Melody pushed back from her desk at the Pleasant Valley Garden Center. “Let’s go see what we have out back,” she said.
I looked around for Steve, but he was nowhere to be found. He fled the Google searchfest and never returned. Lucky guy.
“I don’t know what we have out back, but I know we have at least some of the plants that can go under a black walnut tree,” Melody said as we exited the main building out to the store’s yard.
She pulled some seedlings from a flat. “Let’s see. Here’s a cantaloupe, and it looks pretty good,” she said. “That would be fun. And here’s a yellow squash.” I don’t know how she could tell, since the marker on the white plastic plant tags was rubbed away and illegible.
Melody held a seedling up to eye level. “Nope, this one doesn’t look healthy.” She picked up another. “But this one does. And this one. It’s another squash. So that’s two squash and two cantaloupe, and they’re two for one.”
“OK,” I said, and before I could say anything else, she talked right on.
“And here’s one more squash. So. There you go? Two for one. Seedlings that will make it with the black walnut tree.”
She grinned at me, and for a second, I thought she might be expecting me to bust out a cheerleader jump. Go! Go Garden! Go!
“And you should definitely transplant those tomatoes,” she continued. “How many do you have?”
“I think four left,” I said. “Although two are kind of together, like twins. And we have five pepper plants. But I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on containers and stuff.”
“Oh, that’s no problem,” she said. “We have containers in the back, left over from trees and other plants that have come in and sold. We sell those for half price, and they’re perfect for this kind of thing.”
Please, God, please let this kind of thing not be a regular occurrence in the garden world. We were going to go to a blues festival in Davenport on Saturday. We could have gone to the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Instead, there we were, at the garden center, on the cusp of returning to my original plan: Tomatoes. In containers.
on Jul 6th, 2006 at 11:39 am
I admit to never having heard a nurseryperson described as “Someone paid to traffic in plants.” I guess that’s what we are.
In the comment section Janet mentions “While I share your frustration, we do get what we pay for. If you want employees with appropriate degrees, you have to pay them enough to keep them. Then you have to charge more for your plants, and the customers go elsewhere. A bit of a Catch 22.
Hannah mentions “The garden centers just don’t have a vested interest in paying the money. Think about it, if they hire people who can answer questions, they would have fewer return visitors.”
As a nursery owner I would read what Hannah and Janet are saying and figure that price is the overwhelming factor with most people, since if I pay more to my employees I would have to raise my prices, and if I do that I wont have as many customers. This is true! I won’t have as many customers, but hopefully I will have better, more loyal customers.
I am not sure that paying more money gets you better employees. In my experience people with plant degrees rarely make good nursery employees. I don’t know why, but my best employees have been folks who had some retail garden center experience, have a passion for learning about plants, and love people. It’s a people business.
This is the quandary of operating a retail garden center. Which are you going to be? The low price, “help your self” model, like Home Depot, or the higher price, help when you need it of a quality independent. It can’t be both ways. In my opinion if you want to have a successful garden center you had better niche yourself as a top quality, knowledgeable sales staff, and great atmosphere kind of place. Try competing on price and you will get killed. The box stores are a volume operation. Leave the low prices and volume to the chains, and don’t be upset when a majority of people gardening go to those places.
Volume is not what it’s about at the independent level. We have to add value to our plants to justify the price. What do you get by paying a buck or two more for that gallon can? Hopefully a better quality plant, someone to carry the stuff and load it in your car, help when you need it by knowledgeable staff, an inspirational setting at the garden center, a connection to the people who sold you the plants, etc.
This is great stuff you people are talking about. I’m listening.
on Jul 6th, 2006 at 12:34 pm
Wow, cantaloupe, squash and big containers all on sale! It sounds like things are looking up. Although she had to google to get at the answers, at least she was helpful and got you nice seedlings and cheap containers. She may not have been an “expert”, but at least she was helpful and resourceful!
I bet those cantaloupe will be fun to watch…
on Jul 6th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
I’ve been meaning to say thanks for doing this tree experiment for the rest of us! I’ve heard about it, and can never remember which tree is bad for other plants. I won’t forget now. So while it is painful, just remember the service you’re doing for others. Isn’t it interesting also to see how these living things influence one other!
on Jul 6th, 2006 at 6:59 pm
[...] Go, garden, go! [...]
on Jul 6th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Trey, I wholeheartedly agree with you, and, in fact, that was why we chose that particular garden center — I wanted to go with an independent center, where I assumed I could get more knowledge, and was willing to pay a premium on the plants we expected to buy in exchange for that knowledge. I think that’s why the Google search shocked me so much. But I do think you’re right — having people skills is key, and, for all the Googling, Melody was really sweet and kind and nice to me, even though I really was at about the last millimeter of my rope.
Melissa, yes — exactly what you said. She was helpful and resourceful, and that’s a good thing. And yeah, I think the canteloupe will be fun to watch.
SPetunia — I do hope I can help someone else who might not know the drill with the black walnuts. I certainly had no idea! But you’re right — at the end of the day, this stuff is incredibly interesting.
Thanks to all of you for stopping by!
:-) Genie
on Aug 23rd, 2006 at 6:39 am
[...] The cantaloupe vine began to wilt last week, its leaves folding in on themselves. This is the kind of situation in which I wish plants had little scrolling LED signs: GIVE ME MORE WATER, they would say. Or, GIVE ME LESS WATER. Or, YOU MISERABLE IMBECILE. WHY DID YOU PLANT ME WHEN I COULD HAVE GONE TO SOMEONE MORE WORTHY? [...]
on Jun 11th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
i planted a cantalope seeds outside in a pot and i was wandering what a plant looks like could you help me because i whant to make shjeer thats what it is growing in the pot i planted it in
on Jun 12th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Peggy, the plant’s going to probably look an awful lot like a cucumber plant, in my experience. However, if you know that you planted cantaloupe seeds, then I would guess that what’s growing is, in fact, a cantaloupe plant or seedling. If you’re worried about weeding out your baby plants, then I would just not weed that pot until you’re sure that you’re not pulling the wrong thing — trust me…the cantaloupe plants are pretty big, so you’ll know soon enough if your plants are coming up or not.