WisconsinOrnamentals.com

December 27, 2010 Newsletter

In This Issue
It's Not Too Late
Thrive in 2011
Pairing Bulbs and Perennials
Organic Gardening
Census of Horticulture
Proven Winners
Who are you Buying For
Quick Links
 
 
 
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Eileen Nelson
UW-Madison Department of Horticulture
608-265-5283 
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Take Advantage of Early Registration Fee

There is still time to take advantage of early registration fees (January 4) for the Garden Center Symposium. 

Registration materials are available  on-line at www.gardencentersymposium.com (under 2011 Symposium) or can be obtained by emailing [email protected] or calling 608-265-5283. New this year:  The registration fee includes all meals.

Thrive in 2011

Source: Garden Center Magazine

  

To thrive in 2011, garden centers will need to meet the needs of this new "Vintage 2011" consumer. To do that, I would suggest, you'll need to touch the following bases.

 

To read suggestions from Ian Baldwin and Others follow these links:

Repeat Business Tips 

The Sky's the Limit

Pairing Bulbs and Perennials

ITHACA, N.Y. -- If you're thinking about spring gardens, Cornell researchers have taken a lot of the guesswork out of pairing perennials and spring-flowering bulbs. They've conducted trials of dozens of pairings over four years to evaluate how such plantings can complement one another.

 

Their winning pairings, available online and described in Lawn and Landscape Magazine (December 2010), take into account not only how colorful spring bulb flowers can complement emerging perennial foliage, for example, but also how maturing foliage can mask the fading leaves of post-bloom bulbs. They considered how early bulbs can extend a garden's bloom season, how leaf texture could be used as a design element, and the role of color in combinations. They also considered the size of plants and spacing, and looked at tulips, narcissi, crocuses and daffodils in detail.

 

"The idea of pairing bulbs and perennials to achieve multiple goals is so desirable," said William B. Miller, professor of horticulture at Cornell and director of Cornell's Flower Bulb Research Program. "We felt it deserved more than an anecdotal approach. We created an objective study to document what works and what doesn't in a typical spring garden."

Organic Gardening Distance Learning Course

Cornell is offering an Organic Gardening course on-line beginning January 31 to help experienced gardeners broaden their understanding of organic techniques for all kinds of gardens.

 

The course covers one topic during each of the 8 weeks, including vegetables, fruits, flowers and ornamentals, and lawns.  With a strong foundation in soil health and its impact on plant health, we then explore tried-and-true and cutting-edge techniques for all different kinds of garden plants - annuals and perennials, food plants and ornamentals.

 

The cost of the course is $300  For more information about the course and to register

link here.
Census of Horticultural Specialties

Source: Garden Center Magazine

 

The 2009 Census of Horticultural Specialties released by USDA-National Agricultural Statistics Service reports that the sales of food crops grown under protection in the U.S. more than doubled in the last decade.

Sales of these crops, which include fruits and vegetables in hothouses, as well as transplants for commercial vegetable production increased 149% since the last time the census of horticulture was conducted in 1998. In 2009, growers reported $553 million in sales of food crops grown under protection, up from $223 million. Total sales of transplants for commercial vegetable production increased from $156 million to $331 million during this same period.

"Overall, total sales of horticultural crops between 1998 and 2009 increased by 10% to $11.7 billion," said Joe Prusacki, NASS Statistics Division director. "Looking at the entire agricultural industry however, this 10% increase lags behind the 60% increase seen for all agricultural crop commodities during this same time period."

Sales of annual bedding/garden plants and perennials increased the most on the floriculture side, up 33% and 34.5%, respectively, between 1998 and 2009. Potted flowering pots only showed a slight gain of 0.4%. Cut flowers (-21%) and foliage plants (-14%) experienced the biggest drop in sales.

The top selling annual bedding plants were:

1. Petunias
2. Geraniums
3. Pansies
4. Impatiens
5. Begonias

The single largest expense for horticultural specialty operations is hired labor, which accounts for 38% of total expenses. Seed, plants, vines and trees were the second biggest expense at 15.6% Gasoline, fuels and oils were the lowest total expense at about 5%.

Proven Winners, Outdoor Living Extravaganza 

Proven Winners has scheduled four Outdoor Living Extravaganzas in spring 2011, including one in Milwaukee.

The day-long event (8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) includes a catered luncheon and special gift bags. Attendees will learn from four experts about creative new ways to use color, the easiest ways to grow plant varieties, how to put together exceptional containers, and much more.

 

For more information and to register link here.

Who Are You Buying For?

 Source: Garden Center Magazine

It's trade show time again, which means you're busy making that buying list and checking it twice. But before you lace up your walking shoes and hit the floor, take a moment to re-evaluate who you're purchasing for. Chances are it has changed dramatically in the last few years.

The 'average American household' no longer exists. According to a report in Advertising Age, new Census Bureau data finds no clear majority in household types, but hints at housing growth to come. Single-living is all the rage . . .

  • The number of U.S. married couples with children has not changed in over 40 years. Now, as in 1967, there are 24.6 million of them.
  • One-person households, at 31.4 million, are significantly more numerous than married couples with children and now make up 27 percent of all households.

McMansions are a thing of the past. The Great Recession has resulted in a new vision for the ideal American home. Recently seen in USA Today...

  • The median home size has dropped to about 2,100 square-feet and more than one-third of Americans say their ideal home size is actually under 2,000 square-feet, according to a survey by real-estate site Trulia.
  • Good news for outdoor living! Architects are using different tricks to make a home feel bigger-like including vistas with a direct line of sight to an outdoor space.

Women's buying power continues to rise. Young women-a demographic that garden centers need to capture-continue to up their personal equity. From Time magazine...

  • A new analysis of 2,000 communities by a market research company shows that in 147 out of 150 of the biggest cities in the U.S., the median full-time salaries of young women are 8% higher than those of the guys in their peer group.

Yep. Times they are a changing. Are you ready?

 

 


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Thanks. 
Eileen Nelson  ([email protected])