Facebook is just one of the tools available
For all the hype the Facebook stock offering is getting I find it a bit of a non-event. Sure it will be a way for early investors and insiders to get rich, but for the rest of us? Does anyone think Facebook is the end all when it comes to social media? Another, better one will come along in short order. Frankly the bigger it becomes the less enamored I am with it. Small is cool!
Small business should have a Facebook page, and stay involved. Don’t however, put all you eggs in that one basket. Keep your e-mail list safe, and don’t forget about reaching people directly with e-news. Facebook is just one of many tools available for small business. It’s over-hyped right now, and that usually doesn’t play out well. People will soon enough “get used to it” and the novelty will wear off. Look how quickly Pinterest got the attention and eyeballs.
I think the initial stock offering for Facebook may be the companies high point. It will now have to show constant growth for the investors, and that may eventually be it’s undoing. It can happen. Remember MySpace?
Exciting times in gardening
I have been remiss in cultivating this blog, and thank a long time reader for reminding me to do just that. We have been busy at the nursery with a spring not dominated by cold and rain, like last year. The weather has cooperated and people continue to buy edibles like there is no tomorrow. I enjoy the edible crowd as they have put a lot of effort into their garden, and they will do what’s right to keep it productive.
When you hear that generation x or y are not into gardening, check the source. No sign of that here. My customer base is at least 50% under 30 years of age. They are excited about growing the stuff they consume and want to patronize local business, if you have what they want. They don’t want synthetics! Get your organic groove on, because they want to know how to do it all! I disagree with those who say we are not in the job of education. I think that’s exactly what is needed, and what we should do. Teach a person how to garden…
Small is cool! After thirty years in this biz I can say, keep it small and keep your cool! It’s so easy when everything is riding on your decisions to work yourself to exhaustion. If it feels like it’s getting out of control, slow down. Take the time to focus on the person in front of you at the moment. That’s what it’s all about. Not saying we don’t need to “make hay while the sun shines”, but we can only do so much.
There is no better time for the smaller garden business. Being small means you can react to changes that come faster and faster every day. Being small means you can excel at your craft, and command the price for your work that you need to stay in business. The future of garden bio-diversity rests in the hands of gardeners, and small garden businesses.
How great it is to be alive when so much is changing. In the garden trades we get to help guide people in their efforts to live better.It’s a trade that is perfectly suited for the world we live in. Did I say these we’re exciting times?
Support your locally run garden businesses
Click the leaf above and LOGON to GROW
Having been in the garden center business for 30 years, I have seen all sorts of changes. A very powerful and positive change is the ability of gardening businesses to communicate with one another via The Internet. Sure, we communicated before via trade meetings once a month, or phone calls to see what price their petunia six packs we’re, but that was about it. Many of us lived in an isolation of sorts, always wondering what other gardening businesses we’re thinking and doing.
That’s changing, and in a very positive way for smaller garden businesses. With our Independent Garden Center Group we have garden center owners and employees communicating about all sorts of subjects. It’s a place where you can ask your peers if they have ever tried this idea or that one, and receive thoughtful responses quickly. The best part is many of the subjects and ideas worked out in the group are making a real difference to businesses bottom lines. The people in the group want to be there, and that makes all the difference. Look to our group to continue making a positive difference in the garden center trade.
To give our fans a place to show their support we created “LOGON to GROW”. It stands for locally owned garden centers or nurseries. We want to spread the news that supporting locally owned, well run business is vital to the community. If you don’t, then all we will be left with to buy our garden supplies is box stores, mega growers, and chemical companies. As more and more people dive into growing their own food a resource for information and goods is vital. We have lots of cool ideas to share with you and would like to have your opinion on how we can do a even better job. Come celebrate local, green, garden businesses at LOGON to GROW.
Where the “new plant” action is
What kind of tomato do you have there?
According to the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) the winner of the “Garden Idol 2012″ award is “The Scallywag Holly” from Monrovia Growers. The Garden Idol awards are are held at The ANLA annual clinic and are for what attendees think is the best new plant introduction of the year. Each grower presents their new introduction, with some presenters putting on quite a show. In the case of Scallywag Holly, Monrovia Growers put on a skit complete with pirate gear and song. It can be viewed here.
While the presentation by The Monrovia staff in their pirate gear is great, no amount of “song and grog” will change the fact that the winner is a holly. What are the outstanding attributes of this plant? Here is the description according to Monrovia. “Ahoy Maties! “X” marks the spot for this four foot, dense, Ilex Scallywag. This is your next garden treasure that is sure to bring in lots of loot. This will make all other dwarf hollies walk the plank. An exciting discovery, this attractive sport of Little Rascal® Holly is a more upright grower, still having a dense, rounded form. Shiny dark green foliage takes on attractive purple-burgundy tone in fall and winter. A wonderful foundation shrub with improved disease resistance. This male holly will not produce berries; use as a pollinator.” Yarrrr, a pollinator.
