How Can You Grow Just One?

I get these great press releases every so often from Schreurs with gorgeous photography of the company's products. This is the selection of just the mini gerberas. (Does anyone grow these in the U.S., by the way? I don't think I've seen them.) There's a whole other page for regular-sized ones.

A lot of people talk about how we're drowning in too much variety selection, but how do you choose, seriously? They're all gorgeous. And how can you have faith in a new variety? Based on the breeder's reputation? Do you test first?

High Fashion In Hort

There are some really interesting ideas coming out of Hort Couture -- new genetics as well as new ways to think about marketing your products. I hope it's extremely successful, because I would love to see something like this in a garden center near me. They're calling this the Fashion Plate.

According to the release, it's a self-locking tray that holds one 6.5"-inch pot in the center, surrounded by slots for seven 4.5-inch pots. Hort Couture will offer 12 recipes to mix and match in the trays, and each recipe is named after a "City of Fashion." The Fashion Plate will be available in April 2008.

This whole concept is going to be so appealing to the demographic floriculture should be targeting. Women like gardening for the beauty of the finished product, the cut flowers on the dinner table. Guys like demolition, getting themselves dirty and digging things up. If you want to get the women, keep it classy.

Is Sustainability All In Our Heads?

The Center For Media Research (which I have heard of) is reporting "seven in ten Americans either ‘strongly' or ‘somewhat' agree that when companies call a product "green" (meaning better for the environment), it is usually just a 'marketing tactic.'"

This report is based on information from "an Ipsos Reid study conducted this spring on behalf of Icynene" (which I've never heard of).

If the numbers hold up, that's a lot of people that don't really care about going green. I think many gardeners worry about the environment, since that's what they're trying to beautify. All those products that are out there claiming to be earth friendly, but really aren't, are tainting the term. Floriculture's are the most green products, after all, aren't they?

More New Species Found

New orchid varieties have been found in Vietnam.

Click on the photo in the link to see a slideshow. There are some wacky and cool-looking plants in there.

Sustainable Products You Recommend

Sustainable growing is really hot. Almost all the growers I talk to say they'd be interested in hearing about biodegradable pots, organic growing media, biofertilizers, biological pests, compost teas, and the list goes on.

We're putting together a special section in Greenhouse Grower on sustainability. We hope it will be something growers will pull out and keep, especially those that haven't yet jumped into the sustainability movement.

So we're looking for your advice. What products or methods are you using that would be considered sustainable? And what advice would you give to growers who are just getting their feet wet on sustainability? E-mail me or comment below.

What's Wal-Mart Sustaining? And For How Long?

Last week, Delilah and I attended Grower Talks' Greenhouse Experience here in Cleveland. Yeah, it was a little weird being at our competitor's event, but I thought the event was really good, especially the speakers focused around mass merchandisers.

Delilah wrote about one in our e-newsletter, Benchrunner, yesterday. Wal-Mart's Senior Horticultural Buyer spoke about the chain's movement toward sustainability - in its stores and in the horticultural products it sells. You can read her story here.

Almost immediately after the e-newsletter sent, we got an e-mail from a grower questioning Wal-Mart's motives.

"Maybe they should look at employee and supplier 'essentials' first, it might make it easier to swallow their 'deep concern for the environment,'" he said. If Wal-Mart really does care so much about sustainability, most would argue that fair employment and business practices should be included in that definition.

I really wouldn't blame any supplier to any of the mass merchandisers for being suspicious of movements and trends that demand they change their production processes. But you all are closer to these retailers than I am.

Are we putting all our eggs in one basket? Do you think this green movement is here to stay, both with retailers and consumers? You can comment anonymously below.

New Begonia Being Developed In Canada

Cathy Knoblauch of McLeod Valley Greenhouse is working on some revolutionary breeding in Alberta, Canada. No photos yet to protect her hard work, but in this article, "One Canadian flower expert told Craig that Knoblauch's begonias represent 'the single most promising (plant) introduction he will work on in his lifetime.'" Cool.

