at our garden center.

Now it's off to go cover the potting soils for the umpteenth time. If the bags get really wet they can get quite heavy. Since I do much of the loading of soils, keeping them dry is imperative.

The box stores are breeding plants for easier shipping

My last post was a link to Annie of Annie’s Annuals and her most excellent rant, "Dwarf Madness". It concerns some breeders, and their mad science. It seems they are breeding plants to flower sooner for quicker sales at the box store garden center. It’s not only for a quick sale, but they are also breeding plants to grow shorter so they fit into the racks used to deliver plants. It use to be that plants we’re loaded onto trucks individually, and unloaded that way. Not very efficient since plants are all different sizes and shapes when shipped. To speed loading and unloading many suppliers now load plants onto racks that are wheeled off their trucks, and into the nursery. You can fit more plants on the truck this way, cutting costs, and making for easier unloading. They collect the empty racks, and take them back to be filled again. It’s all very neat and organized.

Now the box stores are demanding plants be bred for easier shipping. A friend in the breeding/growers world, Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farms had an interesting conversation with a box store representative. Lloyd relates this conversation. “Conversation at Lilytopia yesterday, among 10,000 STEMS of incredible Oriental lilies, many with 12 flowers each a FOOT across and 4+ feet tall: ‘What growth regulator can I use to get these less than 18" tall, including pot?’ Response from bulb breeder---"WHY would you want to do that? The flowers will shrink to 5", they won't last, and the customer will think they are short varieties.’ Blank stare from box store grower—‘I need to fit these on a shipping rack, 3 layers minimum, all the same height and size and bloom stage.’ ‘Maybe you should look for another product to force into a mold. We worked hard to make these magnificent, and you will make them ordinary.’"

It’s worse than I thought. Not being a breeder this kind of stuff was off my radar before. Since I have been hanging with other nursery folks at our Indie garden center group I am getting an earful on a subject that is now on my radar. It seems this is an area where the independent garden center can make some headway against the standardization, and homogenization of our trade. What if the decline in interest in gardening was being helped along by these practices? They are breeding plants for better shipping? That’s what has happened to our vegetables, and look what that did. Now people are growing their own, and finding they taste a whole lot better.

This is just ridiculous. Remember when you buy plants from the box stores you are helping promote this type of thing. Individually smaller plant nurseries and garden centers don’t have the pull necessary to get stuff like this done. It’s the chains and box stores that are breeding the “Shazam” out of gardening. The only people fighting this are places like Annie’s, smaller locally owned operations, and their fans. Next time you think all the plants are the same no matter where you buy them, think again. It does matter where you buy your horticultural supplies.

Rant on Annie!

A fantastic blog post by Annie of Annie's Annuals. When I read stuff like this it makes me proud to be an independent nurseryman.  Without people like her, our trade would be much diminished. She proves that when your small, the best bet is go against the major trends in the industry and start your own.

Rant on Annie!

What an amazing week

How does one explain the intense emotions that this post stirred up? It's clear that when we broached the subject of horticultural companies using social media, it hit a nerve. That was the question I was asking. Is this particular strategy of using garden bloggers to get your message out a good one? What happened is it quickly turned into something else. Sort of a cathartic explosion of pent of feelings that had been simmering just below the surface. Wow! What passion! All those people who "just want to write about the garden and their gardening", apparently don't. They also have some very intense feelings about the direction that gardening, and garden media is taking.

Gardening is not a community of like minded individuals. Everyone has their own idea of what gardening  is. "Gardening should be fun". We hear that often. Really? If your livelihood dependes on it is it still fun? Of course it would be nice if it was, but farming has always been a "tough row to hoe". As more and more people try to make a living from gardening, you'll naturally find different communities of people arising to meet and talk. Your community of gardeners may not agree with the other community of gardeners. Someone who depends on their crop to feed their family has a different set of priorities than some one who just wishes to dabble in the dirt. We need to drop the whole, "gardening should be fun" thing. If you want to have fun in the garden, that's great. If you want to make money from the garden, fine. It's up to you. But it's not always fun. It's a garden.

