April/May 2016 Volume 34 • Number 2
Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association
The Annual
LISTS ISSUE Ways to Appeal to Millennial Customers
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Understanding the Millennial Personality at Work
10
How to Guide Customers by Reading Labels
11
Five Gardening Preferences of Baby Boomers
12
Tips for Building Baby Boomer Loyalty
13
Why We Love Plants
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Cold-hardy specimen trees. Shade, flowering and evergreen.
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LooseLeaf April/May 2016
Our Mission To create opportunities for horticultural and associated industry professionals to collaboratively grow their businesses through fellowship, education, advocacy and certification.
In This Issue 4
Cover Photo Courtesy of Lost Mesa Flower Co. in Hotchkiss, Colo.
12 Five Gardening Preferences of Baby Boomers
Message from the Board: Education Should be a Company Value
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Surpassing Previous Plant Something Results
13 Tips for Building Baby Boomer Loyalty
Member Profiles:
14 Why We Love Plants
Lost Mesa Flower Co. Richards, Seeley & Schaefer Trees of Corrales
15 Taking Care of Business:
CNGA – Here for the Members:
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Managing Difficult Weather
16 CSU Research Update:
Ways to Appeal to Millennial Customers
Water Research with Ornamental Grasses
17 Safety Corner:
10 Understanding the Millennial Personality at Work
The Worksite Risks of Crystalline Silica
18 Funding Research & Education:
11 How to Guide Customers by Reading Labels
Building a Legacy
19 Calendar, New Members, Classified Ads & Advertisers List
Board Of Directors Jesse Eastman, CCNP President Fort Collins Nursery 970.482.1984 j.eastman@fortcollinsnursery.com Dan Wise, CCNP President-Elect, Secretary/Treasurer Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery 970.484.1289 dan@ftcollinswholesalenursery.com Levi Heidrich, Officer-At-Large Heidrich’s Colorado Tree Farm Nursery, LLC 719.598.8733 levi@coloradotreefarmnursery.com
Directors
Ex-Officio Members
Bill Kluth Tagawa Greenhouse Enterprises, LLC 303.659.1260 x205 bkluth@tagawas.com
Kirby Thompson, CCNP Britton Nursery, Inc. 719.495.3676 info@brittonflowers.com
Stan Brown, CCNP Alameda Wholesale Nursery, Inc. 303.761.6131 stan@alamedawholesale.com
Kerri Dantino Little Valley Wholesale Nursery 303.659.6708 kerri@lvwn.com
Sarada Krishnan, Ph.D. Denver Botanic Gardens 720.865.3601 krishnas@botanicgardens.org
Beth Gulley Gulley Greenhouses 970.223.4769 beth@gulleygreenhouses.com
Publisher
Editorial
Contributing Writers
Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 959 S. Kipling Pkwy., Ste. 200 Lakewood, Colo. 80226 303.758.6672 Fax: 303.758.6805 info@coloradonga.org coloradonga.org
Allison Gault, MBA Executive Director Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 303.758.6672 agault@coloradonga.org
Luan Akin Matt Edmundson Sharon Harding-Shaw, CCNP Kelly D. Norris
Printer
Staff
Mindy Carrothers Dane Elias Tanya Ishikawa Ben Northcutt
Jim Klett, Ph.D. CSU Dept. of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture 970.491.7179 jim.klett@colostate.edu Allison Gault, MBA Executive Director Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 303.758.6672 agault@coloradonga.org
Kerri Dantino Allison Gault Dr. Jim Klett Jennifer Timms-Hobson
Jesse Eastman, CCNP Sam Hagopian Will Knowles Joran Viers
The LooseLeaf feature writer and editor is Tanya Ishikawa of Buffalo Trails Multimedia Communications at 303.819.7784 and office@tanyaishikawa.com. The LooseLeaf is published six times a year with issues scheduled for February/March, April/May, June/July, August/September, October/November, and December/January. Visit coloradonga.org for classified advertisements, plant publications, upcoming events, a member directory, and much more!
Colorado Community Media 9137 Ridgeline Blvd., Ste. 210 Highlands Ranch, Colo. 80129 coloradocommunitymedia.com
Display Advertising Michelle Muñoz, CNGA 303.758.6672 mmunoz@coloradonga.org
colorado coloradonga.org
Allison Gault, MBA
Michelle Muňoz
Ben Northcutt
Executive Director
Administrative Coordinator
Membership Manager
agault@ coloradonga.org
mmunoz@ coloradonga.org
bnorthcutt@ coloradonga.org
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
Education Should be a Company Value Another ProGreen Expo is behind us, the booths are torn down, the attendees have gone back to work, and we are left reflecting on what the show is all about. Maybe you discovered a new supplier, maybe you learned a new approach to propagation, or maybe you just caught up with some familiar faces. No matter what, you hopefully came away a little wiser and a little more prepared for the upcoming spring season.
By Jesse Eastman, CCNP CNGA Board President
“By providing ways for employees to grow as professionals, companies earn not only more capable employees, but more loyal ones too.”