Scallywag Holly, Monrovia Growers
If “Scallywag Holly” doesn’t have you running to the local garden center, what will? How about a local grower who is crossing various heirloom tomatoes to get new varieties? Wild Boar Farms is “Located 40 miles North-East of Berkeley bordering Napa County to the East is the Suisun Valley which is located in Solano County”. Check out this page with pictures of all the new tomato varieties. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the future of garden diversity is in the hands of the amateur and small gardener. Wild Boar Farms currently sells to restaurants around The Bay Area. ”‘Wild Boar Farm’s Tomatoes are Beautiful and Flavorful. They’re Tomatoes You’ll Never Forget’. The Office and Staff of Alice Waters at Chez Panisse”. Wild Boar Farms is starting to sell their seedlings to smaller, local garden centers. Now that’s exciting!
From the pictures and description I cannot attest to how “exciting” Scallywag Holly is, nor have I tried any of the tomatoes from Wild Boar Farms. It just seems that the action in the gardening world is increasingly in the hands of the smaller operations who are not afraid to take chances, or have no other choice but to take chances. Look for the real exciting stuff in gardening to come from the smaller players in the corners, when you least expect it!
Mastery, and staying small
My friends in the horticultural businesses have two choices. One is to align yourselves with the increasingly boring world of mass merchants, plant trademark companies, and mega growers. The second option can seem lonely at first, but in my opinion is the way forward. That market is smaller, but is willing to pay for craftsmanship, and quality. Just as in the restaurant business, there are places like Long John Silvers and Red Lobster, and then there is a place like the one featured in this movie trailer. It’s about the world’s greatest sushi chef, 85-year-old Jiro Ono. Whether you are into sushi or not, the story is about “mastery” of your craft, and staying small.
The restaurant owned and operated by Jiro Ono is located in a subway station, and serves only sushi. No appetizers or side dishes, TV shows, or endorsements. Just a tiny ten seat restaurant, that you have to make reservations for a year in advance! If you have read this blog for any length of time you know I am found of saying, “small is cool”. I believe it’s the way forward for my small business, and perhaps yours. Jiro Ono and his restaurant are an example of what can be accomplished. Easy? No. Worthwhile? Yes.
“This is the most significant plant disease invasion into California in modern history”
Fruit on the Parent Navel Orange Tree that started the California citrus industry
California’s citrus industry accounts for $2 billion in revenue. You would think a disease that threatens the industry would get more attention, yet this is the first I have heard about it. According to Yahoo news, “state bug detectives fanned across…suburban Los Angeles neighborhood Monday, vacuuming backyard trees with bug catchers, setting traps and taking tissue samples from citrus in a frantic effort to stop the spread of a deadly disease detected there last week.”
According to the article, “the USDA confirmed on Friday what state agriculture officials had feared: Both a psyllid and the 8-foot, 8-year-old grafted lemon-pummelo tree where it was found March 22 in the Hacienda Heights suburb of Los Angeles County were infected with huanglongbing. The disease is ‘citrus greening’ which is transmitted by ‘an infected psyllid.’ A psyllid is an insect that when feeding on a citrus leaf can transmit the disease from one tree to another. ‘This is the most significant plant disease invasion into California in modern history,’ said Ted Batkin of the Citrus Research Board.”
Are you an organic gardener? State inspectors are fanning out across LA searching for the bug, and potentially infected tree’s. If you have a infected tree the state will, “spray the tree with the pesticide TEMPO, a pyrethroid-type insecticide that lasts up to 30 days.” Then they will remove the tree for destruction. “The state is asking the Office of Administrative Law for emergency authority ordering mandatory treatment all of the trees in the half-mile zone in an attempt to kill the psyllids and prevent the spread of the disease. County agriculture officials are working to educate homeowners by mailing out information prior to a community-wide meeting April 9″.
I remember the early 80′s living in The Bay Area, helicopters would fly over at night spraying Malathion in an attempt to eradicate The Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Ironically, the man who ordered the spraying then was Governor Jerry Brown, our current governor. Of course aerial spraying would be much more difficult to pull off in today’s environment. So for now state inspectors are walking door to door hanging traps and inspecting trees. “In one 15-minute span on Monday CDFA trappers using vacuum-like devices collected 25 Asian citrus psyllids from a single backyard tree in the target area.”
State historic site #20
I think this would be a great opportunity for garden centers, nurseries, and garden bloggers. Use the power of social media to inform, and help people understand the nature of this threat. With so much happening in the world stuff like this can “end up under the fold” so to speak. As the Yahoo article say’s, “the people of Los Angeles County need to realize how important this is. It’s so common to have citrus in residential backyards, and nobody wants to see widespread losses there.”
Here is a post I did awhile back on the original Washington Navel Orange Tree, which still lives in the middle of a busy thoroughfare in Riverside. That tree has sure seen a lot of changes in the 130 plus years of it’s existence.
The future of garden bio-diversity is in our hands
The future of garden bio-diversity rests in the hands of thousands of amateur gardeners. As the large concerns continue to hybridize and focus on the “best sellers”, other more unusual varieties are shut out, and potentially lost. It’s through the efforts of individuals, and the ability of The Internet to connect people that many varieties will be saved.
