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And now, a very few words from our sponsor

Are you using radio ads? How much are you paying for? 60 seconds? 30 seconds? Some businesses are experimenting with 15 and even 5 second ads, according to a report in the Washington Post. The spots, sometimes called nano-ads or blinks, are designed to appeal to an increasingly attention-deficit society. Experts are debating whether the ads are effective.

-- Sarah

Eisley’s Nursery under eminent domain threat

Anyone who regularly attends national industry events has probably met the Eisley crew. I see Earlene Eisley Freeman on most of the tours I attend. I first made a point of introducing myself because I was sure that with a name like Earlene and her friendly personality, she had to be from Texas (she’s not).

Located in Auburn, California, Eisley’s has been a popular institution in its community for 100 years. Since the family and staff make a point of attending retail tours and seminars, the store benefits from the extra ideas and knowledge. It’s kept clean, customer service is top notch and plants are healthy.

And, I found out when reading a post on The Golden Gecko blog, it has been labeled blighted by a consultant firm hired by the local city council this past spring.

The area near Eisley’s is currently undergoing a development project. The city wanted to expand the area of development by a few hundred acres, so it hired the firm.

The Eisleys, alarmed, started protesting. According to a local newspaper, word got around the community, angry phone calls to the town hall started, and petitioners to block the expansion showed up at the city council meetings in droves.

The city council has said it never intended to use eminent domain on Eisley’s. And when that assurance was not enough to calm the waters, it created a clause that the city could not use eminent domain to acquire a commercial business and turn it over to private developers.

How secure are you?
Even with the clause, it seems to me that Eisley’s is still at risk. How binding is the clause? What type of loopholes could a future council slip through? What security does the garden center have that, if it wished to build new structures or install expensive demonstration gardens, that it would not lose its store before paying off the loans?

Small businesses need to pay close attention to any local authority that has power over it. I know several people in the industry that regularly attend council meetings, some that make a point of befriending the members. Cory Bordine with Bordine Nursery in Michigan once said that he seriously considered running for the council so he could have more power to block rulings that hurt his business.

-- Carol

You say, ‘show.’ I say, ‘conference.’

As promised, here’s Part II of a report on the National Lawn & Garden Show held in Reno last week. The event returned to an appointment-based format — that is, there was no “trade show, per se” as had been the case the past few years. “We have returned to our roots, doing what we do best — putting buyer and seller together in preset scheduled appointments in an efficient and focused atmosphere,” noted NLGS President Bob Mikulas, whose company will partner next year with Urban Expositions, a trade show specialty company based in Kennesaw, Ga.

As a result of the switch — technically, the switch back — this year’s NLGS will become next year’s NLGCMC, which is short (but not Roman) for National Lawn & Garden Controlled Marketing Conference. Next year’s event will be June 10-12 at the Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling, Ill. For info, retailers should call (888) 316-0226, while vendors should call (800) 318-2238.

If you haven’t experienced this manner o’ doing bidness, I highly recommend that you call the aforementioned numbers. Rarely can buyers (that’s you, Mr./Ms. Garden Center operator person) schedule upwards of 30 quality appointments with vendors — and then have follow-up opportunities — all in one locale. At each appointment, the vendor presents a 10-minute pitch, during which he tries to sell his product/service to the prospective buyer. With ample opportunities for on-premises meals and after-hours meetings, the conference format is an ideal means to create/enhance relationships and to strike deals. I talked to dozens of vendors and buyers during this year’s three-day conference, and every one of them lauded the format …

… And, as everyone knows, a format lauded is worth two in the bush. Or some such.

-- Yale

A shout out for our sister

I was cruising through Central Market last Friday with husband and kid in tow, when I was greeted by a fragrant display of cut flowers and a large poster of the June cover of our sister publication GMPRO (Greenhouse Management & Production).

The story spotlights Texas Floral, a cut flower grower in Azle, Texas. The company produces some of the most beautiful Oriental and Asiatic lilies I’ve ever seen. What’s more, these growers don’t use pesticides or fungicides on their crops. Check out the article about this dynamic team penned by Kelli Rodda.