Colorado is fortunate to have a strong green industry. There are many factors that contribute to this, including a robust economy, tons of sunlight, and a large middle class with lots of construction and growth. However, one factor that is often overlooked is something most successful companies – those that thrive and survive for generations – know, and that is the value of education. These are companies that invest in their workforce by providing education and development opportunities. This doesn’t mean they are necessarily paying college tuitions (although some certainly are), but they provide ways for their employees to grow as professionals. By doing so, they earn not only more capable employees, but more loyal ones. At ProGreen, the schedule of seminars varies from year to year. Some years, it can be heavy on business and management topics, while other years, it may tend more towards particular horticultural veins. One thing remains constant: the Expo’s seemingly limitless potential for personal growth and development opportunities for those fortunate enough to attend. At Fort Collins Retail Nursery, it is a chance for my staff to learn new skills, discover new plants (and ways to sell those plants), and to socialize with the vendors whose products we deal with on a daily basis. Those employees come away feeling richer for the experience – richer in usable
information, fellowship and their understanding of the important place they hold in the complex structure of the green industry. The beautiful thing about this kind of learning and growth is that it doesn’t just end with the employee getting that warm, fuzzy feeling of having grown as an individual. Like the most pernicious weed, that knowledge and understanding spreads. The knowledge takes root in the employee who has learned something new. The employee shares that information with a customer, inspiring that customer to try a plant they’ve never considered before, and the seeds of knowledge take to the wind and begin to spread. If that knowledge really takes hold, the customer is successful, and now they are experiencing their own warm, fuzzy feelings. They are proud of their accomplishments, and well-earned pride is contagious. Each of those wind-born seeds starts its own tree of knowledge, and the process continues. The end result is more warm fuzzies, more success, and ultimately, more sales. Meanwhile, that employee is experiencing professional success thanks to a company culture that says, “We believe in you and want you to succeed,” and that is an employee who will return that investment to you in productivity. Companies that embrace this culture of knowledge and enthusiasm build longevity that no amount of frugality, number crunching and penny pinching can achieve. I don’t advocate for recklessly investing in employee development – certainly this can be taken to devastating extremes – but by seeking out wellselected opportunities for employee education, you plant the seeds of success within your organization that will bear fruit for years to come.
knowledge experience &
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LooseLeaf April/May 2016
A Plan to Surpass Previous Plant Something Results Greetings from the CNGA offices! I hope the start of your season has been smooth, and as we move into late spring and early summer that you’re able to build on the success of last year. The April/May issue of the LooseLeaf is one of our most popular because of the variety of lists we include. These lists are intended to be quick reads and something for you to share with your employees so the learning extends past your desk. I hope you find them to be helpful and possibly create a “light bulb moment.” Spring also brings the kick-off of the Plant Something Colorado campaign. We are going to build on the success of the 2015 campaign and continue to hold a contest on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Last year, we were able to increase our plantsomethingco.org website visits by 700 percent over 2014, and had more than 1,200 followers on our social media sites and more than 1,000 photographs posted in our contest.
CNGA — HERE FOR THE MEMBERS
“The Plant Something Campaign has been an important part of our marketing message as a business, and even more as an industry. Our customers loved the contests and we had many folks respond to the social media messages. We will continue to support the program as it helped to create a buzz about what our industry is all about.” The Plant Something Colorado campaign not only benefits our retail members, but it also supports the Colorado growers that supply plant material to our retail members. Our 2016 campaign will focus on highlighting the knowledge and expertise of independent garden center staff, the various benefits of plants such as improved health and property values, and help for consumers in identifying plants that do well in Colorado and specific areas of their yards.
By Allison Gault, MBA CNGA Executive Director
I hope your 2016 season is your best season yet. If CNGA can assist you in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
CNGA will continue to provide “Plant Something Colorado kits”, which include plant stakes, contest information and seeds for customers. Participants were asked to pick up a plant stake and seeds (or other plant materials) at the cash register stations at member garden centers, take them home, plant them and post pictures on any of the social media sites with the hashtag #plantsomethingco. We had 28 member participants last year and plan to exceed that in 2016. We have many sponsorship opportunities available at various price levels, and hope you will consider participating and sponsoring. Levi Heidrich from Heidrich’s Colorado Tree Farm said this about the 2015 campaign:
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“The Plant Something Campaign has been an important part of our marketing message as a business, and even more as an industry ... We will continue to support the program as it helped to create a buzz about what our industry is all about.” — Levi Heidrich, Heidrich’s Colorado Tree Farm
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MEMBER PROFILE
LOST MESA , INC . Lost Mesa Flower Company 35106 Hanson Mesa Rd. Hotchkiss, Colo. 81419 tel 970.872.3245 or 970.424.4198 fax 970.872.1985 emilyknehs@yahoo.com lostmesaflowers.com
Supplier to Western Slope Garden Centers Interview with Emily Knehs, Owner
How did you get into the greenhouse business? Well, it wasn’t something I planned, but it’s just how the cards played out. In 2007, my husband and I moved from the Front Range to Hotchkiss to live where the air was fresher and my husband could pursue his business interests. Ironically, we started renting a house that was on the property where the Lost Mesa greenhouses are located. Since the owner at that time needed some extra help, it was convenient for me to lend a hand. I began to work more and take on more responsibility, as the owner had to devote more time to other issues that kept her away from the business. Eventually, the timing was right and the fit was good for me to buy the business in 2015.
What does Lost Mesa Flower Company specialize in?
Flecki
We are a wholesale supplier of annuals, perennials, vegetables, hanging baskets and containergrown stock. We sell exclusively to independent garden centers in our Western Slope region, such as Paonia, Delta and Montrose, as well as several of the ski resort communities like Crested Butte and Telluride. We have six greenhouses, two shade houses, and delivery trucks so that we’re very capable of growing and delivering all of our products.
What are some of the company’s challenges? Weather is always our biggest challenge, especially when it comes to water supply. This year we seem to be in good shape with all the snow we’ve received. However, in dry years, water restrictions can have a big impact on our business. For example, Telluride has very strict water use
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regulations in drought conditions, and as a result, those customers may buy fewer of our plants since they have to manage higher water priorities. Greenhouse pests and diseases are sometimes a challenge, too, but we manage those pretty well using our great network of sales reps who help us with the best solutions.
Do you envision expansion in the coming years? Yes, we’re hoping to expand our markets to other Western Slope communities where ‘buying local’ is a big focus. We believe in supporting the local businesses that are so important to western Colorado’s economy. Plus, it gives us a great opportunity to showcase our high quality plant material.
How do you determine which flowers to grow each year? I rely heavily on the CSU plant trial gardens. I visit them several times a year to see what’s new and what is adapted for our regional climate.
Do any trends influence what you grow or how? We’re seeing an increasing demand for finished containers. Our garden center customers like the convenience of having a container that is fully grown and will have an immediate impact. That’s really important in the higher elevation locations where the growing season is pretty short. A second trend we’re responding to is the increased demand for perennial herbs. These are becoming very popular in our region. LooseLeaf April/May 2016
A Company built on Family Values & Referrals
MEMBER PROFILE
Interview with Aaron Hoffman, CEO and Owner
What is the history of your company?
