As owners and managers began the wind-down to the hot summer season when customer count dwindles, many were thinking the same thing as they gazed at the sales yard: Why do we still have so much inventory?

This is a common — and correct — reaction. But before you determine your garden center has too much inventory, let’s first take a look at the possible causes. Several things, big and small, assisted in this gradual buildup.

High Sales Masks High Inventory

The 1990s and early 2000s were an era of increasing revenues. It was easy for garden retailers to, as the popular phrase goes, set ’em down and let the customers pick ’em up. And pick them up they did, with increasing annual customer counts and increased revenue each year.

It wasn’t difficult for Owners/Managers/Buyers to argue that the sales yard and building had to be full all the time or the customer would go elsewhere.

This was an easy route to take due to one of our most reliable retail ratios (margin percentage) lying, telling us our margins were increasing during this period, while the truth was that the higher ending inventory was falsely inflating the attained margin in the Cost of Goods Sold formula. So margins were good, while the customers were not picking up as many as centers sat down. Inventory accumulated.

Garden centers floated along for years, relying on margin data to show they were holding their own in margin, while profit remained stable or slightly declined.

Profit decline was not enough to throw up red flags, although it should have, and so little was done to combat increasing/aging inventory.

Then came 2008. The lack of a solid buying budget or plan was evident as the dark cloud on the horizon did little to curb excess buying. While the majority of lawn and garden retailers began cutting inventory, garden centers continued to buy as if the boom was still on. Or if they did cut back, they cut back in areas that were actually prospering and overbought in favorite areas that were sacred cows to their center.

As the economic crunch deepened, the inventory situation worsened. Now it was easy to see the effect of excess inventory. Revenues continued to decline, while operating and Wage & Wage Beneifts expenses — AKA, the carrying cost of inventory — increased in order to care for the same or more inventory. This imbalance showed up on the profit line and began a slide in equity on the balance sheet. Less profit usually translates into less wealth.

How To Know If You Have Too Much

Let’s examine a few methods that will give you a glimpse into your inventory situation.

1. Simply look around. The first step is pretty easy — just look around and use the seat-of-the-pants approach described at the beginning of this article. If the warehouse and sales yard are full of inventory, sales are declining, customer count is dwindling, labor costs for maintaining the inventory are high and you are faced with holding that inventory for another six months to a year before selling it, you’ve got a problem.

Even if you think you don’t have an over-inventoried issue, move on to the next steps and know for sure.

2. Do a simple check of past inventory levels. Begin by charting your annual beginning and ending inventory at cost for the past 10 years. It’s easy to do if your accounting systems are set up properly.

3. Apply an easy formula. In order to determine if inventory values affected your attained margin, subtract beginning inventory from ending inventory and divide that number by revenue:

(Ending Inventory – Beginning Inventory) ÷ Revenue.

A positive number shows how much your inventory overstates your attained margin. An increase in ending inventory is justified only if the amount of increase is in scale to revenues rising. And, of course, if your inventory is already under control.

If the number is negative, that’s the decrease in attained margin due to a lower ending inventory. And when you think about that, it makes sense due to the nature of lowering inventory — sale events, drastic reductions or just plain throwing away inventory. Reducing ending inventory is usually a good sign if you are over-inventoried, but it will only occur for the first two to three years after inventory control is initiated.

4. Create a stock-to-sales ratio. The next step is the most eye-opening. This method involves calculating and charting the stock-to-sales ratio, a ratio you probably have not heard of. So before you begin that process you will need to know how to calculate it and what the resulting value means.

The stock-to-sales ratio is the relationship between the amount of inventory on hand vs. the amount of inventory sold — both at cost. In other words, how much you sold while you had goods in stock.

Retail wisdom says a retailer should have an annual ratio of 2.5 or lower. Note I said annual, since the ebb and flow of revenue and inventory will move that ratio around significantly on a monthly basis. For example, monthly values for an annual 2.5 stock-to-sales ratio might range from 0.7 to 9.0. Also note that the ratio usually does not dip below a 1 to 1 ratio, unless the inventory moves in and out very fast.

