The Nursery Business Is In A Mess…

I must first apologize for not sending out an issue last week.

It’s the first one I’ve missed. The Native Plants in the Landscape Conference took way too much of my time and there just wasn’t a moment for me to write.

That’s how it goes.

I missed one issue of the Weeding Gnome and the nursery industry fell apart. What?

That’s right…I said, “Fell apart.”

Some really big stuff is going down, in case you’ve been cut off from the World these last few weeks.

Did you see the Carolina Nurseries ad for the 5 million plants they are trying to auction June 24-26th?

Apparently, it’s a B.F.D., literally. A full-page ad was placed in both American Nurseryman and NM Pro. An ad with a gravestone announcing the death of Carolina Nurseries as we know it.

That’s what I would call a B.F.D.

This is one of the largest wholesale container nurseries in the U.S. and the founding partner of the Novalis Plants that Work™ program. I won’t go into the details, but they are trying to sell 5 million plants to pay back the bank for their line of credit that was pulled.

Apparently, Novalis will live on, but Carolina, as we know it is facing a sudden death overtime round that doesn’t look promising. My heart goes out to all of them, especially my good friend Linda Guy, whose husband J is one of the original partners in the nursery, as they trudge through this tragic mess.

And – as if that wasn’t enough for me to handle while I was directing the conference (with the surprise of no air conditioning and 90+ degrees in a room with 340 people) last week – I got a call from my good friend Jacques Ferare from The Conard-Pyle Co./Star Roses.

I knew something was up…

Apparently, The Conard-Pyle Co., where I wet my appetite for new plants and learned way more than I did in 5 years of college about growing, selling, selecting and marketing new plants, is also dead as we know it.

Here’s the difference – Conard-Pyle is merely changing directions, which has happened several times over the company’s 113 year existence.

“It has been an emotional decision,” Hutton says. “We’ve been doing this an awful long time and have great relationships with our customers and have great employees we’re not going to have room for because our new direction is less personnel intensive. I know it’s the right thing for the company, but it’s bittersweet because it means hurting people who mean the world to me.”

Going forward, the company will still be known as The Conard-Pyle Company and will be headquartered at the present location.

Its divisions will be:

• CP License, which develops new plant varieties, seeking patent and trademark protection, and growers and sublicenses them to third-party growers
• CP-Meilland Star Roses in California, which focuses mainly on proprietary rose genetics and distributes bare-root rose plants and brokers plugs and liners.

I loved this quote from Steve from an interview by Grower Talks’ Chris Beytes:

“The nursery business is in a mess,” the third-generation nurseryman stated frankly in a phone interview Thursday. “There’s too much of everything. There are too many plants, there are too many nurseries, too much breeding—even in my part of the business. Too many wholesalers. Even, in some cases, too many retailers. There’s too much of everything except consumers.”

According to interviewer Chris Beytes, “The other “mess” we face”, he says,“is the macro-economic mess, the recession, which as we all know is a global issue.”

“I’m firmly convinced that when we nursery folks get on the other side of these two messes, it’s going to be a different landscape entirely,” Steve continued. “You had better be very, very good at at least one thing—and probably only one thing. So we had to pick, and we’re going to use the time that these two messes have given us to transition from what we’ve been for the last 25 or 30 years into what we’re going to become.”

I’ve always admired Steve’s thoughtfulness and vision. I think he’s spot on with his thinking. I worked closely with Steve for many years and he taught me a lot.

I concur. There ARE too many plants, especially new ones. Who are we creating these new plants for?

That’s the million-dollar question.

There’s not much new construction right now and when people do build, they are not planting like they did before, to save money.

What are we going to do with all of the plants?

Perennials and anything with colorful foliage (shrubs, small trees, annuals, tropicals) are selling well, but landscape staples, which were the bread and butter for many nurseries are not moving.

I learned a whole heck of a lot last week at the native plants conference. My favorite saying had to be from Roy Diblik of Northwind Perennial Farms, who was lecturing on his new “Know Maintenance Approach”. Roy said, “In America, we select plants for Home Depot. In Germany, they select plants for the garden.”

Wow! Things that make you go hmmm, right?

It’s so true. Light bulbs were flashing in my head like crazy. What are we thinking?

He meant we select and grow plants in this country so they fit on the specified racks and look good on the shelves of the big box store. Big growers especially only want plants that fit on the racks. They only want plants that are in bloom. That means if I want to buy a purple coneflower (Echinacea sp.) in May, so I can get my perennials planted and established before it gets too hot and dry, I’m out of luck. That plant will most likely only be for sale in June and July, when it is blooming.

Isn’t that sad for gardeners? Why are we letting the big box stores dictate what is sold to customers?

Thank goodness there are still a few independent retailers out there who try to carry everything all season. But without reaching the masses, we won’t sell many plants. And you know where the masses shop – not independent retailers. They shop at Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes and the like.

Ever seen any good perennials at a big box in May or September? That’s the best time to plant perennials (at least in most of the non-tropical areas of the US), isn’t it? So, why are they telling consumers those plants don’t exist?

Apparently they think you can only plant creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) and cheddar pinks (Dianthus sp.) in the spring, right?

And only mums (Chrysanthemum sp.) and purple and orange leaved coral bells (Heuchera sp.) in the fall, right?

That’s all there is, right?