How important is culture to your business success?
Ron Richards and Jerry Seeley started the company in 1962, and incorporated it in 1967. In the early ‘80s, Ron established a partnership with the Colorado Greenhouse Growers Association, and began to provide specialized services that met the needs of association members, primarily property and workman’s compensation insurance.
A strong company culture is very important to us. It reflects our personal values and gives us an opportunity to share those values with our employees. When we participate in community service projects like Habitat for Humanity, our employees work side by side in roles that they don’t necessarily experience in the office. This helps to break down relational barriers and build a significantly greater sense of teamwork and cooperation.
Ernie Schaefer purchased the company in 1995, and it then became Richards, Seeley & Schaefer, Inc. In January 2015, Schaefer’s son-in-law and daughter, Aaron and Sarah Hoffman, purchased the company. In the past 20 years, the company has evolved beyond the green industry to offer general liability, home and auto, employee benefits and health insurance policies.
What do you attribute your company’s growth to? Our growth has come as a result of hard work, having really good people, and building strong relationships with our customers. In fact, 95 percent of the new business that we develop comes directly from customer referrals. We had eight agents in 1995, and as the company grew, we’ve added employees to keep pace and now have a staff of 18. Just like finding new customers through referrals, our current employees are our best resource for quality, high integrity individuals.
coloradonga.org
Richards, Seeley & Schaefer, Inc. 3640 W. 112th Ave. Westminster, Colo. 80031 tel 303.429.3561 fax 303.427.0611 ahoffman@rss-insurance.com www.rss-insurance.com
How is the insurance industry changing? Technology is certainly changing the insurance industry. It now provides us with a variety of data tools that can pinpoint exposures based on specific risks, right down to the zip code level. It also helps us track the performance of different products, such as greenhouse coverings, and gives us more accurate assessments of exposure based on a company’s actual property assets. As we continue to see more severe weather events, property insurance in particular will become more challenging and competitive.
What do you like about being a CNGA member? We really enjoy the relationships with CNGA members who are doing business in our industry. It’s a very relational industry. There are many familyowned businesses in CNGA, and since we too are family owned, we can relate extremely well with the business issues that challenge members on a daily basis. CNGA helps us keep our relationships strong and healthy.
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MEMBER PROFILE
A Foundation of Trust with Diverse Customers Interview with Andrew Lisignoli, NMCNP, Sales Manager
Trees of Corrales P.O. Box 1326 Corrales, N.M. 87048 tel 505.898.2327 fax 505.898.9517 andrew@treesofcorrales.com treesofcorrales.com
How has Trees of Corrales achieved continuing success? First of all, we’re very proud to be celebrating our 40th anniversary this year. I think a lot of the credit for our success goes to our owner, Court Koontz. Over the years, he has produced a really fine team of dedicated people here, and he has done that by maximizing the strengths of individuals to fully engage with their positions. Then he gives them the encouragement and latitude to do their jobs in their own ways, so that the entire team flourishes. It’s been a great approach. And I see that success continuing with his son Courtenay now in the role of general manager.
How has the company changed over the years? Court first started out planting bare root tree liners. Then 25 years ago, the company moved into container production including perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees along with our field trees. Our emphasis was toward xeric, drought-tolerant species. We ship our products throughout the Intermountain area. About five years ago, we began to develop the local landscape contractor market through a separate re-wholesale company.
What are some of your notable accomplishments?
General Manager Courtenay Koontz
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In the big scheme of things, we’re very proud of the integrity we’ve built with our customers and partners. Our customers trust us to help them with important decisions – proper plant selections, useful landscape applications, and plant care advice. Another thing we do that has really helped our success is to nurture and develop our “Partners
in Chlorophyll” concept. This involves a proactive and regular line of communication with landscape architects, landscape and maintenance contractors, re-wholesalers, other growers, breeders, garden centers, and extension specialists. As a result, we stay very current on the issues that matter to our customers, which translates to having the right plant material at the right time for the right applications.
What can CNGA do to keep the industry healthy? I would like to see CNGA play a larger role in marketing the value of the goods and services that our industry provides; perhaps a strategic public awareness campaign could be developed. The value is well documented and proven by the USDA, the U.S. Forest Service, universities, and other organizations. The end goal would be to get more buy-in from the public to utilize plants for many reasons beyond just aesthetics – then the industry sees positive results through increased sales, as well as an infusion of new companies and employees coming into the marketplace.
What trends are you paying attention to? There is a steady rise of low maintenance landscapes both for commercial properties and residential that is about more than just plant selection. It requires educating the customers about a wide range of low-water practices including pruning, design, irrigation systems and so forth. That is why we focus on growing appropriate plant material for the Intermountain region.
LooseLeaf April/May 2016
The Annual
Ways to Appeal to Millennial Customers
LISTS ISSUE
By Kelly D. Norris • Director of Horticulture, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
Garden center staff frequently ask me what products millennials want to buy. The truth is there is no magic bullet. Millennial consumers defy traditional categories and metrics and revel in a certain kind of eclecticism, as opposed to a particular brand, period or idea. This generation curates products and experiences in their own, individual styles. Garden centers don’t sell groceries, so people don’t have to buy our products every single week to survive. Fortunately, though, the simple fact that our population continues to increase means the number of gardeners will increase, even if the percentage of gardeners doesn’t. It’s not all about getting young people into stores. It’s really about finding ways for them to experience our products in ways that other generations haven’t before, and being more targeted about it.
Five Keys to Market to Millennials’ Interests 1. Think like a curator—your displays should be innovative and assembled with a purpose. 2. Millennials are intimidated by what they don’t know. They admire people who have expertise that they don’t, so interacting with knowledgeable staff is greatly appreciated. 3. Retailers need to provide relevant information and promote genuinely helpful attributes of plants. Millennials are bombarded with information and have developed pretty savvy filters for what has genuine value versus a gimmick. 4. Partnering with local public gardens or institutions can be an effective way to reach and engage new audiences, particularly millennials (and others) with children.