Examine Inventory By Product Category, Not Department

My recommendation is to calculate the annual stock-to-sales ratio on a category basis. A total store stock-to-sales ratio lacks the detail needed if you identify a problem, and most of you will have one.

Even a department value lacks the detail of a category measurement. A category stock-to-sales ratio will be a huge determining indicator of a problem, but will also tell you where to concentrate your efforts for improvement — or elimination.

To calculate the category stock-to-sales ratio, construct a spreadsheet in which you input 12 month’s values for both inventory sold at cost and the amount of inventory on hand at cost.

The date range can be a calendar year or any 12-month period. I prefer to use the last 12 months that includes the busy spring season and allows for planning the next 12 months.

Sum both rows or columns and divide that value for the amount of inventory on hand by the amount of inventory sold. The formula will look like: (12 Months Of Inventory On Hand At Cost) ÷ (12 Months Of Inventory Sold At Cost). The resulting value is the stock-to-sales ratio.

The 2.5 ratio is a beginning point for determining good or not-so-good performance. Take this one step further and construct a chart in your spreadsheet graphically showing the relationship between the numbers. If your stock-to-sales ratio is high, the chart will look something like this:

Here, the annual stock-to-sales ratio is 9.4. At a glance, you see a large amount of inventory is on hand even when revenues are not being generated (and there’s no need for inventory).

As I said, this is a great tool to use with owners and staff as it graphically shows the inequity of revenue to inventory. Although the category here is hardgoods, it could be plants or goods of any type.

Compare that chart to the same category that has been managed much more efficiently. The inflow and outflow of inventory matches the revenue curve by season. Of particular note is the amount of inventory on hand, $160,000 maximum compared to $400,000 in the previous example — with the same revenue.

In this case, the stock-to-sales ratio is 2.4, with inventory peaking at or slightly before the revenue peak, declining in-between seasons and minimal at the end of the year measured. Also, at no time is the garden center totally out of inventory since new inventory is arriving for the next season, while the inventory from the current season is declining.

As good as your stock-to-sales ratio is, it can be better. Begin with tying in inventory turns and margins to measure and improve total inventory performance. We’ll bring in those steps in the next two issues. Now, get out there and start plotting what you would do if all of the value of your inventory on hand were in the bank instead of being moved, dusted and watered!

How can you detect early that you hired the right person? Or how do you hire the right people?
— Tom Oswald, JAM’n Designs, Atlanta, Ga.

Advice from Ned Wilson, Wilson’s Garden Center, Newark, Ohio

At Wilson’s Garden Center, we have been hiring people off and on for the last 40 years, usually for spring seasonal positions. You usually know within a month whether that person will be a good fit for your company.

It is so much more satisfying (and efficient) to hire the right person to begin with, than to sever the relationship with an employee who is not working out. No one gets it right 100 percent of the time, but we have developed this process over the years.

Start With A Large Application Pool

Depending on the position, we advertise for people in our store, on our website, on Facebook and on our sign out front. The local internet job sites often will pick up this information and post it to their sites. We generally don’t lack for applicants through this process, and it doesn’t cost us anything.

Start Observing Right Away

We require prospects to come in and physically fill out the form to avoid other people filling in their information and to give the applicants additional information about the jobs. It also allows us to observe them in how they follow instructions and how polite they are to the people in the office. This acts as an initial qualifier in the hiring process.

We have each one read and sign a “What It Takes To Be A Wilson Employee” with our basic standards on it.

Allow Them To Reveal Themselves

We select from the applications those that have the best qualifications from the answers given. We call these people in for interviews. Their promptness and demeanor at the interview are very important. We ask all of the applicants the same legal open-ended questions, and then keep quiet to allow each one to express themselves and not guide their answers. Each person is actually interviewed at least twice, once by the personnel manager (my wife, Mitzie) and then by the area leader(s) with whom they will be working.

We also have a short written test and a task to perform in the area where they are applying. After all of the interviews, the two interviewers get together to evaluate the people they interviewed. This process allows different viewpoints to mesh together and allows them to pick the ones most qualified. If the references are good, then these people are called to be hired.

