Looking forward to Spring

Growers have indicated a reserved optimism in regards to the upcoming spring season. Some are expecting sales to hold steady and would be satisfied to match their sales numbers from 2009. If the weather cooperates, most feel the sales will come.

Exceeding expectations
Tara Tischauser and the staff at Guthrie Greenhouse in Guthrie, Okla., are hoping this spring is a repeat of last year.
 
“It was our best spring ever,” Tischauser said. “Our sales were up 10 percent from the previous year. We think consumer confidence is starting to grow again so we are looking forward to a really great spring.”
 
Part of the reason for the optimistic outlook is the wholesale grower continues to fine tune its production.
 
“We change our production so that we are exactly matching what is being asked for,” she said. “We go to the Ohio Short Course to see what’s new so that we are able to add a few new varieties. If we try something and it does well for us then we add it into our program.”
 
Another reason for the company’s success is its customer service.
 
“We can usually turn around most orders in a day. In the spring we are here late so we’ll take orders up to 6-7 p.m. and sometimes it’s even later than that. We’re here until between 10 and midnight in the spring. Our turn-around is quick and our customers really appreciate that.”
 
Since Guthrie Greenhouses sells to independent garden centers, farm and home stores and regional family-owned chains, minimum orders are two carts. And customers can mix their orders. Product is shipped from the 9-acre greenhouse operation to customers within a 300-mile radius covering a five state area (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri).
 
One area where Guthrie has seen an increase in sales is with vegetable plants. Last year the company increased its vegetable production by 50 percent from the previous year and still sold out early. Production will increase another 25 percent this year.
 
For more: Guthrie Greenhouses, (800) 749-4301; www.reddirtplants.com.

The value of plants
Danny Takao of Takao Nursery in Fresno, Calif., said the growers in his state aren’t expecting to make any major gains in sales this year. He said the economy is still in bad shape and the housing market is still trying to recover.
 
“Those growers who have survived are not expecting sales to pick up until 2011 and 2012,” Takao said. “Right now growers are trying to hold their own. If a grower could get a 5 percent sales increase that would be considered good right now.”
 
Takao said the slow housing market has had the biggest impact on growers of trees and shrubs.
 
“The bedding plant growers have fared better because they can react relatively quickly to market demand,” he said. “
"Their price points haven’t been great, but they have had decent sell through.”

Because of water availability and the increasing focus on water conservation, Takao said the turf industry is going through a major changeover.
 
“More of the turf companies are doing native type grasses, such as buffalo grass, he said. “I expect that people are going to start using less turf because of the costs associated with fertilizer, maintenance and water. More sod companies are starting to promote native grass mixes.”
 
Takao is less worried about the attention being paid to water than the inattention being paid to plants.
 
“The biggest impact on our industry is whether people find value in using plants,” he said. “My main concern is whether people will want yards with no plants or very few plants at all.”
 
Takao, who operates 125,000 square feet of greenhouses, propagates rooted liners of more than 900 varieties. His product is shipped to growers nationwide.
 
For more: Takao Nursery, (559) 275-3844; www.takaonursery.com.

Freeze has minor impact
Terri Cantwell at Bates Sons & Daughters and Capital Caladiums in Lake Placid, Fla., said the freezing temperatures that occurred in January only had a minor affect on caladium bulb availability. 
 
Cantwell, with her sister Sheri Bates, operates 125 acres of field production and 17,000 square feet of greenhouses used for prefinished potted plants. Cantwell said this year’s bulb orders are about the same as last year. She said the orders came in late last year and this year is shaping up to be a repeat.
 
Capital Caladiums, which produces prefinished caladiums for growers and retailers, produces about 500,000 pots ranging in size from 4- to 12-inches.
 
“All of the pots are prebooked. I only pot to order, there is no speculation,” Cantwell said. “I have to book everything ahead of time. Here in Florida it’s not a prefinished caladium for very long because we can’t control the heat.”
 
For more: Bates Sons & Daughters/Capital Caladiums, (863) 465-3274; www.caladiumsonline.com.

Building relationships
Lisa Graf of Graf Growers, a retail grower in Akron, Ohio, is optimistic about the spring season. In January and February, her company hosted a series of consumer-based Winter Gardening seminars which focused on container gardening. On the seminar evaluations, Graf discovered her attendees were both excited about and impatient for the season to begin. They want to spend more time at home and in the garden. She intends to see they have every resource they need to succeed.
 
“We want to be better business people and make better decisions,” Graf said of the economic challenges they’ve been facing. “Part of that is helping our customers learn how to better spend their discretionary income and to feel good about it. We want to build relationships and trust.”
 
Graf spent much of the winter training her staff to convey that to customers, along with accurate information on everything from plant material to companion products. She is determined to foster gardeners as passionate and knowledgeable about the industry as she is.
 
“We adapted our product mix to suit the our customer’s  needs and buying patterns,” Graf said. “We increased our farm and vegetable selection and reduced inventory in some higher-end SKUs.”
 
For more: Graf’s Growers, (330) 836-2727; www.grafgrowers.com.

Back to basics
Scott Longfellow at Longfellow’s Greenhouse in Manchester, Maine, believes the United States as a whole will see an economic improvement in 2010.
 
“2009 showed some growth and I think that trend will continue into 2010,” Longfellow said.
 
He expects a slight increase in sales because he feels there will be a lot of buying in categories that are solid and dependable. He believes there will be an upswing in more back-to-basics items and less spending on extravagances.
 
“Despite the tough economic times, our industry is safe,” he said. “People will stay home and find inexpensive ways like gardening to entertain themselves.” He pointed to a 4 percent increase in retail sales to finish 2009 as evidence.
 
The company produces annuals, vegetables, herbs, perennials and hanging baskets in 2 acres of greenhouse space. An additional 2 acres of outdoor area is used to produce annuals in the summer and fall crops of mums, pansies asters and ornamental kale and cabbage.
 
Longfellow’s is a wholesale grower and retail garden center. While the company sells to landscapers, Longfellow said this segment of the market is currently not buying and he expects to see at least a 5 percent decrease in landscaper sales.
 
For more: Longfellow’s Greenhouses, (207) 622-5965; www.longfellowsgreenhouses.com

Ready for spring
Mary Beth Honeycutt of Honeycutt’s Greenhouse, a retail growing operation in Girard, Pa., is ready for the spring and so are her customers.
 
In 2009, sales were good but she noticed that customers were not buying as much as in previous years. She expects the same for 2010, but is hopeful the trend of putting in vegetable gardens and gardeners staying at home will help to increase sales. She said if her company can match last year’s numbers, she will consider it a good year.
 
One major product line is combination hanging baskets. Last year the company produced 1,600 10-, 12- and 14-inch baskets in a variety of combinations. They expect to increase the number of baskets slightly in 2010. 
 
Combination planters also do well. “We sold more in 2009 than ever before, about 150 planters,” she said. “We are going to try to increase the number of combination planters we offer in 2010.”
 
With about 14,000 square feet of greenhouse space, Honeycutt’s focuses on annuals, vegetables, herbs, hanging baskets and, new for 2010, perennials. 
 
For more: Honeycutt’s Greenhouse, (814) 474-2868.