• Depth of experience: plants need to provide more than solutions; they need to offer full experiences. • Individual style: retailers need to provide more diversity so millennials have many opportunities to select products that speak to their personalities, tastes and circumstances. • Small spaces: with increasing urbanization, gardens and landscaping are shrinking in scale. Our products have to match—think more container plants, dwarf conifers, succulents, and mini-herb and vegetable gardens. • DIY projects: plants like succulents make for fun and decorative craft projects. • Resource consciousness: Millennials have been inundated with messages about recycling and saving the environment since they were born, so they are naturally drawn to sustainably produced, recycled or ecofriendly products. • Perennial love: perennials are poised to cross the $1 billion mark in sales. As gardening trends towards greater sustainability, these categories will increase as millennials search for eco-conscious options for their landscapes. Think natives, cultivars derived from natives and xeriscape-friendly plants.
Kelly D. Norris Photo by Jason Oelmann
About the contributor: Kelly D. Norris (kellydnorris. com) is a 20-something, award-winning author and plantsman from Iowa, the first director of horticulture at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, and a popular speaker at the 2016 ProGreen Expo and other horticultural events across the nation. As a writer and photographer, he regularly contributes to popular gardening magazines and has published two books, A Guide to Bearded Irises: Cultivating the Rainbow for Beginners and Enthusiasts and Plants with Style.
5. Guiding millennials through the design process with computerized tools like Sketch Up can increase interest and help them visualize how products go together.
Characteristics of Millennial Gardeners • Purpose: plants have to do more than just be pretty or colorful; they have to be edible, provide food for pollinators and clean stormwater to name a few. Every plant may not hit all these marks, but these are the kinds of questions consumers want answers to. coloradonga.org
Spring Garden Festival photos courtesy of Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden
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The Annual
LISTS ISSUE
Understanding the Millennial Personality at Work Millennials – defined as people born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s – are coming on strong in the workforce; we are the future of the green industry and every industry in our country, proclaims Kerri Dantino, a millennial and the purchasing manager at Little Valley Wholesale Nursery in Brighton, Colorado. “We are eager to work, excel at multitasking and are usually capable of working faster and more efficiently,” Dantino says. Dane Elias, another millennial who is the sales manager at Plant World in Albuquerque, New Mexico, adds that millennials grew up in an era with a plethora of styles and cultures, exposed on the immense stage of social media, which “has driven us to humanly brand everything we do. We go to great lengths to be heard and seen as we age and enter the workfore. Work becomes a part of who we are, in which our impact is measured by the recognition it receives.” The two millennial employees share several observations about the personalities in their generation, and what they expect out of their professional lives. As Elias points out, “it’s not all about technology. You’ll find many characteristics on this list that are considered timeless values shared by all generations, not just millennials.”
Top: Kerri Dantino Purchasing Manager Little Valley Wholesale Nursery Bottom: Dane Elias Sales Manager Plant World
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• A positive work culture: We crave work environments that celebrate our individual strengths and participation on the team. • Access to technology: We expect to use tools such as cell phones, tablets and laptops in many ways, including emails, texts, socializing, photo sharing, networking, and video sharing (not all at work, of course).
• Team-oriented management: We believe in the social equality movement in the workplace and beyond, and in breaking down hierarchical barriers. • Challenge and purpose (perhaps the most important expectation): We enjoy making a difference in society and appreciate doing charity work through the company. • Flexibility: We desire the ability to do our jobs from just about anywhere. Working remotely with digital tools makes it easier for dedicated employees to save time for family and friends outside of work. • Fresh challenges: We like to be challenged as a team and as individuals, and be part of an educational culture through an exploratory play-to-learn work environment. • Genuine relationships: We seek connections with customers through sharing our knowledge, and real experiences (not just technology-based ones) at work. • Not all benefits are created equal: While we desire health insurance, many of us are not as interested in a 401K. Bonuses are more enticing... after all many of us have hefty college loans to pay off. • Trust from owners and managers: Trusting us and giving us responsibility allows us to explore our jobs and express our personal creativity. We like to have a voice. • The importance of families: We want employers who understand the significance of family connections in our lives, whether they are at home or our peers at work.
LooseLeaf April/May 2016
How to Guide Customers by Reading Labels
The Annual
LISTS ISSUE
By Jennifer Timms-Hobson • Co-Owner, Jericho Nursery
With spring in full swing, our garden centers are buzzing with customers asking all sorts of questions. In the midst of the many questions we hear all day long, many are about how to use some sort of chemical or organic product for treatment of pests, weeds, fungus or fertilization. In my opinion, customers asking about any sort of applied product need to be answered by your most knowledgeable staff members for a few reasons. • Use your strongest staff to train the newbies. The last thing you want is a new staff member getting in the weeds, so to speak, and your store losing credibility. • The number one reason to read labels with customers is to lead them by example. Somewhere on most every label is the line: “It is a violation of Federal Law to use this product inconsistent with labeling.” Let’s not encourage our customers to break laws; let’s show them that we check labels for proper usage before we send them out the door. Most seasoned employees are going to know where on the label to look for application instructions and they will better assist customers with those application rates. • This is an amazing opportunity to provide exceptional customer service and create a sense of authority within your local garden center market. Many of our customers have done the box store thing and maybe even gone to other nurseries only to be very disappointed by wrong answers. If you are willing to spend a few minutes to show them how to use the product and that it’s listed for pest, weed or whatever they asked for help with, you have set yourself apart from the rest.
coloradonga.org
• This is also a great chance to up-sell other products and show you really understand your customer. For instance, if they have three or four fruit trees that need a spray application of Fruit Tree Spray Concentrate, do they need a hose-end sprayer? Do they need a quart instead of a pint because of multiple applications? Is it someone who is somewhat scared of the mixing process and needs a ready-to-spray product? Are they going to fertilize these trees, too? • Follow the same rules with organic or natural products. These products have labels, too, and it’s important to point that out to your customers. The word organic to many customers means the more, the merrier. Spinocad is approved for organic gardening but has very specific mix directions. BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) is another product approved for organic gardening but is only listed for moth larvae, certain leaf-eating worms and gypsy moths. Knowing these limitations but providing your customers with the answer to their budworm problem on their geraniums is a win-win, especially in the eyes of your customer.