Keep Watching During Training

During an orientation time, we go over company policy and our culture. We team people with the area leaders so that they start off properly. The new employees are given training cards that have information about each job task that they are to perform so they know what is our standard for that particular job.

Once they believe they have mastered a specific task then they are reviewed by a mentor who approves them on their competence with that task. They go to the next card and work on that one to master it.

We make sure that the employee feels welcome and integrates with other employees soon after they are hired. There are many different ways to hire people, but this is the one that works for us.

Have A Problem You Can’t Solve?

If you have advice for this problem or would like input on your own challenge, let us know about it in the comments or eMail clmiller@meistermedia.com.

When it comes to speeding up or slowing down crops, temperature is the primary factor driving the rate of growth and development of greenhouse crops. Understanding how different species respond to temperatures can help greenhouse growers increase cropping efficiency.

In the past, we have reported on how cultivars, hydroponic systems, planting density, nutrient solutions, and light affect the growth and development of hydroponically produced basil. For this final article in our four-part series focusing on basil production, we would like to discuss how air temperature influences basil growth.

Four Basil Cultivars Evaluated

We grew seedlings of ‘Nufar’ sweet basil, ‘Holy’ basil, and ‘Sweet Dani’ and ‘Lime’ lemon basil in 288-cell plug trays filled with germination mix. Three weeks after sowing seeds, seedlings were transplanted into 4-inch plastic containers filled with a commercial soilless substrate comprised of peat and perlite. After transplanting, 10 plants of each cultivar were placed into one of five environmental growth chambers maintained at 52°F, 63°F, 73°F, 84°F, or 95°F.

Plants were fertilized thoroughly once per week with a solution containing 200 ppm nitrogen from a 15-5-15 fertilizer containing micronutrients. In between fertilizations, plants were irrigated with clear water without leaching. Fluorescent lights inside of the growth chamber provided light for 16 hours per day. Three weeks after transplanting, we counted the number of plants with flowers and measured height, node, and branch number. Additionally, we measured fresh and dry mass of the basil shoots.

Increasing Air Temperature Enhances Basil Growth

The rate of growth, or increase in weight, increased as temperature increased for all four of the basil cultivars used in our study. For example, at the end of the experiment, sweet basil grown at 84°F weighed an ounce more than plants grown at 52°F. Similarly, the rate of increase in fresh mass for sweet basil increased by 0.05 ounces per day as temperature increased from 52°F to 84°F. All the cultivars had a similar response to sweet basil, with growth increasing as temperature increased. However, for all cultivars, both the final weight and rate (ounces per day) decreased as temperatures went from 84°F to 95°F.

While not of primary interest to herb producers, we did notice some variation in flowering across the different basil cultivars. Sweet basil did not flower in our experiment in any of the temperature treatments. Holy basil and ‘Lime’ lemon basil were flowering by the end of the study in some, but not all, of the temperature treatments. There was little to no sign of flowering at 52°F, and we attribute this to slow development rates due to low temperatures. As temperatures increased, flowering increased to nearly 100% at 73°F and 84°F. As temperature increased above 85°F, we saw delayed or no flowering (see Figure 1) as a result of heat delay.

Plant height was also affected by temperature. The height for all four cultivars increased with temperature up to 84°F. Plants grown at 95°F were slightly shorter. There are two different factors that contribute to the change in height — node number and internode length. As temperatures increase, more nodes are formed, therefore increasing plant height. In addition to recording height and node number, we also calculated internode length. Internode length increased as temperature increased from 52°F to 73°F or 84°F, depending on the cultivar.

Keep Basil Warm

How can our results help with your production? First, for all of the basil cultivars utilized in our study, plant growth (weight) and height increased with temperature in a linear relationship between 52°F to 84°F. This linear relationship means that the effect of changing the average daily air temperature should result in predictable effects on growth, as long as the temperatures remain in the linear range.