Photo, Seed Savers Exchange.
According to sfgate.com, “Moon & Stars” Watermelon “was introduced in 1926 by Peter Henderson and Company, the melon had disappeared from the commercial market for decades and was thought extinct when, in 1981…Kent Whealy, cofounder of Seed Savers Exchange, was contacted by Merle Van Doren of Macon, Mo., who was growing the melon and gave Whealy some of the seeds from the melons he grew. The Southern Exposure Seed Exchange re-introduced the oblong ‘Amish Moon & Stars’”.
The variety was thought extinct. The efforts of a couple of people saved the variety, which is now sold by many seed houses. What other varieties of fruit, vegetables, or flowers would be lost if not for the efforts of a few people? Now with the connective qualities of The Internet, we can share these rare seeds for future gardeners. It’s really quite exciting. The future of gardening is in the hands of individuals working together. I think it’s in good hands.
Pier 39 horticulture in good hands
Tulips, Iceland poppies, and parsley. Photo by "Far Out Flora"
Tulipmania has come and gone at Pier 39 in San Francisco. I had forgotten about the event it until reminded by a post at Far Out Flora last month. Every year this tourist hot spot on the bay puts together a fabulous flower display, with the focus on Tulips. The pier juts into the bay, so any planting is done in containers. Because the location near Fisherman’s Wharf, its often ignored by the locals looking to avoid the maddening crowds. It was fun to see Far Out Flora take the time to photograph this display. It’s beautiful and took me back 35 years to the start of my horticulture career.
Right out of high school I attended The College of San Mateo so as to take advantage of their fine horticulture program. It was there where I met Denise Dirickson, who at that time had recently been hired to care for the container gardens at the newly constructed Pier. We attended a horticulture class together, and I always wondered what had happened with Denise.
Through a Tweet from Pier 39 we found out that Denise was still in charge of the horticulture at The Pier after 35 years. During Tulipmania she gives tours of the plantings and according to the SF Examiner has her crew plant “39,000 bulbs from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Most of them are tulips but there are also others such as Narcissus.” During the rest of the year the many planters are always well tended, and filled with greenery and flowers.
Tulips, parsley, and primrose. Photo by "Far Out Flora."
Through their photographs and blog, Far Out Flora brings to life the beauty that Tulipmania is. That’s what the bulb industry needs, a fresh look at what is possible and not tired assumptions and stereotypes. I hope Denise knows her 35 years of work is appreciated by a whole new generation of gardeners. The idea that we are working in a trade that is declining in popularity can be frustrating, to say the least. All those years of working in the garden center or on the pier are actually paying off now with a whole new generation of gardening enthusiasts.
Here are more pictures of the event as well as some other SF novelties. Notice in the picture above how Denise used parsley as filler between the flowers. What a fantastic idea!
Guerilla Gardeners, “dig, drop, done, move on”
The Bulb
The bulb industry is wondering how to invigorate the bulb trade. As we have talked before, bulb sales are way down and the bulb trade is looking for ideas. The have tried the Dig, Drop, and Done campaign, which was panned by most garden centers, and customers. The three ladies who are suppose to represent three different demographics never hit the nerve they we’re suppose to.
Seems to me that bulbs would be a perfect match for the guerrilla gardening movement. Since the beauty of bulbs is revealed sometimes months after planting, it’s perfect for the delayed gratification that is guerrilla gardening. Guerrilla gardeners savor passing by a “target”, and watching the reactions from passerby’s. “Who planted these?” someone asks, as the guerrilla gardener smiles to themselves knowing they are responsible.
What if “guerrilla grafters” carried a cache of bulbs along with their grafting bud wood? After grafting their bud wood to the flowering pear tree they drop to the ground, all the while repeating the mantra they we’re taught, “Dig, Drop, Done, Move On”. Imagine the look of surprise on passerby’s when they see pears on formally barren trees, and bulbs sprouting from the soil. “Who did this?” people ask as our guerrilla gardener walks by the site, smiles knowingly, and continues down the street with her bag of recently purchased bulbs in hand. Where will she strike next?
This could be a whole series of fun escapades. Bulb growers, give me jingle if your interested.
Far Out!
Check out this cool blog from San Francisco, titled “Far Out Flora”. Megan And Matti write the blog from their home near Ocean Beach. The blog is a visual delight, filled with photographs of plants that grow in the frost free climate. Megan tells me that investing a few years ago in a decent SLR camera made a big difference in the quality of the photography. The colors really do jump out. It makes me want to use more photographs in my own blog.
What’s cool is the two work for different garden shops. Matti works for Flora Grubb Gardens while Megan works for Annie’s Annuals. Both garden centers know about, and encourage their blogging. Flora Grubb recently posted about Matti’s mounted staghorn ferns that are for sale at the shop. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.
It’s been cold and rainy here in Norcal the last few days. I think I’ll head over to their latest post titled, “Driftwood Insanity in the Sunset”. You’ll feel like you’re walking down The Great Highway on a sunny day, enjoying the show.