Jennifer Timms-Hobson
Photo courtesy of Jericho Nursery
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The Annual
LISTS ISSUE
Five Gardening Preferences of Baby Boomers By Will Knowles • General Manager, Creekside Nursery
Spring is here! Its arrival gives us a sense of renewal – time to get outdoors. All of us have an intuitive appreciation and enjoyment for the outdoors, even as we get older. The baby boomer generation represents a very strong shopping segment for many of our independent retail garden centers. Anything we can do as retailers to help make gardening activities easier and more comfortable for our customers is mutually beneficial. Some of the basic baby boomer gardening features may include:
Will Knowles
Accessible entrances and paths creating a barrier-free garden • Edging for ease of maintenance • Mulches to conserve water, discourage weeds and ease access • Stepping stones and pathways to invite garden visits Raised planting beds, growing containers and other structures that keep plants and soil at a comfortable working height • Elevated planting beds to reduce bending and stooping • Wheeled patio planters for ease of planter movement on patios • Patio pots for gardening in small spaces Automated irrigation • Water wands for ease of irrigation in containers • Soaker hoses for ease of irrigation in raised beds
Specialized tools and equipment to take advantage of limited abilities • Garden kneelers for ease in bending and getting back up again • Garden stools for ease in bending • Garden carts for ease in moving garden supplies and debris Ways to adapt diverse plants for their environments and needs • Flower pots that are easy to care for and adaptable to small spaces • Vegetables that can be grown easily in container gardens or patio pots • Perennials in raised beds • Shrubs and trees, once established, as low maintenance plants Some gardeners like to grow some of their own food – certainly one of the more tangible rewards. Others simply want a pot or two of colorful flowers to enjoy. There are so many simple ways to modify a landscape and equip the baby boomer gardener to garden forever. Let’s face it; if we live long enough, traditional ground level gardening will be increasingly difficult – period. To stop gardening because of age is the worst thing that can happen to a gardener. With minor adaptations to the garden itself and a few carefully selected tools, anyone can stay involved in gardening and continue for a lifetime.
• Drip systems for ease of irrigation in landscape beds • Self-watering planters to lessen irrigation applications
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Photo courtesy of Creekside Nursery
LooseLeaf April/May 2016
Tips for Building Baby Boomer Loyalty
The Annual
LISTS ISSUE
By Sharon Harding-Shaw, CCNP • Owner, Harding Nursery
Baby boomers are a huge market segment, so Harding Nursery is serious about preparing our retail staff to serve the unique needs of boomers. Just as important as knowing what products are of interest to them, we try to understand what kind of customer service they expect. By delivering on those expectations, we can develop strong, loyal customer relationships to ensure they return to shop with us whenever they need gardening and landscaping products and assistance. Here is what we have found baby boomers expect out of a Harding Nursery experience. • Baby boomers want help with creating a yard that is low maintenance, low water use and easy to maintain. • They are looking for a sales person that can customize each experience to help them with whatever situation they are dealing with, such as answering lawn fertilization questions, assisting with design, and explaining plant care and information. • People in this age group like to have information about the plants or products that helps them weigh their options
• They are inclined to hire the services for installing all of their plants. • This generation tends to read about plants in the newspaper and search for deals and coupons. • Like anyone, but maybe even more so, they appreciate getting great value at a fair deal. • They stay with the same products when they find ones they like. • It’s important that retailers maintain consistent brands and products, because baby boomers want to know that they can find products they have used for years.
Sharon Harding-Shaw, CCNP
• Boomers are frequent students at garden center classes, because they are interested in learning about new concepts and products. • They prefer streamlined processes as much as possible, so projects don’t drag on and on. Once they make a purchase decision, they want to complete the transaction quickly and be on their way. • This is a generation who seeks out and rewards good customer service with loyalty.
• They prefer walking around the nursery and physically seeing all of their options. • Boomers like to have the ability to select all of their plants on their own (after receiving helpful information to make that choice).
coloradonga.org
13
The Annual
LISTS ISSUE
Why We Love Plants By Joran Viers • City Forester, City of Albuquerque
As springtime rolls around again, many of us look at our yards and landscapes and see something new that isn’t there – something bright with color, or cool with dark shade, or tasty cooked up in our favorite recipes. Spring makes us think about plants – taking care of the ones we have, planting the new ones we want. Thinking about plants turns our thoughts and our cars towards the nearest, or favorite, local plant nursery.
Joran Viers
Why is this? Why do we homeowners and renters feel the desire to plant our landscapes? What drives us to spend money and break a sweat to add to the greenness that surrounds us? The answer is not the same for everyone, obviously, but there are a lot of good reasons to follow our instincts on this. • Property values: Everyone is familiar with the term “curb appeal”. One of the main contributors to curb appeal, and to property values, is a nice landscape. Healthy specimens of well-chosen species, placed pleasingly in the landscape can really light up a property. If you’re thinking of selling your home, consider what landscaping choices can help move the property quickly, and at a better price. Or maybe you just want to bring up the feel of your neighborhood – start with your own space and watch it catch on!