Another clear result of our study is that basil grows well at warm temperatures. As temperature increased from 84°F to 95°F, growth started to decline, though not severely. Although greenhouse producers will likely not increase their temperatures to the warmer temperatures used in our study during the late fall, winter, and early spring (the heating season), our results support the potential for increasing basil production during the summer months, when warm greenhouse temperatures may diminish the growth of some crops — but not basil.

On the other end of the temperature spectrum, avoid low temperatures when growing basil. First, the growth of all four cultivars used in this study was minimal at 52°F. At low temperatures, the slow growth would increase crop time and reduce profitability due to increased production time. Additionally, plants were stressed, and with some plants, there was visible damage from the cold temperatures, which would decrease yields.

Page 2 – Take-Home Messages For Basil Production

“Through the Farm Bill, we are working with our partners and stakeholders to not only ensure the global competitiveness of our specialty crop producers, but to fight back against the destruction caused by invasive pests,” Vilsack says. “The projects and centers funded through this effort are helping to develop and put in place the strategies, methods, and treatments that safeguard our crops, plants, and natural resources from invasive threats.”

AmericanHort welcomed the USDA funding announcement.

“For many years, the Farm Bill has been about row crops and livestock, but a decade ago, Congress began to acknowledge the importance of specialty crops and horticulture in America,” says Craig Regelbrugge, AmericanHort Senior Vice President For Advocacy And Research. “Specialty crops represent half the value of all U.S. crop production, and our industry represents one-third of the total value of specialty crops. This program represents a wise investment in solutions to enable future success.”

Some of the funded projects that are especially important to the industry and organizations like AmericanHort and its research affiliate, the Horticultural Research Institute, include:
• The Horticultural Research Institute will receive $149,500 to support the continued development of the Systems Approach to Nursery Certification (SANC) project, in partnership with the National Plant Board and USDA. Eight nursery and greenhouse operations across the country are currently piloting this new approach to plant production and certification
• Continued funding for the National Ornamentals Research Site at Dominican University of California (NORS-DUC), $509,283, as well as several specific research projects that will deliver needed tools and information to deal with threats such as Phytophthora ramorum and other challenges confronting the nursery sector
• Numerous projects around the country in support of clean stock and harmonized certification programs for pome and stone fruit, citrus, grapes, berries, and roses; supporting the safe importation of new varieties; and orderly trade in planting stock for these high-value crops
• Several coordinated projects to address ongoing regulatory and production challenges associated with boxwood blight and downy mildew
• Granular insecticide treatment efficacy work for Japanese beetle and imported fire ant in compost-amended substrates
• Best management practices for control of bacterial gall, an emerging threat to Loropetalum, for $39,600.

“USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is a strategic partner in protecting our industry and facilitating trade, and today’s announcement is full of good news for our industry,” Regelbrugge says. “We appreciate all the hard work on the part of USDA and the APHIS Farm Bill management team toward ensuring these funds are invested wisely on behalf of American agriculture and horticulture.”

Since the 2014 Farm Bill was enacted, APHIS has funded more than 1,200 projects that have played a significant role in protecting American agriculture. Collectively, these projects make it possible to quickly detect and rapidly respond to invasive pests. They also help to maintain the infrastructure necessary for making sure that disease-free, certified planting materials are available to U.S. specialty crop producers.

More and more operations are using biological control against some of the toughest insect and mite pests. The driving force behind the trend is the need to combat difficult-to-control pest problems in order to produce sellable products.

The decision to reduce or eliminate the use of neonicotinoids and other pesticides also increases the appeal of biological control as a viable solution for pests, particularly aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs.

Growers who endeavor to start a biological control program learn quickly that there is no cookie-cutter approach to success. Each program varies, depending on the pest, pest pressure, plants and cultivars, microclimates, and production practices. The combination of various factors sometimes necessitates individualized programs for different greenhouses in the same operation.

Single Out The Best Quality Biologicals For The Job

As with any other pest management program, all biological control programs start with proper pest identification, determination of pest pressure, and recognition of your tolerance level for the infestation and damage. Understanding the microclimates, and the production practices that create the microclimates, is also important. The combination of pest identification and production specifications help you communicate with suppliers and select the best biological control agents for the job.