When you align yourself with one, two, or more horticultural corporations you can't say, "I just want to garden and write about it". Guess what? That company you just aligned yourself with is working against the best interests of someone else. One side or the other is not wrong or bad, unless your on the other side. The idea that you can support a corporation, and not expect someone from the other side to speak up is over. You might wish people who disagree with you would just hang out in their own "garden community". They don't. They like to get out and see what's going on in other communities.

I am a part of the "horticultural industry". Now that "industry" has fragmented into many different industries, each with it's own set of goals. I am aligned with the IGC (Independent Garden Center) industry, yet I think that side of the industry has it's own set of issues. There are some real crappy IGC's out there. That's why it's sometimes hard to say, "support you local indie garden center". Sometimes you can't. What I am trying to accomplish is more along the lines of "give your local indie a chance". You'll soon find out if they are worth your time.  Our goal is to make sure at least people know we exist. After that it's up to each locally owned indie to do something remarkable for their customers. If it doesn't they will eventually be gone, customers first, then the store. You gave them a chance and that's all we could ask. There are some really cool indie garden centers and nurseries. I think the prospects for these types of places are very good. The prospects for the whole nursery industry is less certain. I think it's going to get a whole lot smaller, which likely is a good thing, in the long run. In the short run it's going to get very interesting. It's hard to turn away, and not watch.

You say it so well!

I confess, that until recently Gayla Trail of "You Grow Girl" was off my radar. Sure I had heard of her, and she has a great reputation in the garden media world. It's just our paths didn't cross until recently. Now that I have read some of her essays and posts, it's obvious why she is so popular with her gardening community. Gayla left this comment at my blog today. It summarizes her reasons for cutting back a bit on her interaction in the online world. No, she is not fading away, and still keeps an active online presence. It's just there are other equally, or more important things to do in life, like garden.  Like her, I am not fading away, just trying to cut back on all the noise. Too much noise makes it hard to hear. Oh, and I hope the cough she developed at the end of her comment doesn't get worse.

I believe her comment dovetails with Ian Barclay's post that I just put up here. See what you think.

Why do we make social media so complicated?

I want to share a post done by one of the members of our IGC&N (Independent Garden Centers & Nurseries Group.) By the way, our group now has 287 members, and is growing every day! Ian Barclay, owner of The Desert Northwest and author of a blog by the same name wrote a great post on how not to use social media for your garden center or nursery. He writes about one garden center where he posted on their Facebook page, only to find his post's deleted, twice. Now if the garden center in question found a post that was derogatory or demeaning then I certainly could understand it being removed. His post's we're not, and when a garden center does that it shows they are not very open to having a conversation with people, but rather they are trying to control the message. These day's that doesn't work, but some garden centers, nurseries, and garden media continue with the illusion. I am concerned that some horticultural enterprises, who are jumping into the social media bandwagon, are following the wrong advice. Often this advice comes from the very people who tout them selves as social media experts.

There are no social media experts! Just people who have figured out how to use the various platforms available. Sure someone can tell you to push this or that button, or here is how to turn on this or that feature with Facebook or Twitter. But social media experts? I'm not a social media expert. I am a garden center owner that has figured out how to use some of the platforms available to get the word out.  What you do with  it after that is up to you. Do I need someone to tell me how to start conversation? No.

Simply being a IGC (Independent Garden Center) does not make you better than the local box stores. There a plenty of IGC's that don't get it, as Ian in his post points out. Why wouldn't an honest nursery, with honest advice not want to start a dialog about what they are recommending with Ian? Because they are trying to control the message. It doesn't work that way anymore. If your garden center or nursery that's get "it", and you want to hang with others that do, we have a community of like minded people here. Come join us.