• Reduced summer heating costs: Well-placed shade trees are invaluable for the cool, green shade they can throw over a hot home. There are many great species of shade trees to choose from, but not all of them are appropriate for every site. Consider how much space the tree will have, both above and below ground. Are there utility lines overhead? How well can the root zone be irrigated? Planting trees on the southwest and west sides of a home can do the most for breaking that hot afternoon temperature and increasing the livability of our home spaces. • Enhancing our private space (by blocking out unpleasant views around us): Let’s be honest; not everyone has our best interests in mind when they work on their own properties. Maybe that one neighbor put up an ugly two-story addition, or maybe they’ve taken up collecting old cars now scattered across the back yard. Effective screening to block out those views can really make your space more pleasant, and plants can do that really well. • Positive effects on our emotional wellbeing: A surprising amount of research shows how positively people react to plants and greenery. We are, after all, creatures of nature and we feel most connected and rooted (pun intended!) when we are surrounded by nature. Even seeing trees from a hospital window can help patients in recovery, as well as lowering stress in hospital staff. Trees and other plants can: • • • •
Lower stress Speed up recovering from illness Lower crime rates Increase neighbor-to-neighbor interactions
• Direct physical impacts: The act of gardening is a great physical activity for people of any age. It can be as vigorous or as mellow as it needs to be. Get some dirt under those fingernails, spill some potting soil on the porch – we are born to be active, and gardening is one of the best ways to do that! Consider putting in a vegetable garden, too – double benefit, once from the growing and then again from the eating. Left: Royal Red Leaf (Acer platanoides) Above: Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinesis)
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LooseLeaf April/May 2016
Managing the Store during Difficult Weather If you want to succeed in the nursery and garden center business in Colorado, being light on your feet is essential. This isn’t about dancing, though that couldn’t hurt. This is about dodging curve balls… especially when Mother Nature is pitching. Case in point: remember the rainy, snowy, freezing and often gloomy weather most of us saw in the late spring and early summer of 2014 and 2015? Nurseries and garden centers were stocking up, eager to please customers who were itching to get back outside, and then WHAM! Last year, mid-April brought a round of heavy, wet snow. As the weeks passed, sunshine seemed fleeting. The rains came down. Temperatures were erratic. Mother’s Day brought a hard freeze and 10 inches of snow. General Manager Beth Zwinak says her first and best response to seasonal challenges like these stems from the teamwork Tagawa Gardens tries to foster all year long. “We’ve always felt that our number one asset is our people. It’s a team that feels like a family. People here are ready to pull together when concerns come up. We shift gears quickly and if overstaffed, work on behind the scenes projects, or if we have to reduce staff, ask for volunteers first. We want our staff to be rested and ready for when the weather does open up and the spring frenzy resumes,” Zwinak explains. Attitude is a key player, too. When freeze warnings went out last May, the Tagawa Gardens Tree & Shrub/Nursery staff repeatedly palletized and moved hundreds of trees in and out of our large garage and loading dock. In typical fashion, Jim, Dave, George and Ken Tagawa were also hard at work, hauling trees right alongside their employees on Mother’s Day weekend. It was exhausting, and could have been discouraging. But it’s always easier when you know that you’re working as a team, coloradonga.org
and that you’re appreciated. Simple “thank you’s” like an impromptu round of hot chocolate for the extra efforts helped, too.
Photo courtesy of Tagawa Gardens
A positive attitude can be contagious. In the Tagawa Annuals Department, the gloomy weather temporarily dampened the spark that we’d been seeing in our guests. Annuals Supervisor Deborah King says people are drawn to our garden center in the spring by the colorful flowers and thriving veggies, hinting of a harvest to come. She says, “When it’s cold or other bad weather, we hold back on the warm weather plants and stock cool weather ones so our guests have better success. We post signs to inform of freeze warnings. We provide advice and handouts on how to acclimate the plant material as well – we want our guests to be successful with our plants.” Education is another big piece of the Tagawa response to weather issues. When freeze warnings are issued, Tagawa Gardens posts notices on Facebook, Twitter and the website, and sends an email blast to customers in our database, as well as reminder signs all over the store. Zwinak says, “Customer loyalty is critical. We want our guests to know that our success as a garden center depends on their success with our plants and our advice.” John Perez is co-supervisor of Tagawa’s Garden Supplies Department. He draws energy from the Tagawa family’s
philosophy of hard work and loyalty to its guests and staff. Perez says when the weather threatens to put a damper on the public’s eagerness to start gardening, “the Tagawas themselves help inspire confidence that we know what we’re doing, and that our customers will stand by us.” Having frost blankets and other protection from the weather available by the checkouts, along with helpful, encouraging advice and handouts for guests is a must. Dealing with Mother Nature’s curve balls isn’t simply about hoping she won’t throw them; it’s about being ready when she does. Being light on your feet and surrounded by a team of employees who are appreciated and well-trained may not always hit one out of the park, but it goes a long way toward never striking out.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
By Luan Akin Outreach Ambassador Tagawa Gardens
Cultivating Love & Life
A family-owned wholesale perennial grower since 1979, Britton Nursery is Cultivating Love and Life in order to produce both healthy and beautiful plants as well as joyful and vibrant people. Our secret is that we are Rooted and Established in Love! (Ephesians 3:17) We invite you to come see what a difference love makes!
Britton Nursery, Inc.
7075 Wyoming Lane Colorado Springs, CO 80923 Office: 719.495.3676 Fax: 719.495.3749 . info@BrittonFlowers.com www.BrittonFlowers.com Proud Member
Licensed Propagator
Licensed Grower
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CSU RESEARCH UPDATE
By Sam Hagopian Horticultural Graduate Research Assistant
and J.E. Klett, Ph.D. Professor & Landscape Horticultural Specialist Colorado State University
Water Research with Ornamental Grasses Deficit irrigation research has proven extremely effective for reducing the amount of irrigation applied to various types of landscape plants including trees, shrubs, and herbaceous ornamental plants. Most research has yet to delve in to one of the most common classes of drought-tolerant plants, ornamental grasses. In our research project, deficit irrigation treatments were based on evapotranspiration of a short reference crop (Kentucky bluegrass, ETo). Three ornamental grass species were examined in 2014 and 2015, Panicum virgatum ‘Rotstrahlbusch’ (Rotstrahlbusch Switchgrass), Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’ (Blaze Little Bluestem), and Calamgrostis brachytricha (Korean Feather Reed Grass). Two studies were conducted, where one was an in-ground study and consisted of four treatments based on ETo (0%, 25%, 50%, and 100%). The second study was a mini-lysimeter study (involving weighing plants to determine water loss) and consisted of three treatments based on ETo (25%, 50%, and 100%). Only Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’ (Blaze Little Bluestem) was used in the mini-lysimeter study. The goal of the research was to evaluate ornamental quality coupled with stress parameters, quantify a feasible irrigation level that maintains ornamental quality, quantify ornamental grass water use, and determine the feasibility of deficit irrigation during periods of drought.