Watch for quality of the beneficials and contact the supplier immediately if the beneficials did not survive well or behave abnormally upon arrival. It pays to use suppliers who are willing to work with you and guide you through the process. It is likely that you will have to work with several suppliers to develop a comprehensive biological control program that incorporates different products. It is also probable that you will have to make several changes, or have many thoughts of giving up, before settling on a tried-and-true approach, so be flexible and patient.

Many operations that use biological controls preventively have been successful in producing quality products while maintaining low chemical inputs. When an outbreak occurs, either because a pest species cannot be controlled by the existing biological control program or the pest pressure is too high for beneficials to control effectively, a grower may have to fall back onto conventional pesticides. A grower may also need pesticide applications if he or she wants to reduce pest density before releasing or applying beneficials.

Limit Beneficials’ Exposure To Non-Compatible Pesticides

Pesticides are created to kill or suppress living organisms, be it an insect, mite, fungus, weed, nematode, or beneficial bug. They can have direct and indirect effects on beneficials. Direct effects include acute or residual toxicity or mortality when the beneficials are exposed to a lethal dose, or longer-term reduction in efficiency, fecundity, foraging behavior, or progeny survival when the beneficials are exposed to a sublethal residue on the plant surface or in the consumed host or prey.

Direct effects are of greater concern to the practitioners of biological control in floriculture. In the case of managing two-spotted spider mite, the concerns are usually expressed as:
• Can I apply Sultan (as an example) to control two-spotted spider mite without ruining my Phytoseiulus persimilis program?
• I use Amblyseius swirskii to control western flower thrips, but I found an infestation of two-spotted spider mite. Can I use Sultan to control the two-spotted spider mite without impacting A. swirskii?
• Can I use Sultan to reduce two-spotted spider mite density before releasing P. persimilis?; If I am going to use Sultan, how long do I have to wait before I can safely release P. persimilis or A. swirskii again?

Keep Up-To-Date On Ongoing Research That Addresses Compatibility Issues

Research projects in various crop systems are attempting to answer these and related questions. Roberto Lopez, Assistant Professor and Extension Floriculture Specialist at Purdue University, and colleagues reported that fenpyroximate, even at 0.125 times the label rate for outdoor bell pepper production in Florida (equivalent to 13.3 fluid ounces/100 gallons of Akari 5SC), could reduce the numbers of adult A. swirskii by about 30% and the numbers of eggs produced by about 45% within 24 hours of application. The toxicity, however, reduced as the residue aged and the application rate was reduced.

Countless similar research projects are being conducted on various combinations of pest species, beneficial species, active ingredients, residue concentrations, and residue times. Pesticide manufacturers routinely test for the compatibility of their products as part of the product evaluation process. A BASF-sponsored study to assess the acute and residual impacts of Sultan on the survival and reproduction of A. swirskii and P. persimilis is on-going in the greenhouses at University of Florida (Lance Osborne), University of California (Jim Bethke), and Clemson University (J.C. Chong).

Proceed With Caution When Applying Pesticides

Pesticides are typically listed based on their toxicities or the mortality of beneficials when in direct contact with the pesticides or their residues. When a pesticide application is needed, always use the most compatible product. It is important to recognize that these databases are not complete. It is likely that a specific beneficial-pesticide combination may not be listed in the database. In that case, consult with your suppliers and always err on the side of caution.

There are quite a few approaches to this. Several operations are actually doing their own research on the compatibility of their most commonly used products to beneficials. This is to fill the knowledge gaps in the databases, as well as determining the best solutions for their unique situations.

When a pesticide must be used, select a product with shorter persistence or residue, so beneficials can be released safely soon after the pesticide application. Applying the pesticide using a selective or indirect application method, such as dipping or drenching, whenever possible also helps to reduce exposure. Spot treatment can reduce the proportion of growing area or beneficials impacted, but it is also important to make sure that a pesticide applied on one area of the greenhouse does not drift (yes, drift does happen in greenhouses) onto an area where beneficials are hard at work.

