"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...
"Jenny" wrote in message
...
This year it seems that just about every one of the local nurseries is
selling branded plants that come from maybe three big growers. This is
true of both annuals and perennials.

Emotions aside, can you put yourself in the mindset of a plant retailer,
or
a wholesale grower, and think of any reasons why these "industrial
nurseries" are doing well?


Yes, unfortunately, I can.

A couple decades of dealing exclusively with a local grower, who used to
raise her own plant crop from seed and relied heavily on customer input
for unusual stuff within that crop.

When her husband was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, she was forced to cut
staff and payroll expense and go the mass-produced, Proven Winner Plug
Route.

I do still shop there, and she does still raise a hefty portion of the
earliest and quickest bedding plants ( impatiens, pansy, viola) from seed,
but I no longer look for anything new or unusual in her greenhouses.

She has had to define her operation in the same very strict terms, as any
big box store-- lowest possible overhead and a dependable source of
inventory a telephone call ( and 2 days delivery) away.

I don't spend as much there as I used to, and both the grower and I know
why from both sides. Her interests haven't changed, but her financial
necessities have changed. I'm still looking for " that something different"
and in her business plan, I'm a fickle customer, not a profit center.

She makes money from the three flats of impatiens , 2 red, one white, one
flat of the darkest blue petunias you have, 12 Red Geraniums and 12 Dracena,
and here are my window boxes, please plant them for me client.

Bizness is Bizness.

Sue