There is no garden blogging community

The Big Boy's Have Gotten The Social Media Bug Bad seems to have it a nerve. It did because it was what a lot of people had felt before, but we're afraid to say. There is no garden blogging community anymore, and those of us in garden blogging knew it. There use to be a community, but now there are many communities. It was bound to happen but the knowledge has "depressed" some people from what I read at various pages. It's especially depressing for those who just thought garden blogging was always going to just be about people gardening, and sharing their love of gardening via The Internet. What has developed are a series of garden blogging communities, each with it's own dynamic. This is a natural progression, and not to be feared. Yet some people are fearful. So fearful they are brought to a point where ethics are thrown out the window, and they do things they wouldn't do otherwise. Fear also has kept some from speaking up about what they saw happening to their "community". They might think if they say something negative they will be ostracized by the community, loose the "link love" and other benefit's that come with being a part of "the community". They might have also felt that if they speak up they would be responsible for the disintegration of the beloved community. They need not be fearful, as the community has fragmented, just like the garden center business has fragmented. Right on!

If you going to try and monetize your blog, great! If you "just want to garden and write about my experiences in the garden", great. The problem is some say the later, but want the former. Ain't going to happen. Like any business you are going to have competition that might not always agree with what you say, and they are going to let you know it. How you react to criticism is going to be a big part of the success, or failure of your blogging business. Sure, if people don't like your blog they can just not read it and move on. They don't always move on. When you align yourself with a brand that has competition (they all do), sometimes the competition won't sit still. They will show up at your blog, and let their feelings be known. It's not  a matter if this is right or wrong, it just is.

Where do we go from  here? It's not really a concern for those who do not want to monetize their blog. What do they care? They can just write away, and say what they want. Those who wish to monetize their blogs need to understand that there is also no one garden business community. There are several, and they compete with one another. "That grower" is not always buddies with "that other grower". "That fertilizer" company is not always friendly with "that other fertilizer" company. Align yourself with one, and people who like the other may not let it go. We may not like that, but it's just the way it is. Get use to it.

I received a comment from Gayla Trail who runs one of the most popular garden communities ever, "You Grow Girl". Since 2000 she has been involved in the online gardening world, way before most of us. She is thinking about cutting back a bit. She said, "Yes. There are lots of places to be online and while it often starts off as a bit of fun, it can quickly become overwhelming. I had to pull back somewhere for my sanity. This is gardening season. I want to be gardening. I need to garden. It is a requirement for living.

Lately I’ve been thinking about taking too much on, especially when it comes to social media and how sometimes this can stem from a fear that if you are not everywhere at all times that you’ll be forgotten and left behind. I don’t want that sort of fear to dominate the choices I make in my career or how I live my life. I want to be okay with taking breaks and disappearing to recharge for a while.

So I’ve begun pulling back. I will likely pull back even more even though the timing is all wrong and most would think I am ill advised in doing so. I have known for nearly 2 years what I want to do next (when this current book is done), and yet I have found myself saying yes to too much, which is starting to get in the way of what I WANT to be doing and how I would like to spend my time." Right On!

That's unusual in the online world, and quite remarkable. So remarkable it got my attention. It's when people do remarkable things that the word spreads, not when brands try to "make things go viral" by having enough people talk online about their product. It backfires, and we witnessed it the last few days. It got me to thinking if I am trying to cover too many bases. I have a Twitter feed, 4 Facebook Pages, two websites, a LinkedIn group with over 1400 members, and this blog. I have purposefully not linked to the above sites, since I am getting tired of seeing social media posts that have a bunch of links to the brand that's being promoted. Where to cut back is the hard part. Perhaps like you, I don't want to miss something important. Yet with more and more noise coming at us everyday, from all the different media outlets, sometimes by doing less, you get more out of it.

What's the buzz?

The way to get people to talk up your brand is to do something remarkable. If you do that then people will spread the word. Why does a place like Annie's Annuals, a smaller grower and retail operation in the SF Bay Area get so much publicity without a large advertising budget? This place has a remarkable fan base which seems to have been built on mostly word of mouth. It's because Annie and her nursery are remarkable! She has stuff you don't find elsewhere, a fun and enthusiastic atmosphere, and you feel like you know the owner. She has put herself out there, and these days that's remarkable, and people freely spread the word. Annie's brand has way more buzz than many older, or more established horticultural brands will ever have.  Just Google Annie's Annuls and you'll see page after page of great reviews. With all the advertising we are inundated with everyday how does you brand stand out? The use of social media will not spread the word when the brand is not that remarkable.  Social Media is a tactic.  As the social media scene get's filled with more and more advertising the only way any brand can hope to stand out is create something unique, and news worthy. How many brands in the horticultural world have that kind of buzz?