-- Sarah

Ratcheting it up a notch

Just got back from the National Lawn & Garden Show in Reno, Nev., and I have two notes of note to pass on today:

1. I saw the coolest product, the GardenRatchet from Stretta Inc. The tool is actually five tools, what with a set of interchangeable heads that cultivate, weed, deepweed, dig holes and plant bulbs (depending upon the need). What sets the GardenRatchet apart from other tools of its ilk is the ratcheting handle that creates powerful strokes with each turn to achieve each of the aforementioned tasks easily and quickly. The ergonomic design reduces muscle strain, and the patented ratcheting action selector allows left or right power strokes.
2. My children’s inheritance took — shall we say — a hit. Now they’re surely going to stick me in a sorry nursing home. Actually, I’m not much of a gambler — I found the penny slots to be a much slower death than the quarter ones — but I’ll lay odds that more people found the NLGS to be beneficial than didn’t. I’ll elaborate next go-round.

-- Yale

ANLA urges industry to weigh in on immigration

Senators need to hear from constituents in support of comprehensive immigration reform, said Craig Regelbrugge, American Nursery & Landscape Association’s vice president for government relations.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tabled reform debate earlier this month, citing the need for Republicans to gather more support for the legislation. Experts suggest that failure to achieve comprehensive reform will result in widespread nonfederal action, much of it targeting employers and immigrant employees.

“We will all be well-served by a system that is fair, rewards work and restores the rule of law,” Regelbrugge said.

USA Today reported that the Senate will likely revive the immigration bill and resume debate later this month.

-- Sarah

For me, green may not mean go

Jyme Mariani is managing editor of Garden Center Magazine, Nursery Management & Production (NMPro) and GMPro (Greenhouse Management & Production). Today she gives us her take on the greening of the industry.

As far as green goes, I’m already jaded.

As a consumer, I’m already tired of hearing the word “green.” When companies started advertising air filters, toothpicks and toilet paper as “green,” my mind blocked it and the entire concept out as another ploy to take my hard-earned green. The concept is more pure marketing than an idea that people can wrap their minds around. I know that I’m not the only one out there with this thinking, too.

One concept that consumers (and, therefore, retailers who want to please these consumers) can digest and even embrace is sustainability.

According to Wikipedia, one of the most often cited definitions of sustainability is the one created by the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

THE green industry
So, what can we -- as the true green industry -- do to cash in on this idea?

May Nursery founder dies

Fount H. May Sr., founder of May Nursery and Southern Nursery Assoc. president in 1987, died Tuesday after being sick with pneumonia. Services will be at First Presbyterian Church in Quincy, Fla., on Friday.

The 4-acre nursery that he started in 1971 has grown into a 215-acre growing operation with more than 150 employees.

Memorials should be sent to: Carolyn B. May Scholarship Fund, R. F. Munroe Day School, 91 Old Mt. Pleasant Road, Quincy, FL 32352.

-- Kevin

Money Magazine promotes landscaping value

Landscape improvements increase home value, Money Magazine reported in its June issue. The article cites research from a Michigan State University study, funded by Horticulture Research Institute. The study found, depending on where the house is located, high-quality landscaping adds 5% to 11% to its price.

Nursery Management & Production editor Todd Davis will vouch for this. In a recent column, he shared how he sold his home in two days, thanks in part to good landscaping.

-- Sarah

Knowledge is power

Sometimes the old sayings are absolutely true, no matter how cliché. Knowledge is power. Case in point – I recently received a set of trial plants from my good friends over at Terra Nova Nurseries, much to the dismay of my fellow actual greenthumbers. It’s a known fact that I have the plant thumb of death. Really, even fake plants run from me.

Well, these particular flowers were so beautiful on the tags that I didn’t have the heart to subject them to my woeful lack of skills so I decided to acquire some. Hopefully.

Being a mostly organized person, I decided my best plan of attack was to get good information and I started with the most logical place – my local garden center. The friendly staff at Green Mama’s was more than helpful. They listened to my previous crimes against flora then guided me to a display full of step-by-step instructions. Gardening for Dummies, anyone?

They filled me up with the appropriate size pots for my plants (who knew?!), a great pot mix from Scotts that even I can’t mess up and a cheerful attitude.

It’s been almost two weeks and I am more than proud to say not one of those baby plants has yet kicked the planter.

Wish me luck!

-- Jennifer