Lastly, in a comforting trend to the finishing operations that practice biological control, propagators are beginning to use beneficials. Working with your propagators to secure liners that are produced with biological controls or compatible pesticides may be the cornerstone to a more successful biological control program in your greenhouses.

Be Aware Of The Unintended Consequences Of Pesticide Use

Indirect effects of pesticides on beneficial organisms receive less attention from researchers and practitioners, but they are nonetheless as important as the direct effects. The application of pesticides can reduce pest population to such a low level that the beneficials cannot sustain a viable and effective population. Practitioners of biological control in greenhouses address this effect by making regular releases to maintain the beneficial density at a certain level, or by providing food supplements (such as alternative prey or pollen on a banker plant).

Julie Faucher Delisle of the University of Montreal and colleagues demonstrated that apple pollen supplements increased the control of western flower thrips by A. swirskii in greenhouse mum production. Vivek Kumar of the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida and colleagues identified ornamental pepper (particularly ‘Red Missile’) to be an excellent banker plant and pollen source for A. swirskii. Indeed, banker plant systems are now available from several suppliers.

To develop a biological control program that accounts for the direct and indirect effects of pesticide application on beneficials is an extensive intellectual exercise. Seeking the knowledge and experience of other growers, suppliers, and researchers will help a novice or a seasoned practitioner achieve success with their biological control programs.

Page 2 – Online Sources For Pesticide Compatibility Information

Going green — it’s becoming as common in the green industry as petunias, and even more relevant to profitable growth. So much of the conversation lately circles around to breeding and growing plants that uphold the sustainable, ecologically responsible lifestyles consumers are choosing to live. And of all the environmentally friendly plants growers can put forward, few compare to succulents in terms of the wide range of growth avenues they offer, noticeably in three booming “green” areas — green roofs, green infrastructure, and waterwise plants.

The Right Plants In The Right Place For Green Infrastructure

Succulents are text-book plants for green infrastructure, an approach to water management that makes use of natural areas for stormwater control and to promote better air and water quality. Plants slated for these projects must perform well despite harsh conditions. Finding the right plant for the right place isn’t a lofty ideal for these projects ; it’s essential to their success.

Opportunities are out there for growers to work with landscapers/contractors and others to provide succulents and other grasses and perennials that fit the very specific requirements of green infrastructure projects. Emory Knoll Farms near Baltimore, MD, is just one example of a grower who has shown leadership in this area, and has had good success supplying succulents for green roof projects and offering on-site evaluations and consulting services.

Succulents Are The Backbone Of Green Roofs

Green roofs are one component of green infrastructure where hardy succulents such as sedums and sempervivums shine, whether it’s a rooftop swathed in vegetation or a rooftop garden with raised beds and containers surrounded by sweeps of perennials and grasses.

Steve Castorani, owner of North Creek Nurseries in Landenberg, PA, says his company has seen a substantial increase in succulent sales of delosperma and sedum over the years for green roofs and landscape projects. North Creek recently added the Wheels of Wonder delosperma series and the Sunsparkler sedum series to its plant lineup, and it continues to realize strong sales from older varieties like Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ and Sedum ‘Angelina.’

There is a big market for succulents in the green roof area. But the opportunities in green roofs for growers aren’t in nursery sales, Castorani says. Rather, they should look into supplying plants for the roofing modules that make up green roofs.

Northwest Horticulture’s Etera division manufactures these modules, called Sedum Tiles, which are mixes of sedum varieties blended with perennials that come in tiles that can be cut to size and laid like sod for green roofs and landscape projects. An added advantage of the tiles is that they can be laid down in a landscape project just as easily as a green roof, which has added to their appeal for consumers looking for instant impact in foolproof, no-sweat landscapes.

These types of consumer benefits aren’t lost on growers like Costa Farms, which markets its Drop and Grow collection of sedum tiles and other succulents with the message that they are “no-fuss plants so tough you don’t even need to dig a hole to plant them.”