You are a summation of ALL your social media accounts

It seem’s that with my last post the pot got stirred.  I apologize to Gina for attributing a quote to her, that was not her's. I have made the correction in my comment's here.  I have no personal agenda against any particular blogger. My blog has over the years had it’s fair share of controversy. I don’t make money from it. A very small percentage of my garden center customers read it. It’s a business blog and as such I cover subjects that involve the trade, and forget that many just want to dig in the dirt. I also now realize that many of the garden writers are not as use to the controversy that sometimes swirls around myself, and my writing. If you got caught up in the whirl wind, and don’t like the attention, I apologize. It’s a new world and I am trying to get use to it, too.

The one thing I have learned from all this is, you are a summation of all you social media accounts.  Your blog may not seem overly partisan, but if your Facebook account or Twitter feed is, where do you draw the line? Your blog may not gush with praise for one brand or another, but what if your Facebook feed say’s otherwise? What happens when what is said at one persons social media outlet doesn’t jive with what’s happening at their other social media outlet's.

I have always said what is on my mind, and the only people who I have to answer to are you. And yes, this time I did have to answer, perhaps a bit long winded as Jack points out in the comments. Soon as I accept sponsor’s or advertisements everything I say has to be seen through that prism. For myself, who makes a living in the brick and mortar world it’s not worth it. Those of you who make money, or hope to make money with their online efforts have different motivations, and I really understand that now.

And now it's off to the garden center where we are preparing for a storm moving in. Suppose to get down to 35deg.F Sunday night. Hail predicted and snow down  to 2500 foot elevation. Not good for all those vegetables people have planted. We'll spend the afternoon gathering them up and protecting them inside. What a drag!

The big boys have gotten the social media bug bad

Like we talked about in the last post, "I love my new (insert brand here)" it appears companies have discovered how

useful garden bloggers are when it comes to getting the word out. Over at Garden Rant they have landed some new advertisers. Both Troy-Built,  the power tool people and Proven Winners, the plant branding people now have ads on the site. What's interesting is both companies use garden bloggers to help get their message out. Troy-Built's ad takes you to their "Measured In Yards, The Lawn and Garden Club".

According to the Troy Built site, "direct from their backyards, these bloggers share their trials, tribulations and triumphs in all things lawn and gardening. Now, they're teaming up with Troy-Bilt® to bring you their best tips and tricks to help make your Saturday in the yard a rewarding one. Let us introduce you to the Saturday Six. In coming months, you will see more from this talented group in The Dirt with how-to videos, sharing favorite lawn and gardening projects, product reviews and giveaways, as well as out and about at local Lowe's® stores."

So these bloggers are going to give us their best tips and tricks to help make my Saturday a "rewarding one". Of course if they really wanted to make this nurseryman's  Saturday a rewarding one they would send customers to their locally owned, independent garden center instead of Lowe's and other box stores. When you visit the bloggers individual sites they of course now sport ads for the "Troy-Built Garden Club" on their sites.

Now in addition to the ad for Troy-Built at Garden Rant, they also sport an ad for Proven Winners. Interestingly enough Proven Winners recently had a event where they had 20 selected garden bloggers flown back to P. Allen Smiths home for an event called Garden2Blog. At this event according to their Facebook page, "P. Allen Smith and his Garden Home Partners gather with 20 garden bloggers for two days of garden tours and workshops." The event was sponsored by a number of companies, including Proven Winners.  We now see Proven Winners ads at many of these same blogs.

At "Jennah's Garden" a garden blogger and member of the Troy Built Team, the author writes, "I’ve reviewed several Troy-Bilt products on the blog before that I got from them through various promotions. I’m the first to admit that it’s a pretty sweet partnership and I love all the products I’ve reviewed for them. And I was SUPER surprised to be invited to be one of the Saturday Six for Troy-Bilt this year.  Gina of  My Skinny Garden gives a very good overview of the dealiyo. But I think this means I am no longer just a garden blogger, but actually a Garden Blogger. (Perhaps I should update my business cards?)"