Plants in the 0% treatment were smaller, less physiologically healthy, and not considered visually suitable for landscape use. All three species in the 25% treatment performed equivalent to the 50% and 100% treatments in all visual and physiological categories. The only exception were grasses in the 25% mini-lysimeter study, which were more stressed than the 50% or 100% treatments during periods of drought. While these plants were more stressed, they had adjusted to their environment and were using less water than the 50% or 100% treatments. All three treatments were considered visually suitable for landscape use. This suggests that as long as ornamental grasses are kept on a strict weekly regimen of 25% ETo, and never exposed to periods of drought, they will be physiologically as well as aesthetically usable in the landscape trade on a long-term basis. To make a 25% irrigation regimen easily accessible to workers in the horticulture trade, a general guideline was extrapolated from two years of data. On weeks without precipitation, a weekly amount of 0.25 inches of irrigation is appropriate when installing and maintaining ornamental grasses. This reduction in water by 75% has major implications for the water savings of nursery and greenhouse growers, maintenance personnel, retail operations, and homeowners.
From left to right: Representative photos of Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Blaze’ with 25%, 50% and 100% water treatments, taken on July 28, 2015.
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LooseLeaf April/May 2016
Worksite Risks of Crystalline Silica Winter driving. Heavy lifting. Office ergonomics. Slips, trips and falls. Your organization is taking steps to manage risks you can see, hear and touch. But there’s one risk so small it can be viewed only with a microscope. Yet this small hazard poses big risks to your workers. One of the most common minerals on our planet, crystalline silica is in sand, stone, rock, concrete, brick, block and mortar. Your employees may be using products or materials that contain crystalline silica and not even know it. If your workplace is a dusty one or if your employees work with materials that produce dust, your organization should take steps to evaluate and manage the risks of crystalline silica. Respirable crystalline silica can cause silicosis, a disabling and sometimes fatal lung disease. Workers in sandblasting; sand-casting foundry operations; mining; tunneling; cement/concrete cutting and demolition; masonry production and cutting; and granite cutting, grinding and polishing experience especially high rates of silicosis. Has your company evaluated the extent of employee exposure to this hazard? Pinnacol Assurance’s on-staff industrial hygienists can help detect and evaluate on-the-job exposure to this and other airborne contaminants, and recommend steps to reduce the risks. Additionally, Pinnacol’s website shares guidance, tools and procedures than can improve respiratory protection at your worksite. The U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) sets “permissable exposure limits” for crystalline silica in the workplace. A new
rule is expected from OSHA in early 2016, and your organization can check osha.gov/silica for updates and additional information. The new rule would replace OSHA’s 40-year-old standard. This outdated standard, according to OSHA, fails to adequately protect employee health. The new rule, OSHA says, “would save more than 600 lives and prevent more than 1,500 new cases of silicosis per year.” How can you eliminate or control crystalline silica exposure at your workplace? Here are some suggestions: • Use substitute materials that don’t contain crystalline silica. • Use dust-containment systems. • Work wet when drilling or sawing to control dust. • Ventilate. • Use personal protective equipment, such as respirators, when necessary. • Monitor the air and workers’ health. • Require good personal hygiene. • Train workers on the risks and ways to mitigate them. • Communicate, using product labels and safety data sheets. • Post signs that clearly communicate warnings and required protective gear.
SAFETY CORNER
From Pinnacol Assurance
Pinnacol Resources: For more information on shoring up safeguards against the hazards of crystalline silica at your organization, visit pinnacol.com/resources. Or call Pinnacol’s Safety On Call hotline at 303.361.4700 or 888.501.4752.
ver gO o d win Gro olora ed C end 50 m s! om Rec rietie Va
C O L O R
I T
G R E E N™
Tim Flood: 800.236.4242 Cary Hall: 303.702.1063
NORTHERN GROWN ▪ QUALITY PLANTS ▪ DIRECT DELIVERY
Your Plant Source for:
Shade, Ornamental, and Fruit Trees B&B and Containers Located in Southwest Idaho 208.482.6600 www.claytontreefarm.com coloradonga.org
▪ BALLED & BURLAPPED ▪ CONTAINER GROWN ▪ BARE-ROOT ▪ SHADE TREES
▪ ORNAMENTAL TREES ▪ DECIDUOUS SHRUBS ▪ EVERGREENS ▪ LINERS
P.O. Box 185, 750 South Monroe Street, Waterloo, WI 53594
800-236-4242 ▪ Fax: 920-478-3615 ▪ www.mckaynursery.com
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FUNDING RESEARCH & EDUCATION
Building a Legacy Being a tree grower is a unique thing in today’s society. I’ve read that one of the key indicators of a person with high intelligence is their ability to defer gratification. Certainly, growing trees is an exercise in deferred gratification, and at least in Colorado, you can’t grow a good tree by accident. I would never question someone’s intelligence for trying to grow trees in Colorado for a living; their sanity is another matter. I was thinking about how our company used to really grow trees by accident. As our company evolved more towards distribution and away from growing, the careful planning and execution required to ensure a good yield drifted away. It seems crazy now to say we just threw the liner in the ground, watered it in and followed up without a good plan for feeding, protecting, staking, pruning, spraying or harvesting this investment.