Blogger Of The Week: Growing Up

This week's blogger is Larry and everyone at Growing Up by Sherwood Greenhouses in Regina, Saskatchewan. I really like the personal feel of this blog and of how it covers a little bit of everything -- fruit, vegetable and ornamental crops, news, fun stuff and opinion.

I look forward to hearing more about a greenhouse renovation and what's going on up there north of the border. Check out all the links on the right, too. Good job, Sherwood Greenhouses!

We Like Lowe's

Consumers prefer Lowe's over Home Depot, reports MarketWatch From Dow Jones, based on a survey by consulting firm Consumer Specialists.

"Lowe's rated higher than Home Depot in most areas, including product selection and customer service. Asked which chain they like better, 53% of respondents chose Lowe's, while 47% chose Home Depot. That's an even wider gap than a similar survey in 2006, which found a 51%-49% preference for Lowe's."

I picked up on this story from our sister publication, Today's Garden Center. The survey also says people who prefer Depot spend an average of $763 at stores in the prior six months, while those who prefer Lowe's spent and average of $454. So maybe they have to call this one even.

Personally, I prefer Lowe's, in the garden area and overall. Home Depot still has a contractor feel that is intimidating to me, but it is move convenient for me as far as location goes. That's another advantage to Depot the survey noted -- lots of stores to choose from.

Oh geez, my husband is going to interpret that, "Honey, let's go to Lowe's this weekend and remodel our bathroom."

Would You Be My Buddy/Friend/In My Network?

Talk about using the Web. Barak Obama is using social networking site LinkedIn to reach voters. That I've seen (other than the YouTube debates, which I don't think really counted), this is the first time a candidate is using Web 2.0, and using it the same way everybody else does. It's grassroots digital style. I'm sure some kind of strategist is behind this, but it's good.

You can reach customers the same way. I like the answers tab on LinkedIn. It's a great way to get answers to questions from all over the country...the world, really.

The Contract In Contract Growing

I got an email today from an Extension agent looking for contract tips for contract growers.

When I wrote our Under Contract series on contract growing last year, I was surprised at the informality of the agreements being used. There's a ton of trust between big growers and the operations they contract.

How would you feel about forming a business agreement like this on a handshake? What kinds of agreements are you using? What should be included in a contract/agreement? Would you be willing to share a template?

Blogger Of The Week: Ask A Grower

For my next greenhouse blogger, I select Ask A Grower. I like this blog because the blogger is really dedicated to keeping us up to date on his poinsettia crop.

It's like High Noon -- or a more modern real-time comparison, 24 (which I'm a bigger fan of, anyway). I'm watching this grower's production progress. And there's a pretty good back and forth volley on the Ask A Grower forum.

Casual Cut Flowers

Today, I went with my mom to the farmers' market in the neighborhood where I grew up. It's a great time of year for cut dahlias. Look at all the colors on display. I came home with the orange ones in the foreground.

Although this one stand had a great selection to choose from, there weren't too many flower and plant options. We need more flowers at farmers' markets! I think once you catch the bug for cut flowers and casual do-it-yourself arrangements, it translates into an interest in bedding plants and landscaping, too.

Perennial Of The Year

Congratulations to geranium 'Rozanne' on being named the 2008 Perennial Plant Of The Year by the Perennial Plant Association. Isn't it gorgeous? And it flowers from late spring to November. Nice.

It even has its own Web site!

Blogger Of The Week: Transatlantic Plantsman

This might be a tall order to fill, but my goal is to find one new blog per week written by a grower or industry personality.

This week, it's the Transatlantic Plantsman. Lots of nice information on varieties. There's also a nice section here on how to keep track of all the blogs you want to read.

Do you have a blog? You can see your site here. Let me know about it. Leave me a comment or e-mail me at satambascio@meistermedia.com.