Still a big opportunity for “real” green businesses
Way out there!
Had no idea the hullabaloo that would arise after my Tweet of an article from Garden Center Magazine about the partnership between Scotts Miracle-Gro and The National Wildlife Federation and their “Be Out There” campaign. It illustrates well the the idea behind my last post, “You Can’t Design a Marketing Campaign to Go Viral“. It picked up a life of it’s own because people feel passionate about the subject, and decided to share with their friends. Passion helps spread ideas.
I found this post from July of 2008 after searching my blog for the term, “greenwashing”. The only thing I would change from that post is this sentence, “Blogs are becoming the the news source for the new millennium.” To be relevant today it should say, “Social media is becoming the news source for the new millennium.”
Here is my Twitter account if you would like to follow.
You can’t design a marketing campaign to go viral
Why do marketing experts tell us that we should design our marketing to go viral? How do you design anything with the idea that people will spread the idea or product enough that it goes viral? You can’t. It’s up to the end-user to spread the word, and if the idea or product is worthy, it could go viral.
Here is a video of Hula Hoop enthusiast that attached a small camera to the Hula Hoop. She thought it would be cool. What she didn’t expect was how it would go viral in just a few days. 8000 views just yesterday, today almost 16,000 views. I doubt she started the project with the idea that it would be spread so quickly through the community of You Tube watchers.
Don’t design your marketing to go viral. Design your marketing to highlight the fantastic service, and products you offer, as well as helping the customer become more passionate about their gardening. Your customers will decide if it goes viral. There are some things you can do to promote the spreading of the word, but we will leave that for another day.
Check out the video. It’s WOW! That’s why it’s spreading. What are you doing in your business that’s WOW?
New USDA Zone Map Released
USDA Zone map
The USDA has released their new zone map of the country. The first new map since 1990, and some zones have been changed. Maragret Roach explains the nuances of the changes at “A Way to Garden”.
Out west we use The Sunset Western Garden Zones, which are much more detailed than the USDA zoning, accounting for hills, valleys, and micro-climates. According to Sunset we are in zone 7, while according to the USDA we are in zone 8B. Seems that always confuses newer gardeners out here.
Social Media Workshop for Garden Professionals
I'll be here
This February 8th I’ll be holding a workshop on “Social Media is the New Village Square-Where Do You Fit In?”. The workshop is held at The Pro-Green Expo in Denver, Colorado. We will discuss the use of social media in your marketing. Most importantly we discuss how to get your customers to spread the word of your wonderfulness. That’s really the key to social media, make or do something wonderful and give your customers a method to spread the word.
This is the latest is a series of workshops and talks I have been holding for the trade. If your interested in having me put on a workshop, talk at your event, or train you or your staff on how to use the available social media platforms, contact me.
Are You a Member of Generation Flux?
Fast Company and Generation Flux
Rarely do I buy magazines. However the latest issue of Fast Company caught my eye. The cover story is “This Is Generation Flux, Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) Frontier Of Businesses”. According to the article, “the future of business is pure chaos. Here’s how you can survive–and perhaps even thrive.” We read interviews from various people who are managing to survive and thrive in the new business climate.
The nursery trade is obsessed with how to appeal to a younger demographic. What’s cool about Generation Flux is it’s not age based, like Generation X, Y, or “The Baby Boomers”. You can be any age, and be a member of Generation Flux. It’s not just about the fast changing business climate, but the whole changing at the speed of light world we find ourselves in. You can be 20 or 60, and still be a member of this inclusive generation. Generation Flux ties together differing generations, while labels like Generation X are exclusive to someone born during that period.
I am growing weary of the supposed divides between differing generations. We are all trying to feel our way through this new world, older and younger together. What binds us is a willingness to accept the challenges, and change when necessary. Sure, it can be harder for the older members of this tribe to make those changes, but try they must. Easy or hard, change is coming and how you respond is what matters, not your age. Welcome to Generation Flux.
Taking the Next Step in My Writing
Wanted to pass along some advice I received via Doug Greens Blog. Well, it’s actually not written to me, but it could have been. Doug Green is one of Canada’s most-published garden writer’s. The title of Doug’s latest post is, 4 Bits of Advice for A New Writer. I have been looking to do more with my writing, so the subject is timely.
Self-publishing is changing the world. For the first time someone can publish their own books without the assorted baggage that comes with going through a legacy publisher. You have control, which can be a scary thing, but also liberating. It’s going to revitalize the book industry, and breathe life into the writers profession.
Doug has done much of the ground work in his own publishing efforts, so its great to learn from someone who is walking the talk. I wasn’t going to post today but I followed Doug’s advice. If you have thought about self-publishing, or taking your writing to the next level read Doug’s post. Be sure to read the comments at Doug’s blog for even more information.
Find gardening under “Eco”
Seed bomb dispenser
I have noticed a shift in how gardening is defined. In the past when one went looking for information on gardening it was almost always categorized under “Home” or “Design”. It was assumed if you are a gardener then you would have a house, and be interested in design. The mindset appears to be changing, especially amongst the younger crowd who perhaps don’t own, or rent a house with a yard. These people tend to group their gardening activities under the banner “environmental” or “Eco”, as opposed to “home” or “style”.
This is important for those for us in retail who in the past have always counted on the “home” crowd for our business. With home ownership declining, I wonder if our marketing has caught up to this. Perhaps we are still wedded to the idea that our customer is a home owner with design, and functionality at the forefront. The new customer may also attach greater importance to how the act of gardening plays into their idea of ecological awareness.
