If plants were currency...

Gardenia101_2

..we could all own our own printing press.

FBThree

The way food prices are going plants may as well be currency!

Gardenia101_2

... and the way the global economy is heading, they may well be currency in the forseeable future.

Davesnave

I was a partner in a business growing & selling plants for 11 years so, as far as I was concerned, they were. Splitting up my perennials, taking cuttings or sowing my own seed, I used to think: 'What else apart from plants can you sell & still keep?'

However, about the time I embarked upon this business venture, I happened to mention my plans to an elderly, but feisty nurserywoman. She fixed me with her eyes and said: 'Young man,' (I was about 48!) 'just remember one thing. Any bl**dy fool can grow plants; it's selling them that takes real skill!'

She was right too. Without my sales lady I'd have become buried in the results of over-propagation long ago. As it is, with spring springing up all around me, I'm thinking: 'Time to hit the road with the plants, just one more time!'

katskorner

I sell my excess plants at car boot sales. I actually grow extra to sell now - especially tumbling tomatoes!

Davesnave

I sell my excess plants at car boot sales.

Be warned, that's how it starts!

Gardenia101_2

>it's selling them that takes real skill!

What about the plants that sell themselves?!

Davesnave

What about the plants that sell themselves?!

Not really sure what you mean by that. There are plants that come into fashion and which whizz off as soon as you open for business: e.g. cirsiums a few years ago, yellow hellebores etc. There are also plants that look really splendid for a few days: e.g. Oriental poppies, which also disappear like wildfire.

However a 'proper' plant business must cater for all tastes and situations, so the more pedestrian but stalwart performers have to be offered along with the ephemeral gems. Not everything looks its best all the time either. This is where the art of display comes in, because at a plant sale there will be a dozen or more competing stalls, while in a general market you will often be trying to catch the eye of the casual punter, who didn't set out to buy a plant when they set out to go shopping.

If you look at the best stalls next time you're at a plant fair, you'll notice that a lot of effort goes into display, with black or neutral backgrounds and clear photos & labelling. A sure sign of an amateur is an array of differently coloured pots, some terracotta, some black, all set off against a gingham tablecloth! Having said that, I know some specialists who break all the 'rules' and get away with it because they have the stock that no one else has. Their turnover is usually smaller though, as they can only preach to the converted.

Our policy was to do the unusual, but mix it in with the best of the more commonplace; like, say, Saruma henryii alongside Geranium Ann Folkard. We found that people would be drawn in by the unusual stuff and would love ferreting among it, but three times out of four, they'd purchase what they knew!

Gardenia101_2

Thanks - lots of food for thought in that post.

Had to google Saruma. Even Chiltern seeds don't have it!

Ray