Succulents Appeal To Water-Conscious Consumers

As a take-off on the no-fuss message for succulents, growers can capitalize on their drought-tolerant benefits. California-based Armstrong Growers and Altman Plants are doing just that, promoting the waterwise traits of cacti and succulents for sustainable landscapes, a message that resonates well with consumers in drought-stricken regions and elsewhere. Both companies offer a wide range of drought-tolerant succulents and cacti that tolerate arid conditions — Armstrong through its Waterwise plants program and Altman through its online cactus and succulent shop and catalog offerings.

As consumers continue to place their landscape priorities on waterwise plants and plants suitable for green infrastructure, green roofs, and other eco-friendly projects, the durability and flexibility of succulents will continue to offer new possibilities for growers to increase plant sales.

Industry experts point to small growers moving toward growing more profitable and less risky crops as a contributing factor to the decline in poinsettia production in South Carolina and elsewhere around the country. Additionally, they cite small growers closing up shop due to industry consolidation driven by big box retailers as a second influence.

In terms of the annual wholesale value of poinsettias, South Carolina experienced a 49% drop from 2010 to 2014, according to USDA data, the largest decrease among the top 15 producing states, which overall experienced a 3.7% dip in value.

Nora Catlin, a Floriculture Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, NY, says a decrease in consumers’ purchases of plants is one of the reasons for the poinsettia’s plight in New York and elsewhere.

In New York, where wholesale production of poinsettias dropped more than 18 percent from 2010 to 2014, Catlin notes that the state’s number of poinsettia operations with annual sales exceeding $100,000 declined from 68 in 2010 to 51 in 2014. As the costs of poinsettia production have risen over the past 10 to 15 years and profit margins have become slimmer, some growers have turned to other crops, Catlin says.

“I think to some degree there has been an unfortunate acceptance that the poinsettia might not ever gain back its sales and price numbers, though we all hope it does,” Catlin says. “There are so many gorgeous poinsettias available.”

Read the full “Pity The Poor Poinsettia, 7 States Where Production Is Really Withering” article. 

“This change now makes GrowIt! the go-to resource for anyone looking for both inspiration and information in the garden,” says Day. Along with the addition of planting and care instructions, GrowIt! has enhanced its design to ensure an app experience better than before, with access to information at a pace each user can enjoy.

GrowIt! was originally created with the goal of inspiring more gardeners. Over the last year, Day and Reed say it has succeeded in that mission by helping thousands of people identify plants and by growing a community of members that are enjoying plants that work in their area.

The partnership with MasterTag helps GrowIt! app users learn how to grow the plants they are now discovering. Day and Reed had originally included information on plant exposure requirements in the app, and this information is now enhanced.

The GrowIt! app is available for free download in the App Store and in the Google Play store.

When Delores and Wally Steinhauser decided to buy her parents’ Lexington, S.C.-based garden center a decade ago, the Wingard’s were so well-regarded by the customers, the couple wanted to reassure customers by keeping the look and feel of the store Delores’ parents created and sustained since 1967.

Over the next few years, Wally Steinhauser says, the customers got to know them, and to trust them even as they began testing out new products and improving different ways of serving customers. As customers embraced each innovation, the garden store began to transform. So much so, the Steinhausers announced in early 2016 that Wingard’s Nursery & Garden Center was no more, and Wingard’s Market is taking its place.

The Steinhausers say the transformation that led to renaming their business began by testing how well giftware and produce would sell for them. They were looking for a way to even out sales over the year.

“Plants are so seasonal, even as far south as we are, even as mild as the temps may be in February,” Wally says. “If I gave plants away in January and February, I would have a hard time doing that. People just aren’t used to getting plants at that time. And July and August are a struggle, too, between the heat and vacations.”

The only constraints the couple felt when choosing which new products to carry were they had to match their customers’ lifestyles. “We can sell anything a 35 to 75 woman would want to buy,” Wally says.

So in 2013, the couple and increased the size of the gift shop and added produce to their inventory. It was a natural fit for the community, which has a farming culture underpinning its modern economy.

