A purveyor of peculiar plants

If you asked Jared Hughes 10 years ago what he was going to do when he grew up, he might have said he was going to be a science teacher or a landscape designer. He’s always been a nature lover, and has “really evolved into a plant nerd through and through” over the years. Hughes also enjoys art and traveling, both hobbies that go hand-in-hand with his unique and unusual plants business; some could say the plants themselves are works of art, and Hughes has found many interesting plant varieties while on the road.

Through his full-time job as retail manager at Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse in Delaware, Ohio, participation in AmericanHort’s retail committee, and his own growing operation, Groovy Plants Ranch, he strives to communicate the relevance that plants have in our lives. “Plants really do enhance our lives in ways that we don’t always perceive,” Hughes says. “My goal as an individual [is to] keep educating people about plants… and build that excitement about plants to people who maybe didn’t know that they could be so excited about plants.”

Groovy Plants Ranch has been in operation since 2009, although previously under a different name. “I remember a few years ago I thought to myself I’d love to be a wholesaler of cool plants,” Hughes says. “Then a couple of years ago I woke up one morning and realized I’ve been doing it.” Over the years, Hughes has grown the business slowly, but steadily, and has avoided taking out any loans in the process, a move that he says “puts us 10 years ahead.” He’s been careful not to grow too fast or too big in order to maintain the freedom to choose how and what he grows. “I don’t want to ever get so big that I can’t grow what I want to grow,” Hughes says.

Hughes grows well over 100 different varieties of tender succulents, 30 varieties of cold hardy cacti, perennials and a limited quantity of quart-sized or larger annuals in his three Quonset huts in Cardington, Ohio, about 35 miles north of Columbus. This year, Groovy Plants Ranch produced 25,000 4-inch pots of succulents, 2,500 cacti and 10,000 perennials. “We had trouble just keeping up with the local demand,” Hughes says. However, as soon as he ships out an order, Hughes replaces it with fresh plants. “I’m doing most of my own propagation,” Hughes says. “I can quickly stick the cuttings in some pots and try to keep the greenhouses full as long as I can until it’s time to really liquidate.”
 

One-of-a-kind selection and quality

Groovy Plants Ranch stands alone in its product selection, Hughes says. Garden centers could choose to order in similar products from out of state, but they would have to use multiple vendors. “I have the variety in a one-stop-shop,” he says. “You could probably get close to what I do but you’d have to order through five or six different vendors and then there will still be items that I have that no one else will.” As a small, local company, Hughes is able to load up his trailer with his top products for the week and take them directly to his wholesale customers, offering them the opportunity to customize their order.

“Most garden centers operate on a 20/80 rule where 20 percent is the ‘play’ stuff and 80 percent is your bread and butter,” Hughes says. That is, about 20 percent of their stock is made up of novelties rather than the remaining 80 percent, which is made up of standards like petunias and calibrachoa.

Hughes aims to provide garden centers with that unique, premium addition to their stock. “For garden centers, it’s easy to get sucked into that 80 percent, especially when you’re doing your ordering,” he says. “But if a guy shows up with a truck full of cool [plants], it’s not hard to get your 20 percent right then. That’s what I offer.” Hughes admits that this model may change as the business grows and evolves, but for right now it’s working well. “I’m still very much a small company and a niche nursery,” he says.

This year was the first year of online sales for the company. “I wouldn’t say it was a hugely successful online sales year, but it was our first,” Hughes says. “And it definitely showed that the market is there and wants it. It’s an easy way to sell unique plants and get top dollar for them.” Hughes’ wife, Liz, is in charge of this division of Groovy Plants Ranch.
 

Why so many succulents?

Succulents make up the majority of the Groovy Plants Ranch line-up, and that’s no coincidence. In addition to being low-maintenance and therefore more feasible for Hughes to grow in his spare time, succulents are very popular in the consumer market right now. People want a plant that won’t die when they go on vacation and doesn’t need much to thrive. Water concerns have also nudged both consumers and growers toward plants that aren’t water-hungry.

From a grower perspective, they require “very little fertilizer and insecticide,” Hughes says. “You can keep [succulents] cool and dry. They’re a very earth-friendly [crop].” Propagation is also easier with many succulents. “The beauty of succulents is that most of them are not trademarked, especially when you’re hunting down these rare species,” Hughes says. “Obviously, anything that’s trademarked I’ll order in. We order in [about] 20 percent and the other 80 we can propagate ourselves.” Doing most of his own propagation means not only a cost-savings, but also helps Hughes to maintain a fresh, unique selection of plant material in his portfolio.
 

No stranger to hard work

Hughes’ “superb metabolism” comes in handy during the busiest times of the year. A typical work week might be putting in one or two days at Groovy Plants Ranch and five days at Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse Co., Hughes says. During peak times for the garden center, he may work every day at Foertmeyer and spend evenings at his greenhouses. A typical spring day for Hughes begins at 5:30 a.m. when he wakes up to go water his greenhouse plants before putting in a 12-hour day at Foertmeyer. He gets back home and works in his greenhouses until 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. to pull orders or trim plants.

“Basically I’m running a company and I’m working for a company at the same time. I understand that [schedules are] going to fluctuate and that it may be grueling for a short spell, but I enjoy that,” Hughes says. “I know it will be over [soon] so I don’t get burned out as easily as I used to. It’s making hay while the sun shines. I really try to stick to that in my head and not go crazy working ridiculous hours.”
 

More than a plant nerd

Hughes’ main customers are larger garden centers in Ohio, but business is growing at a pace that he’s considering bringing on more customers. His extensive retail background has come in handy during pitches to potential customers. “I think being in retail so long probably has given me that edge where I’m not just the plant nerd who’s stuck in the greenhouse all the time,” Hughes says. “I can pitch a product just like any salesperson. And the product speaks for itself too. I try not to ship anything out that I’m not 100 percent sure I’d pay for myself.”
 

Looking forward

The future is full of possibilities for Hughes. He has no plans to leave his retail position at Foertmeyer & Sons and would like to explore taking on a greater leadership role within his community and the industry as a whole. A sentiment shared by many in the industry, Hughes would like to see more young people getting into the industry, something he doesn’t think is unreasonable because he sees plenty of young people gardening. “You watch any of these gardening programs on TV, there’s all kinds of 20-somethings that are growing their organic vegetable gardens,” he says. “They’re out there, but they’re all doing this outside of the net of the [horticulture] industry as a whole.”

On a personal level, Hughes sees a lot of potential for himself as a grower. “I know the next 20 years are going to be really good,” he says. “You can’t 3-D print a plant. You can’t order a plant from China.

It’s still the one made-in-America thing that we have and I don’t see that going away.”

While Groovy Plants Ranch is thriving in its niche market now, he’s open to changing with the times. “I try to pay attention to trends and take advantage of those niche markets, so I really can’t say in 10 years what I’ll be growing,” he says. “Obviously I’m always going to stick to the things I want to grow, but I’m also going to take advantage of opportunity where there is opportunity. What I would like to do is continually bring unique and unusual plants to the public, so I’m going to be learning more and more about the fringe edges of botany in order to bring those to people.”