Seed bombs, Seed Bomb Dispensers (pictured at left), guerrilla gardening, edible schoolyards, required environmental studies, Eco Pod Nurseries, etc., are new ideas and products that will change how we view the garden, and gardening. Garden centers need to keep this in mind as we navigate the new world.
I think this change is great! It allows horticulture a whole new lease on life. Many of our offerings and ideas are starting to become “hip” and what’s “in”. Now the other stuff like synthetic pesticides, herbicides, our poor record of sustainability, and overuse of plant growth regulators, does us no good. So garden centers and nurseries will have to choose which market to address. I think for the smaller garden center, being classified under “Eco” is a great opportunity to really show that “Eco” is more than just a catchphrase. Eco can also be stylish and beautiful. As I posted in July of 2008, it’s a “Big Opportunity for ‘real’ green businesses”.
Gardening history
Garden History Cabbage Man
History and horticulture are two passions of mine. Someone who shares that passion is Paige Johnson, who authors the blog “Garden History Girl“. She also has a masters degree in garden history, which is very cool.
Her latest post is titled, “The Cabbage that is King: Brassica oleracae longata” It’s “the curious case of the seven-foot tall cabbage, which brought two seedsellers and one Reverend Laycock of Hampshire into Westminster County Court in 1898.” Mis-represented seed, lawsuits, The Canary Islands, 16′ tall cabbages, and the unusual reason they we’re grown for originally.
Garden History Girl has many interesting posts concerning horticulture and history. As we ponder the future of gardening and it’s place in our lives it’s fun to see how much things have changed, and in many cases how little.
Big problems in “Busy Lizzy” land
One of the most popular flowers grown in greenhouses in The Impatiens. Known lovingly as “Busy Lizzie’s”, these plants make up a huge proportion of the flowers grown in greenhouses for retail sale in spring.
Imagine being a grower that depends on this flower to make ends meet, and you find out that a new disease is threatening your crop. The disease, Plasmopara obducens, is also known as “Impatiens downy mildew”. In 2011 the disease was confirmed in coastal southern California, northeast Illinois, northern Indiana, the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Long Island, and upstate New York. If you’re in those regions, keep an eye out for the disease. Green Profit, a trade magazine tells us what growers will be looking for in the greenhouses.
“• Lightly chlorotic or stippled leaves. Subtle gray markings may also appear on the upper leaf surface.
• Leaves may turn downward from the leaf margins.
• A white, downy growth may be present on the underside of affected leaves. ”
This disease is so serious that Thompson & Morgan, a larger seed company won’t even be offering Impatiens this year. According to their website, “Thompson & Morgan has decided to drop all walleriana types (as this is the only strain that succumbs to the mildew) from the range. With sales in excess of £1,000,000 it would have been an all too easy for us to carry on offering our best selling bedding plant, but we want our customers to be completely satisfied.”
This disease only affects the “Walleriana” type of Impatiens. “New Guinea” impatiens are highly tolerant of the disease and should not be confused with the “Walleriana” (Busy Lizzie) types. A big issue with this disease is it often does not manifest itself in the greenhouse, but later in the customers garden. A lot like the Late Blight of Tomatoes that occurred in 2009.
Green Profit has this advice for anyone thinking of selling Impatiens at their garden center this year. “The phrase ‘What they don’t know can’t hurt ’em’ is not applicable here. In fact, it could end up hurting you. Customers who find impatiens downy mildew on their plants after purchase—whether it’s in baskets or beds—will likely assume your business is at fault. ‘What, me go back to Joe’s Greenhouses? They sold me those bum impatiens.’ Not what you want happening.” Here is what garden centers should do for their customers according to Green Profit,
“Inform the customer of:
• the disease’s existence, especially if the disease has been verified in or near your region.
• the symptoms (leaf yellowing and premature leaf and flower drop) to watch for.
• that although plants may be healthy when they leave the garden center, they could become infected once planted into the landscape, with the risk of susceptibility being higher in beds with a previous history of the disease.
• its higher incidence of occurring in locations that are heavily shaded, densely planted and stay moist for long times.
• planting measures that could lower the likelihood of the impatiens downy mildew—and diseases, in general. ”
If you live in one of the affected areas check out your local garden center, and see what advice they are or will be offering this spring. Garden centers that have worked hard to build trust with their customers will be honest and forthright, explaining the issue and possible solutions. It will be interesting to see how garden centers, growers, and the individual gardener respond to this issue come spring, and summer.
The health benefits of antique apples
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. Some apples may outperform others when it comes to the healthy benefits. According to research from The Royal Pharmaceutical Society, modern day apples strip away many of the health benefits of eating apples. Through years of hybridizing we have created more adaptable and sweeter fruit, but fruit that is not as healthy.
One of the benefits of heirloom apples is they help control blood sugar levels, which some have found contribute to obesity. Can it be that the so called “healthy” modern day apple, bred for ever increasing sweetness, is spiking blood sugar levels and contributing to obesity?
Are people ready to embrace growing heirloom apples like they have heirloom vegetables? There are many hybrids that are excellent fruit, and have increased adaptability to differing climatic and soil conditions. However, it’s fun to think that these old apple varieties have something going for them that has kept them on the radar all these years.
Do we need to have progressively sweeter and sweeter food to just get people to eat fruit and vegetables? Through breeding have we sweetened the taste, but lost many of the health benefits of the fruit our grandparents ate?
Some food for thought.