“We added produce in 2013 and 2014, and it grew each year, 20% to 30%. By 2014 it was 8% of our revenue. All we did that first year was to make a modest investment to see how it would work, to add a shed roof on a building we had. It grew and worked well,” Wally says.

That first shed was only 140 square feet. In 2015, the Steinhausers refurbished an old straw shed, which is 1,500 square feet. And revenue grew 30%.

“All of sudden we were able to sell a lot of things we couldn’t sell before, and spoilage went down,” he says.

In addition to produce, Wingard’s sells free-range eggs, free-range pork and seafood caught off the Carolina coasts. They have a bakery now, too. Suppliers are seeking them out, and the Steinhausers have a wealth of options when selecting the right food items to sell.

“It’s the whole local movement. All of a sudden, we had suppliers that would deliver to us, all local. Now its about 10% of our revenue, and we had a great year last year,” he says.

The new division was a true risk. “We had no clue if it would work,” Wally says. “We knew we had a great location, we knew we had a bunch of farmers who are always looking for markets. The whole local stuff is big. Customers want to know what’s in it and who grows it. We have a map with the names and logos of all the farmers who supply us and where they are located.”

Wingard’s also hosted two large farm-to-table dinners in 2015, with about 70 to 80 people attending each event.

“We got a magazine to write an article about it. That helped to reinforce the whole notion of local poultry, fish, and produce,” Wally says.

Some of the newer items, like the bakery, are sold on consignment. “There’s little risk to us if we don’t sell,” he says.

At the same time the food side of the business began taking off, the couple built up the gift shop. “The gift shop is good all year, but it really sustained us through the winter,” Wally says.

An employee with strong visual merchandising skills has helped boost sells in that department and elsewhere in the store.

“We have a really talented woman — she’s 25 years old — who we promoted to merchandise the whole nursery, produce, gift shop and all the plants. We give her rope and try to stay out of the way,” he says.

Once those two departments were more than holding their own, the Steinhausers realized they were operating four businesses, not just one:

1. Annuals & perennials
2. Tree & Shrub
3. Gift
4. Produce

“When we looked at it, it’s not really a garden center. It’s really a broader market. Then we looked at the logo we had been using for 10 years, and realized it didn’t fit who we are any more,” he says.

The couple wanted to change the logo to look completely different.

“The old one was about keeping the heritage Delores’ parents had without making it obvious that they sold it. Now it’s time to go for the next iteration for the logo,” Wally says.

But they also wanted a nod to the company’s heritage and added the year the business started (1967) to the logo.

The name change and new logo have a ripple effect, of course. The store now has a new sign, new stationary, and new website. They worked with lawyers to register the new name with the state.

The changes won’t stop with the name change.

The couple will be adding more structures to provide indoor shopping. First on the list is a 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot retail greenhouse. That will allow them to sell more plants that cannot tolerate even the mild South Carolina winters, such as citrus plants.

They also plan to add a porch to the produce market to give it a more obvious farm-market look. “It’s funny. Sometimes all the signage in the world doesn’t work. We have a 12-foot sign pointing to the produce area, and it’s like they don’t see it,” Wally says.

Other recent additions were related to security: a new fence and cameras. The store had a theft problem in 2014, which has been curbed by the new additions.

When asked about why he thinks this concept took off for him, Wally said there were two reasons:

“First, we live in an area where the economy is generally stable. It’s agricultural based, and the state government is 12 miles away, a university is 12 miles away. We have a medical industry nearby, as well as the power company. The unemployment rate is lower than many places in the state.

“And two, it’s a great to live because the school system is arguably the best in the state. And we have Lake Murray, which is a huge lake right behind us. It’s just a very desirable place to live and a great place to raise your kids.”

The floral arrangement touches are appropriate, since these combos have more in common with cut flowers than gardens that are designed to last for months on a patio. About the time the plants’ roots begin losing the battle for space and nutrition, it’s time for customers to return to Minter’s and buy their next seasonal combo garden.

Check out the wide array of designs that I spied on a recent trip to Minter Country Gardens, located outside of Vancouver, British Columbia: