Ann wrote:

We have a guy over in Scituate at Hillbilly Acres that grows all kinds
of unusual annuals, tender perennials, tropicals, (among many other
types of plants). he also specializes in water plants for water
gardens, ponds, etc. He'll tell you that if it isn't blooming the
average consumer isn't interested. He depends on the serious
gardeners every year to buy what he grows and to spread the word via
their own gardens to their friends, etc. He's making a living doing
what he loves, but he'll never get rich on it.

Being rich means "Doing what you love doing."

Dick

In article ,
says...
Occasionally I will see something unusual show up at the box store
nurseries.

Several years ago (12?) I ran across a "Dwarf Clustered Bellflower" at
either HD or Lowes. I bought one just to see what it was like.

It was nice enough that I divided it over the years into about 16
plants. The only problem seems to be that it has lost its "dwarf"
nature in the last few years. Or it's being replaced by its seedlings
that don't breed true, although I don't think it's a hybrid.

Anyway I've never seen it again anywhere - including at several local
nurseries. I did see seed for it once online, but by then I had my 16
plant circle. Maybe now I'll have to get some to restore the dwarfness.

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

(Dick Adams) expounded:

Being rich means "Doing what you love doing."

Absolutely )
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

"lgb" wrote in message
...
In article ,
says...
Occasionally I will see something unusual show up at the box store
nurseries.

Several years ago (12?) I ran across a "Dwarf Clustered Bellflower" at
either HD or Lowes. I bought one just to see what it was like.

It was nice enough that I divided it over the years into about 16
plants. The only problem seems to be that it has lost its "dwarf"
nature in the last few years. Or it's being replaced by its seedlings
that don't breed true, although I don't think it's a hybrid.

Anyway I've never seen it again anywhere - including at several local
nurseries. I did see seed for it once online, but by then I had my 16
plant circle. Maybe now I'll have to get some to restore the dwarfness.

How about growing it from seed? Do any of the usual suspects have it in
their catalogs? (Burpee, Harris, Park, etc)

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 13:58:57 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:



I should've clarified: A was referring to independent garden centers. Lowe's
and HD are such an anomaly in the plant business that they can't even be
included when considering trends.


I'm not so sure any more. At one time I'd agree with you, but they
seemingly have been following trends more closely these days.

We have this thing in the paper every Saturday in the garden section.
It will give a Plant of the Week, and all the local garden centers
stock that plant in 4", quart, gallon, etc.

I've noticed the box stores are now also carrying the Plant of the
Week. They also have new sections of native plants. Of coures none
of them are rare, but now and then the occasional rare plant does show
up for a fraction of what the smaller retail centers have.

Eh, I am getting ready to dump the stock. I can't live with myself
any more making money on putting small business out of business.
Everybody changes, eventually.

Victoria

"David Bockman" wrote in message
9.11...
Jenny wrote in news:MaednfjLNqauDyffRVn-
:

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.

I'm also seeing a trend where instead of selling six packs of annuals
for $2 -$3 they're selling one plant (not all that better looking than
one in a healthy six pack) for $3.50 or more.

Who are these companies who seem to have taken over the nursery
business? Where are they? What's going on here?

I'm finding it VERY hard to find locally grown plants, which bums me
out. The other thing that really bothers me is the uniformity of the
offerings. Since I'm seeing the same nursery stock everywhere, I'm also
seeing the same cultivars everywhere, which is making it tougher to find
interesting things to plant.

What's the story here?


Where are you located? Which growers are you seeing?

--
David J. Bockman, Fairfax, VA (USDA Hardiness Zone 7)
email:
http://beyondgardening.com/Albums

They may be "local" nurseries, but do they actually grow anything
themselves? If not, they are simply distributors.

On the other hand, there are many newer plants out there that are patented,
and it's quite costly for local, small time growers to pay the fees to
propagate and sell the same plants.

And finally, just like most other businesses, the corporate operations are
the big dogs who have a very large share of the market. My opinion is that
unless we support -- as in patronize -- small, local operations, the
situation will only get worse. And as a business, the small local guy
usually can't compete in price with the big dogs who can get volume
discounts for purchasing mass quantities. My thinking is that the small
locals that make it offer what the corps can't or don't -- knowledgeable
staff, great customer service, and high quality products.

Jut my 2 cents worth

Suzy O

"Sue in Western Maine" wrote in message
...

"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

I know a small local greenhouse/garden center that's been in business since
1914. The try to keep their prices comparable to the chains, do the plug
thing, and still offer the best selection of "not the same old stuff"
bedding plants and perennials, AND the masses of geraniums, petunias, etc.
that everyone else has. Their "secret"? First and foremost -- individual
customer service. Don't know what to plant in a specific location? They'll
walk you through the greenhouse and yard to point out plants that will work
in your situation. They sell planting soil in bulk -- way cheaper than the
bagged stuff. They had water plants before anywhere else in the area. And
they still have the best selection of perennials in the county.

Of course, as times have changed since 1914, and since they don't have room
to expand the operation -- they're not out in the boonies any more -- they
don't start a lot from seed these days, but have earned a reputation for
quality and unusual plants at a fair price.

Suzy O

About a third of bedding plants originate he

http://www.ecke.com/html/toc_fields.html

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
.. .

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
news
"Jenny" wrote in message
...

The other thing that really bothers me is the uniformity of the
offerings.

It's possible (and highly likely) that the uniformity is as much the
fault
of consumers as it is of the suppliers. Here, for instance, there are
plenty
of sources for unusual plants, both annuals and perennials. But
still....look at many gardens and all you see is marigolds, salvia,
petunias
and geraniums. Boring....but that's what many consumers want. This is
very
much a plain vanilla country.

I agree with this. It seems that most consumers don't want any risk.
They
only buy what they know will work. It would never occur to them to do ANY
research and most don't even read the plant labels for the stuff they do
buy. Occasionally I will see something unusual show up at the box store
nurseries. We had a couple of large "super" stores like Meijer and Biggs
who occasionally get some flats of unusual annuals. When they do you
better
buy them because next year you probably won't see them again. That's why
I
buy "bulk" plants like impatiens at the box stores and then get my special
plants at real nurseries. The other think I have noticed is that few
people
seem willing to buy an entire flat of flowers. Instead they get a couple
of
cell packs of this and that and pepper their yards with insignificant dots
of color. I'm not talking about people who supplement a perennial border
with some pockets of annuals. I'm talking about people who plant the
lonely
marigold at the base of a 5 foot holly and then ten feet way put in a
petunia under a dogwood. My neighbors is so lazy and/or indecisive that
she
just left the plants in the cell packs and tossed them here and there in
her
beds amongst the weed. They have been there since Mother's Day weekend
and
now most are dead.



When speaking of "most consumers" I just assume they aren't bona fide
gardeners, e.g., knowledgeable about plants, interested in more unusual
plants, & enjoy spending time outside & working in the garden. Most people
simply want something to plunk in "that spot" and be done with it. Not
necessarily a bad thing, just a difference in priorities. Drive around town
and take a look at the front yards -- most are the same old, same old. But
I suspect the "same old" folks prefer the same look as their neighbors. As
my mother would say, "There's no accounting for taste."

Suzy O