So here is my question. Do blogs, by sporting ads for companies compromise their objectivity? Did they have any objectivity before? At Jennah's Garden the author lists her creds as, "Troy Bilt’s The Dirt newsletter – July 2010 –Raised Beds and Troy Bilt’s The Dirt newsletter – June(?) 2009 – My First Garden. "

It's tough being a garden blogger writing away in virtual anonymity. When a company offers to buy ad space on your blog it changes everything. Suddenly there is light at the end of the tunnel. A way to make money at something you did before for free. Of course you have to toe the company line. You have to link to other like minded bloggers who also sport the same ads on their blogs. You have to remind people on a regular basis about how much you love mowing your lawn with that "Troy-Built mower bought at Lowe's".

These companies instead of building their own fan base, and speaking to us directly have gone to established garden bloggers to do their work for them. If they get enough of them on board they have the makings of their own network of company mouthpieces who always mention, and link to what the company is promoting.

What do you think about this trend? Am I being too hard on these bloggers and companies? Is this just the way it is going to be when it comes to garden blogging, so get over it Trey? Of course once you get the ads from Troy-Built and Proven Winners on your site other corporations will assume that's where the action is, and soon they will be trying to get these same bloggers to represent them. So for the early adapters it may mean a windfall of advertising coming their way. Time will tell.

For those of us in the locally owned garden center world keep in mind this quote from My Skinny Garden Blog, "and you might see one of us at your local Lowe's this summer providing gardening tips while the Troy-Bilt folks are there teaching customers about their products.  In summary, fun will be had by all!"

"I love my new (insert brand here)"

Over at The Transatlantic Gardener (formally Transatlantic Plantsman) Graham Rice reviews a book titled, The Bad Tempered Gardener. In the post titled, "The Elephant in the Room" what caught my eye was where Graham paraphrases the author of the book, Anne Wareham where she, "complains that all commentary on gardens is positive, sometimes exuberantly and untruthfully so. She’s right, and this is pretty much unique to gardens. Reviews of movies, plumbers, restaurants, political campaigns, exhibitions, cars, even mothers… all just say it as the author sees it. And, often, dislike of the subject inspires fine and entertaining writing. But not gardens and, oddly, not reviews of garden books. When I helped run Plants & Gardens magazine (RIP) long ago, we were praised for our honest book reviews. But no else has been prepared to say that a garden book gives bad advice or recommends poor plants. It’s just not reviewed. Mustn't upset potential advertisers." How true that is. "Mustn't upset potential advertisers". What do you get when you have garden blogs that are sponsored by major corporations involved in gardening? Fluff! "Look how easily so and so handles that (insert brand here)power saw." How about, "excited about my newly planted (insert brand here) container garden in my front yard." One more is, "can't wait to cook up the delicious meals I read about in (insert brand here) book".  There is nothing wrong with writing about how well so and so looks wielding a chain saw, but do we really need to put the brand name in there? Of course, that's who your being sponsored by.

This brings us to this passage from the book. Anne say's, "that all commentary on gardens is positive, sometimes exuberantly and untruthfully so." That seems to be the trend on The Internet. Who would speak badly about a corporate sponsor? Everything is better with my new (insert brand here) pruning tools. That wouldn't be because you just received a bunch of those (insert brand here) pruning tools for free, would it? Yes, it seems everything is better with (insert brand here).

Major garden corporations are now jumping into social media. For some it's too risky to just write great content, and let the readers find them based on their writing. The Internet is the wild west, and it's hard to control the message. Instead they try to orchestrate what is said. What if you write something in your garden blog and the legions don't swoop down and praise your writing? How embarrassing! Better to have a group of people who are committed to the (insert brand here) cause that can praise your writing and your (insert brand here).

It was bound to happen. It presents a huge potential for those who are willing to be independent, speak their minds, and create their own mini-brand (garden bloggers and independent garden centers). People will  migrate towards brands that don't constantly shout, "look at me". Sure it may not land you a seat at the (insert brand here) dinner table, or get you that(insert brand here)free gift, but it will gain you readers who appreciate that fact that you are not always trying to find a place in your blog post to (insert brand here).

How to use Facebook for your business

Our Facebook Group, IGC&N (Independent Garden Centers and Nurseries) now has over 270 members. These members make up some of the most forward thinking garden center people around. The very fact they found our Facebook page and have joined shows they are taking action when it comes to social media. One benefit of joining our group for many was learning how to use Facebook. There is a constant barrage of articles and posts on how to use Facebook for your business. If your like me, reading how to use Facebook just doesn't work as well as actually just using it. That's what is so cool about our group. For many of our members who wanted to join, it was their first time on Facebook. They wanted to be a part of the discussions going on, and the only way was to dive in and get a Facebook account.

If you wondering how to use Facebook for your business, the best teachers are fellow nursery people who are using it to great affect.  Once you get an account and join the group the discussions are so lively and helpful you'll quickly learn how to use the various features just by doing it. You'll be amongst people who have never used it before, and others who are well versed on Facebook's finer points. It's a good thing it's a closed group, as some of the discussions are quite opinionated and not what you have heard at the local trade meeting. We are changing the retail garden center world one member at a time.

If you want to hang amongst your fellow nursery who are exploring social media in real time you need to first get a personal Facebook page. It's easy and Facebook walks you through it. Once you get your personal account head over to our IGC&N Page here. As long as you are an employee or owner of an independent garden center or nursery hit the "join" button. You'll have to wait for one of the administrators to approve your request (usually takes a few hours). Once approved you can take part in the discussions, or simply sit back and take it all in while you get comfortable with how Facebook works.

If you have been reading about how to use Facebook for you business, but still don't quite get it, stop reading about it and just use it. Our group is made up of people a lot like you and are more than willing to help you get the hang of it. Facebook is an important tool for small business, and the only way to reap the benefits is to "just do it". Go here to change the retail garden center world,  or just enjoy the camaraderie of others in your trade.

IGC show in Chicago, I'll be there

This summer the IGC show will be in Chicago from August 16th through the 18th. I'll be taking part in a panel discussion on social media on the 18th at 12:15 pm. According to the IGC webpage Kyle Lacy will be moderating. "Kyle Lacy is known for his in-depth understanding of the application of social and digital media for both small businesses and large corporations. He is the author of Twitter Marketing for Dummies (Wiley, 2009) and Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (Pearson, 2010)."Kyle is joined by Garden Chic magazine’s Clint Albin in moderating a lively and practical discussion about how people who communicate for a living are using social media. Panelists include: Shirley Bovshow, garden designer, TV host, product spokesperson and new media producer; Melinda Myers, garden author and radio and TV host; William Moss, garden TV host and author; Trey Pitsenberger, Owner of The Golden Gecko Garden Center and the personality behind The Blogging Nurseryman; Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, Director of the Garden Writers Association; and Jennifer Youngquest, Marketing Manager at English Gardens. These panelists have been on a discovery path during the IGC Show, finding products that retailers are going to sell in 2012. Learn how they are using social media to tell consumers about what they’ve discovered at IGC 2011.

So there you go. If you are going to be at the show be sure to stop by and say hi.

The garden center biz is at a crossroads

My fellow nursery people, hows business this year? Are you up, even , or down from last year? My guess is the majority of you will say down, some might say even, and a very few are up.  Many people in the trade know weather is a huge factor, and let me tell you the weather has not helped out this year. Not just here in sunny California (finally), but around the country nurseries are feeling the pinch from tornado's, flood's, fires (Texas), and unusual cold. My sources indicate a big drop in sales this year for your local independent garden centers. At the box stores it's not much better.  Wholesale growers barley hanging on are dumping material into the box stores in an effort to just get it out of the nursery. Meanwhile the box stores are lowering prices thinking that will stimulate an over spent consumer into buying. Guess what? They are not! So just like the Fed printing more money makes the dollar less valuable, the wholesale nurseries dumping more plants into the boxes just contributes to the downward spiral of price and quality. The chickens are starting to come home to roost when it comes to plant dumping at the boxes.

This year is a turning point for our trade. Those of you in the trade can feel it. No amount of cheer leading is going to change the unmistakable fact that many indie retail and wholesale operations are not going to be around next year. I wonder about the wholesale operations that sell to the boxes. How much longer can they give their plants away? The customer might think the low prices are great but you know what, even with low prices and mounds of  plants sitting on the asphalt at the local box store people are not buying.

The future is now. If you don't change with the times the times will change you. What do you do as a nursery person when the sun is shinning, plants looking good, and fewer people come to your store this year than last? You might wonder, are others in my trade feeling the pinch like me? What are they doing to make a go of it? What are they doing to change their world and stay in business? If your in the business as an owner or employee you might want to join us at our Facebook page, Independent Garden Centers or Nurseries here. You will find out your not alone, and surrounded by people willing to take a chance and change this trade for the better.

If your a garden blogger, writer, wholesale nursery, broker, customer, or just like the idea of a locally owned garden center go here to show your support. LOGON, Locally Owned Garden Centers or Nurseries is the outreach part of our indie nursery group. Anyone can "like" us and  be part of the solution. In the coming months and years we hope to revitalize the idea of independent, locally owned garden centers or nurseries. We have big plans and would love to have your support and input.  Do you have a favorite garden center in your neck of the woods. Let them know about us. Spread the word.

I believe the future bodes well for the well run, indie garden center. I also believe there will be a lot less of them going forward. Sorry, but that is just the way it is. I remember when gardening was America's number one hobby, and Saturday's were always busy at the garden center. Going forward it is not going to be. Just too many other things to do with ones time. We are going to have to offer something different than the box stores, because they do what they do so well it's not worth competing. We have to find our niche and build on that.

Wondering where all the cool nurseries and nursery people have gone? They are gathering with other like minds right here. If your wondering where the places that have, "We don't just grow plants....they are our passion" as their motto, they are here. If your a fan of the local garden center business and want to help spread the word go here. Together we can raise awareness that an alternative to the corporate mind set that has driven gardening into mediocrity is available.

It's deja vu again! Hines Nurseries emerges from bankruptcy

According to Grower's Talk Acres Online, Hines Nurseries has emerged from bankruptcy again. According to Steve Thigpen, CEO, " we've got a stronger balance sheet, we’ve got the money we need to operate, and we’re getting ourselves back together.” Let's see, where have we heard that before, oh yea here. In 2009 we quoted Mike Trebing after their first bankruptcy saying, "As a company we are returning to our core values and business philosophies which thecompany has been built upon over the last 90 years,’ Trebing says. ‘As an outcome of the bankruptcy, Hines has emerged with one of the cleanest balance sheets in the nursery business." According to the same Acres Online article, Color Spot who is the chief supplier of color for the box stores has, "signed a letter of intent to lease two Hines Growers (formerly Hines Nurseries LLC) facilities in Chino Valley, Arizona, and Houston, Texas. The deal is expected to close in June, and is for an undisclosed length of time..."

Steve Thigpen of Hines also said, "We’re just focusing back on the core business itself, and on those things with which we’ve always done well, which is nursery goods, perennials, specialty products and patio products. This puts cash back in our hands to really drive the remaining businesses. And it gives us a future revenue stream as well, with the leases. Good luck to Color Spot with those sites; I think they’ll do well. And I think we’re doing the right thing for us.”

We have talked about the diverging interests of the nursery industry for quite awhile here. There are two separate industries developing, the box stores and their suppliers like Color Spot and Hines. The other industry is the locally owned, independent garden center and their suppliers. Now that Hines has stopped growing color that leaves Color Spot with the market. It was interesting to read the disclaimer from Color Spot president Jerry Halamuda who said, "This isn’t an acquisition with Hines, it isn’t a merger with Hines. … It’s very simply: We’re at capacity, we’re continuing to build greenhouses and grade land, but this is an opportunity for us to pick up a first-class greenhouse facility in Arizona and in Texas.”

Now where would they get the idea that we would even think they we're merging?