Pansy dig extends the season

Weidners’ Gardens, a retail and wholesale grower in Encinitas, Calif., makes the most of its outdoor production space while generating buzz among its customers.

For many years the company has produced field-grown begonias and hosted a Dig Your Own Begonia event. The dig is hugely popular, and the fields were typically empty by Labor Day. In 1992, Weidners’ decided to put the fallow begonia range to work by growing pansies for midwinter sales. An annual Pansy Dig has created just as much excitement among the company’s clientele.

Building anticipation

Weidners’ has a core group of regulars who eagerly anticipate the Pansy Dig. Promotional e-mails and media coverage help draw additional customers.

“We also make a deliberate effort to play on the pansy frenzy,” owner Evelyn Weidner said. “We plant and divide the field into mirror halves and open the first half on Nov. 1. A long plastic tape separates off the second half until the [following] weekend. This is a very important promotion contest.”

Customers begin to line up, trowels in hand, when the gates open at 8 a.m. As the 9 a.m. start time nears, participants snatch up boxes to collect the plants of their choice. Weidners’ collects hundreds of strawberry boxes from a local fruit stand to accommodate the crowd.

“At the opening bell we usually have 75 or more people ready to go,” Weidner said. “No one digs until everyone counts down and we ring the bell at 9 a.m. sharp.”

Weidners’ Ball Horticultural Co. rep, Miriam Levy, is always on hand for opening day and the following weekend when the store hosts a pansy festival. Levy makes notes on what varieties are best-sellers to prepare for the following year’s orders.

Weidners’ typically sells 7,000-8,000 pansies during the first week or 10 days after the dig. The plants are priced on a sliding scale: $1.35 each for 1-12 pansies, $1.25 for 13-24, $1.15 for 25-49, 99 cents for 50-99 and 100 or more go for 89 cents each.

As the season wanes and some varieties are sold out, customers can get the No-Whiners Price. The store will lower the price as long as customers don’t whine or complain in any way.

“Of course, no one does and they get a good laugh and we don’t have to hear, ‘You don’t have any more of the yellow whiskers’ or whatever we’re out of,” Weidner said.

Quality plants

Customers clearly dig the excitement surrounding the event. But it’s the high-quality plants that keep them coming back each year.

“Pansies that are field grown really do develop huge root systems and transplant easily,” Weidner said. “They grow better in the home garden because the roots and the growth have never been checked by the pot edges.”

Customers also love the soil the plants are grown in. Weidners’ allows customers to take plenty of the surrounding soil as they unearth the pansies. The company regularly consults a soil and plant lab to get recommendations on amendments and fertilizers. Weidners’ adds large amounts of sawdust to the soil every few years, resulting in more-robust plants.

For more: Weidners’ Gardens, (760) 436-2194; www.weidners.com.

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- Sarah Martinez

June 2008