Rain! Six and three quarters inches of it at River Ridge in a few hours, according to my fancy and decorative new rain gauge. I mean, the lawns were getting crispy and dry, but that’s almost seven weeks worth of precipitation in one storm! Also, I believe I’m losing my 6-ft. Bosnian pine, planted this spring. Heat stress, I guess, although seven other large newly planted conifers are all doing fine. That’s why I always buy my trees from a nursery that offers a guarantee—the best gardeners (and the rest of us) lose one now and again.
Winds blow out glass at two ranges
It was a bad week for a couple of growers (but a good week for glaziers). Green Circle Growers in Oberlin, Ohio, suffered broken glass in 15 of its 100 acres last Thursday night when a microburst swept over their operation. Broken glass dropped onto some 100,000 poinsettias, 300,000 mums and lots of plugs. Damage is estimated at $3 to $3.5 million dollars.
There's so much broken glass, "it looks like it snowed in here," C.J. Van Wingerden told me. "It's going to take months to clean up." C.J. says they're still waiting on insurance and evaluating how they'll replace the lost crops, but they're getting offers of assistance from family and friends. "The industry has stepped up in a huge way," he says.
There were 80 employees in the greenhouses at the time, but managers followed emergency protocols and got them to safe locations and nobody was hurt.
The next night, Plantpeddler in Cresco, Iowa, lost almost half the glass from one of their ranges, along with poly from another section of houses, when a tornado or “cyclonic event” swept across town.
Co-owner Mike Gooder told me they lost some 220 panes out of 576 from one of their houses. Glass shards were found four to five blocks away. The crops underneath? “Junk,” Mike replied. But at least the storm hit in summer, not spring. They lost some finished asters, components for fall mixed containers, some greenhouse cucumbers and some vegetable transplants. There was no damage to their begonia or poinsettia liners. A nearby poly house was “diced” by the glass, but most of the glass was caught between the poly layers, so there was no crop damage there. And they’ve found no serious structural damage.
Always looking on the bright side, Mike joked, “It’s going to be eight years of finding glass fragments. We took a hit in 1998 and we figured it took eight years to get all the glass shaken out. But it’s a bummer. It’s not like we don’t have other stuff to do.”
Thankfully, their trial grounds weren’t affected at all. (See item about Plantpeddler’s upcoming Variety Day below.)
How hot is it?
Record-setting, that’s how hot. Some of the eastern cities setting records include: Washington, D.C. 101, Baltimore 100, Richmond 105, Philadelphia 97, Newark 99, Atlantic City 99, New York City 97 and Raleigh 100.
Norfolk, Virginia tied its all-time record high (105 degrees) Saturday. Last time was 1918! Then Norfolk hit 105 again on Sunday.
In Richmond, Saturday was the city’s hottest day in 33 years, tying their all-time July record high.
On Sunday, more cities hit records: Washington (Dulles Int’l Airport) 98, Richmond 105, Norfolk 105, Charlotte 101, Raleigh 102 and Atlantic City 99.
Richard Miller from Griffin Greenhouse & Nursery Supplies in Indian Trails, North Carolina, is living it. He writes:
“Three words describe what’s happening in the Carolinas these days: heat, heat and more heat. We are sweltering in this market, with garden centers almost idle after lunch and nurseries/greenhouses sending people home after lunch to keep them from heat exhaustion. The heat is also taking its toll on flowering annuals and veggies, with tomatoes looking like I feel on Friday night.”
Not sure what Richard does on Friday nights, but it's obviously not something a tomato should try.
German fries and odorless undies
Apparently, the heat wave isn’t just an American deal—Europe and Asia have their own sweltering weather. The news agency Reuters reports that in Germany, “hot and dry weather has led to a meager harvest of extra-large potatoes used to produce the ideal-length French fry.” Typical fries are 2.2 inches (55 mm) long. But stunted potatoes will make fries just 1.8 in. long (45 mm).
And Bloomberg.com is reporting that, “Japanese retailers are headed for hot summer sales of cheap beer and non-smell underwear, driven by above-average temperatures and consumers with fatter wallets, according to Deutsche Bank AG’s Takahiro Kazahaya.”
Japan’s Meteorological Agency is forecasting the hottest summer in 100 years globally, after a heat wave invaded Tokyo via North America and Europe. Tokyo exceeded 95F.
Non-smell underwear? The greatest space invention since Tang!
Are we conspiring against newcomers?
My friend Terry Humfeld, VP of the Produce Marketing Association, sent me a link to a Wall Street Journal article written by another friend of mine, Bart Ziegler. In it, Bart, an avid gardener, writes, “Sometimes it seems as if the entire plant world conspires against newcomers. There are way too many choices in plants, confusing names and terminology, and conflicting and sometimes bizarre rules about what to grow when and where.”