Not an aster in the place…never. Not an ornamental grass in fall color…never. No bluestar (Amsonia hubrectii), with it’s amazingly golden fall color on the shelves…never.

People who shop for plants only at big box stores will never meet a bluestar, just like the people who shop for food at Walmart will never see a kohlrabi, one of the coolest looking, kid friendly veggies out there.

That’s really sad. Don’t ya think?

I also learned that Americans have an obsession with mulch – especially the new dyed mulches. Oy, don’t get me started on dyed mulch – especially the red stuff. Mulch should be used when you first plant, to keep the weeds down (that is if it’s good, composted mulch, because dyed, chopped up palettes probably create more weeds) and retain moisture until the plants fill in the space and their leaf litter creates an even better mulch leaving you no reason to buy mulch again.

Imagine that.

It’s sad to think the local CVS Pharmacy is teaching Americans how to garden. Apparently, CVS thinks they need the red dyed mulch because it matches the color red in their sign. Apparently, they spent so much on mulching the massive parking lot beds that they could only afford one of everything too. One gold mop cypress, one dianthus, one – yes, I said one – variegated liriope.

Should I go on?

Who in their right mind thinks this is attractive? This is not gardening.

Roy also said, “Americans garden with mulch.”

“Haha!”, I said out loud. I seriously laughed out loud in the lecture hall. No one else did.

It’s true. People are obsessed with mulching. They mulch every year. They put down the landscaper recommended 3-4 inches on their entire garden every year. There’s no time for this mulch to breakdown, so they keep piling it on, year after year.

Have they ever been for a walk in the woods? Do they no understand the concept?

Mulch is no good unless it breaks down and decomposes, giving organic matter back to the earth. If it doesn’t decompose, it means nothing to the plants. You might as well use stone. At least you don’t have to put that on every year.

I also learned that we need to select, grow and sell differently and stop using so much mulch. Was that it?

Not really…

This all got me fired up and I truly think we need an industry makeover. We need to re-evaluate what the heck we are doing and ask ourselves why. Why are we letting the big box stores tell us what plants to grow and how to grow them?

Who are they?

For starters, they have the capability to sell a crap-load of plants. Right?

So, we need them, right? Do we? Or…try this on for a novel idea…do they need us?

They totally need us. Who will grow plants for them if all the big nurseries go out of business? Remember a few issues back I told you about Lowes and possibly Home Depot starting local grower networks to supply individual stores?

Could this be the way? Is this how we stay in business and reinvent ourselves?

I’m not sure I have the answer (yet), but this week’s happenings have fueled me to want to work with the industry I love to help it move forward in a profitable, sustainable way.

I would love to gather all the great minds in horticulture and meet to see what we can come up with. The one thing I think we all love about our industry is the willingness to work together to solve things and move forward. That doesn’t happen on Wall St. or in any other industry I know.

Can garden centers survive?

I think they can.

Can we teach consumers about plants and the proper way to garden…without red-dyed mulch? Imagine the day when big boxes and even some garden centers get a conscience and try to educate their customers.

Riddle me this…Do Farmer’s markets have a candy aisle to entice children?

Do health food stores, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods sell Coca-Cola?

Does the dentist give candy as a treat for young patients?

On the other hand…

Does McDonalds serve healthy, low calorie meals?

Do inner city convenience stores sell any beverage (besides water) that does NOT contain high fructose corn syrup?

Nope.

They sell to the masses. They don’t care if they kill people. Of course, the stupid people don’t have to eat the stuff, but I believe they don’t know any better. The masses buy a lot of small purchases that add up to a crap-load (can’t believe I’ve said that twice now…) of revenue.

But…

Are you going to tell me Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s aren’t making money? What about the only fast food place with a moral conscience, Chipotle?

Go ahead…tell me they aren’t profiting. That’s one of the hottest stocks on Wall St. Did you know that?

I have friends who have changed career paths simply because of their moral conscience. Successful, profitable nurseries who decide not to sell invasive plants – ever – no matter how many customers ask for them. They offer alternatives and educate their customers about the consequences of planting those invasives. What about garden centers who refuse to sell dracena spikes! I applaud them all!

But what are we going to do to fix the nursery industry so either not one more giant grower falls or we re-adjust, change course, and follow a bit in the footsteps of the Buy Fresh, Buy Local food campaigns?

Come back next week when I’ll desperately try to help and find the answers.

Until then…Happy Weeding and hooray for the World Cup!

Can there be World peace through Fútbol?

Angela Treadwell-Palmer
President, Plants Nouveau

P.S. If you haven’t heard about our newest coneflower from my favorite coneflower breeder, Arie Blom…let me tell you a bit about it. It’s a fantastically surprising new selection called ‘Raspberry Truffle’. I must say, when I fist saw this plant in the field, I was not impressed.

It was another pink double – or so I thought.

After having this plant in my trial garden, I really like it. It’s on the short size, reaching only to 22 inches in full bloom. The name is quite apropos for the blooms do remind one of a rich, chocolatey, raspberry treat. The ray petals are a saturated salmoney-pink and the centers begin in a most lovely dark chocolate hue and then open to reveal a double center the same color as the ray petals.

The stems are quite fuzzy and appear to be cloaked in deep, dark chocolate sauce. How yummy. This is a strong, sturdy plant with upward facing, long-lived blooms that hold up well in a vase or on the stem.

It’s certainly not just another double pink!