Making a business out of gardening. Advice please

Davesnave

peter_the_piper wrote: »

We were once offered a "TABLE" at a very posh house once (they were having an antiques or something fayre), only £750.00 and that was about 10 years ago. Naturally we were already "busy" on that day.

Wow!:eek: We've had a pitches at a similar events, but never with a price tag like that.

At my favourite one, for around £50 + 10%, we'd be greeted by the titled owner, who'd arrange for Sea Scouts to unload the van for us. (OK when they didn't drop things!:() We'd then set up in front of the mansion, sell for a while to the 'special guests' and then there'd be a packed lunch provided while we listened to a jazz band. In the afternoon, they'd let the rif-raff in and we'd sell what was left.

Nice!:)

peter_the_piper

Ah but you are not near the affluent bits of London, I think this was the first time they had done this because of the silence when I laughed at the cost.

Orange_King

Can I ask some of the experienced sellers what they find as their best selling plants? Bedding plants always appear popular but they take up so much space and need a lot of looking after. Are there any particular annual plants that would be an attractive addition to someone's garden, maybe something a bit different than normal and that can be brought on from cuttings or split up?

I always sell loads of lilys at this time of year and this year has been better than normal, but I need to have a greater choice for customers, and some that have a prolonged flowering lifespan through the summer.

peter_the_piper

I sell a lot of pelargoniums, not just the Regals, they flower all summer. Fuchsias are useful as you can sell them small, pot up any unsold ones to sell later. This is the advantage we have over chain garden centres, we can continue selling the same plant after repotting whereas they often bin them if unsold. Bear in mind that the next customers pay for those put into the skip.

J_J_Carter

I really can't see a window for small start-ups

The DIY 'sheds' have the market for cheap bedding, Van Hage et all for 'days out' shopping, Crocus for t'interweb sales, RHS plant-finder for identifying nurseries with particular plants, specialist plant sales organised by HPS and then impulse buys at Yellow Book gardens.

Davesnave

J_J_Carter wrote: »

I really can't see a window for small start-ups

The DIY 'sheds' have the market for cheap bedding, Van Hage et all for 'days out' shopping, Crocus for t'interweb sales, RHS plant-finder for identifying nurseries with particular plants, specialist plant sales organised by HPS and then impulse buys at Yellow Book gardens.

Nobody here has suggested that starting a small nursery is likely to make anyone rich. However, some of those who decide to start a nursery will see opportunities, seize them and find modest success. Others will fail, but that's natural selection for you.

We started at car boot sales and through membership of WI Country Markets, (not the same as Jam & Jerusalem WI) but everyone has to begin somewhere. Soon, we were in a Farmers' Market and doing some of the things you mention, like HPS and NCCPG Plant Fairs, and selling at Yellow Book gardens. From there we progressed to County shows etc, but we were happy to do smaller events to fill the diary, like village days, and even school fetes. Basically, if you go out on an otherwise 'empty' day and take at least £200, you do it!

As others have said, annuals require space and early season heat, so we specialised in perennials, particularly the less common ones. To us, they made the most sense, being easier to overwinter and straightforward to multiply-up. What else can you sell to someone else, yet still keep for yourself, so you can do it all over again next year?

Orange_King

Davesnave wrote: »

As others have said, annuals require space and early season heat, so we specialised in perennials, particularly the less common ones. To us, they made the most sense, being easier to overwinter and straightforward to multiply-up. What else can you sell to someone else, yet still keep for yourself, so you can do it all over again next year?

I wholly agree with this - I am trying to ensure that all the plants in my garden earn their right to be there and I'm having to dig more borders every year to bring in new additions.

The latest targets are Ice Plants (iced gems?), hellebores and gerberas, hoping these won't be too run of the mill for buyers. Do you mind me asking what you consider as less common types Dave?

Davesnave

Orange_King wrote: »

The latest targets are Ice Plants (iced gems?), hellebores and gerberas, hoping these won't be too run of the mill for buyers. Do you mind me asking what you consider as less common types Dave?

Oh gosh! Well, I used to think it would be best to have the latest plants, so if there was a new Echinacea, say, I'd get it. I'd know B&Q wouldn't have it! Another example would be something like the yellow Leucanthemum 'Sonnenschein.'

Then the hard teaching of experience kicked me around a bit. It turned out a lot of the new Echinaceas, with their orange hues, got their fancy genes from E Paradoxa and curled up their toes in the harsher winters. And 'Sonnenschein' turned out to be a miffy plant too....:(

Now, after trekking around a bit and visiting a national collection or two, I grow Echinacea 'Ruby Giant' and Leucanthemum 'Bishopstone' because they are good doers, and if people buy them, they're liable to keep them.

I couldn't give you a full list, but now everything I have is tried and tested. Some of it is common as muck these days, but that's because garden centres have upped their game in the last ten years. However, I still have people looking surprised at the flowers on Campanula 'Sarastro,' which is terribly easy to propagate, as is Saponaria 'Betty Arnold.' Both of those have literally sold in their hundreds, but all originated from individual plants bought at Bob Brown's Cotswold Garden Flowers:

http://www.cgf.net/

But beware. Bob's place is a cornucopia of interesting plants, but some are very new, and others, which may work for him, might curl up their toes somewhere else.....like those 'hardy' Gerberas! (not on a Devon hilltop at -15C :rotfl:)

PS. Bob has a good links page with pointers to Derry Watkins' Special Plants and Plant World, both places which offer 'interesting' seeds.

lostinrates

Davesnave wrote: »

It turned out a lot of the new Echinaceas, with their orange hues, got their fancy genes from E Paradoxa and curled up their toes in the harsher winters.

lir quietly weeps crossing lots of Summer Cocktail echinacea of her wish list.

Davesnave

lostinrates wrote: »

lir quietly weeps crossing lots of Summer Cocktail echinacea of her wish list.

:rotfl::rotfl:Still loads more to grow. Eventually they may crack the longevity thing, but I don't want to be the one who does the experimentation!