Thankfully, Bart leads the novice through the confusing terms like genus and species; Zones; and annual, perennial, biennial, sun and shade. You could use this to educate your customers or even your employees.
We DO make this business complicated. A few years ago, I read a great story about how Shimano, the bicycle parts manufacturer, did a survey about bike shops to find out why more folks weren’t buying two-wheeled transportation. Turns out that the typical bike store is staffed by a young spandex-clad athlete with 3% body fat who speaks in riddles about “grams” and “carbon fiber.” When really, most people just want a bike to ride to the ice cream parlor on Saturday.
And in the garden center? I think 80% of folks just want a few basic, pretty plants for around the mailbox or by the front door—they’re not here for the horticulture.
For example, last time, I wrote that my River Ridge neighbors are still big on traditional items. Replied Ken Van Wingerden of Color Point in Paris, Kentucky:
“Interesting observation about the geraniums, spikes and petunias … those are huge sellers for us."
Ball Customer Day is this Friday!
Drop everything you're doing and come to West Chicago this Friday for the massive annual Ball Customer Day out in the Ball Gardens. It’s slated to be bigger than ever. Thousands of you are planning to be here, and I hear Anna has put in a request for spectacular weather (low 80s and clear), so it’ll be a great day for checking out the new varieties of annuals and perennials and veggies, getting container gardening ideas, meeting friends old and new, and having lunch on Ball. Of course I'll be roaming around, camera and notepad in hand.
Go to www.ballcustomerday.com for information. Or call 800-879-BALL (2255) for assistance or to register.
More summer events
You read about the glass disaster that Plantpeddler just suffered. Well, now you can share your goodwill with Mike and Rachel Gooder by visiting them on Friday, August 6, for Plantpeddler’s annual Variety Day where they’re “Testing the Best of the Midwest.” Along with some killer barbecue and a friendly upper-Midwest style that only a place like Cresco can offer, you’ll see all the more than 700 varieties of spring annuals from at least 14 breeders in containers, baskets and beds. Seminars, tours and a favorite variety vote round out the offerings.
Contact Stacy Bryant for more: Stacyb@plantpeddler.com.
Bring your glass repair tools. And a broom. : )
A big week for partnerships
Petitti and Eagle Creek. Petitti Garden Centers, a seven-store chain in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, is buying Eagle Creek Garden Center, the spectacular retail facility opened by the Bonner Family in 2002.
I called Angelo Petitti to find out more. "What, seven garden centers aren't enough, Angelo?" I joked. "You just had to have an eighth?"
“What are you going to do?” he replied with a chuckle. “It’s part of life.”
But getting serious, Angelo explained that Eagle Creek is a premier facility, in a great area. The owners, Dick Bonner and family, have long been good friends of his. Jill Bonner-Cain, who’d been running the facility, is a new mother who wanted to stay home and raise her family.
“They asked us if we were interested in buying it and we said we’d love to have the facility. That was it.” He says it happened in just about two weeks. “Dick Bonner called me, I said ‘Yeah, we’re interested,’ he named a price, the price was okay, we shook hands and it was done.”
This newest location should be operating under the Petitti name by August 1. Most of the Eagle Creek management and staff are staying on.
Monrovia and Proven Winners. Monrovia has announced that they’ll be adding 70 Proven Winners ColorChoice flowering shrubs to their line beginning in late spring 2010. Like other Monrovia products, they’ll be exclusive to independent garden centers. Newly designed pots and tags will carry both Monrovia and Proven Winners logos—something that neither company has done before. ColorChoice varieties that Monrovia will be growing include Incrediball hydrangea, Invincibelle Spirit hydrangea, Bloomerang lilac and Lo & Behold Blue Chip buddleia.
Ball and Vitro Plus. Ball Seed will now be the exclusive U.S supplier of Vitro-Plug 48 and Vitro-Plug 126 fern liners. Vitro-Plus, based in the Netherlands, specializes in tissue culture fern liners. They’ve got a wide assortment of tropical and hardy ferns. http://www.vitroplus.nl/
Finally I …
I’m really looking forward to “Hop on the Bus,” the video garden center tour from ANLA. The teaser for the video is amazing! Check it out HERE! The finished version will be online shortly—we’ll keep you posted.
Finally II …
Thanks to everybody who offered me birthday wishes. One thing I found interesting: I got welcomed to “the club” by quite a few fellow 50-somethings. There was no 40 club. But turning 50 seems to bring with it a touch of respect from my fellow 50-somethings, maybe for having made it half a century relatively unscathed.
Kim from Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, put a different perspective on 50:
“Fifty isn’t old … if you’re a tree!”
I’ll remember that when my good friend and former employee Frank Tree hits the milestone age.
See you next time!
Chris Beytes
Editor & Publisher
GrowerTalks and Green Profit
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