By Matt Edmundson CHREF Board President
Today of course things are much different. The “Great Recession” forced us to evaluate everything we were doing and not doing. This included learning what to adopt from others in the trade who were more successful at producing quality trees. Now we have a plan and our results are night-and-day different. As I sat down to think about a message to communicate to you: my friends, colleagues and competitors, it occurred to me how much leading and developing people is like growing trees. They don’t just grow themselves. Someone had to plant the seed of passion, cultivate and train them in knowledge, and prune away bad habits. They need to be planted in the right ground, given the proper nutrition and
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water necessary to grow, and even meet the resistance of the wind to develop a strong trunk to support the weight of future growth. All of this needs to happen BEFORE they can walk in your door and start adding value for your organization. We as an industry need to think of this notion. There aren’t enough talented people to keep your company thriving, let alone our industry thriving, and there won’t be if we continue to do it by accident and without a plan. Whether your firm is fast growing or slow and steady, it’s critical to have talented people. Investing in our future isn’t only about the money you can give to Colorado Horticulture Research & Education Foundation (CHREF) to support scholarships or research. It starts with adopting the mindset that we are planting a crop which represents our future. What do you think of the attitude of someone who would pay so little attention to their future plant crops? They will end up with very poor results, but that is how many in our industry are thinking and acting about our future crop of leaders and employees. Supporting CHREF isn’t charity – it’s an opportunity. I challenge you to learn more about your employees and co-workers. Learn where the seed of their passion was first sown. Learn who it was that first cultivated their talents and guided their growth. Think about how important those key times were and how it led them to your organization. Our industry needs a pipeline of future talent. Will we do it by accident or create our own future with a plan?
LooseLeaf April/May 2016
CNGA calendar To get more information about CNGA programs and events, go to coloradonga.org and click on the Events tab to view the calendar, or contact the office by phone: 303.758.6672, fax: 303.758.6805, or email: info@colroadonga.org.
Plant Something Campaign: Begins May 8
NEW members City of Greeley Water Dept. 1100 10th Street, Suite 300 Greeley, Colo. 80631 Ruth Quade | 970.350.9874
Jordan’s Greenhouse 900 N. Taft Hill Road Fort Collins, Colo. 80521 Brett Eaton | 970.482.4471
Red Butte Garden 300 Wakara Way Salt Lake City, Utah 84108 Susie Kohler | 801.587.9740
Wilmer Rodriguez 14095 Peyton Hwy. Peyton, Colo. 80831 330.317.7563
Garden Visions Landscaping 3880 S. Helena Street Aurora, Colo. 80013 Leslie Oliver | 303.476.8332
Lost Mesa Flower Company 35106 Hanson Mesa Road Hotchkiss, Colo. 81419 Emily Knehs | 970.872.3245
John Williams 10340 Canyon Road Omaha, Neb. 68112 402.680.8745
Growcentia 1552 Riverside Drive Fort Collins, Colo. 80524 Richard Conant | 970.818.3321
Joe Moreng 327 E. County Road 60 Fort Collins, Colo. 80524 970.690.7102
Willow Creek Wholesale Nursery 25455 N. Lansing Middleton, Idaho 83644 Carla Carter | 208.863.2350
Windy Point Mountain Flowers 1145 E. Warren Denver, Colo. 80210 Steven Levine | 303.999.9075
classified ADS CNGA offers free posts of online classified ads to members, including items for sale or lease and job openings. For more details about the classified listings below and to see other current postings, visit coloradonga.org, click on the Resources tab and click on Classifieds. Various Positions Paulino Gardens, 6300 N. Broadway, Denver, Colo. 80216 Plant Care Technician & Assistant Nursery Manager Sand Creek Wholesale Nursery, 17050 E. Smith Road, Aurora, Colo. 80011 Greenhouse Workers & Landscape Crew Leaders Dwyer Greens and Flowers, 4730 County Road 335, New Castle, Colo. 81647 Inside Sales Associate James Nursery, 7900 York Street, Denver, Colo. 80229 Assistant Nursery Manager, Nursery Sales, Landscape/ Maintenance Technicians, Design Assistants, Supervisors, & Managers in Summit, Eagle & Grand Counties Neils Lunceford, Inc., P.O. Box 2130, Silverthorne, Colo. 80498
Retail Sales Manager, Shipping Manager, Inside Sales Associate, & Wholesale Delivery Driver Harmony Gardens, 4315 E. Harmony Road, Fort Collins, Colo. 80525 Distribution Office Assistant & Loading Specialist, & Distribution Alternate Crew Foreperson Little Valley Wholesale Nursery, 13022 E. 136th Avenue, Brighton, Colo. 80601 Inside Sales & Customer Service Arbor Valley Nursery, 18539 WCR 4, Brighton, Colo. 80603 Horticulturists/Gardeners, Landscape Architect/Estimator & Tree Farm Position Steve Koon Landscape & Design, Inc., 2301 W. Oxford Avenue, Englewood, Colo. 80110 Professional Gardeners and Farm Interns Gardening By Tess, 1669 Hoyt Street, Lakewood, Colo. 80215
advertisers LIST ACW Supply................................................................... 5 Baxter Wholesale Nursery, Inc........................................... 2 Britton Nursery, Inc. ........................................................ 15 Carlton Plants ................................................................ 18 Circle D Farm Sales, Inc. .................................................. 18 Clayton Tree Farm, LLC .................................................... 17 coloradonga.org
Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery ......................................... 2 Harding Nursery, Inc........................................................ 2 McKay Nursey Company ................................................. 17 United Energy Trading, LLC............................................... 2 Willow Creek Wholesale Nursery ...................................... 4
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Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 959 S. Kipling Pky, #200 Lakewood, CO 80226
LET THE CNGA HELP YOU
DRIVE MORE CUSTOMERS
INTO YOUR STORE Join our award-winning Plant Something Colorado campaign. We had great results in 2015 and have plans to expand the campaign in 2016. We’ll provide you with a Plant Something kit to help drive consumers to your store to get the plant stake and seed packet. We also have sponsorship opportunities available to extend your reach to consumers. Last year, our sponsors increased their company social media page followers by an average of nearly 10% in three short months.
Exciting tactics planned for the 2016 campaign include: Participating in live events (Denver Botanic Gardens spring sale, Hudson Gardens concerts, and more) Continuing the contest with great prizes Increasing member participation Gaining more social media engagement Increasing opportunities for media coverage
SIGN UP! Contact Allison Gault
agault@coloradonga.org | 303.758.6672
2015 Campaign: More than 6,100 new visitors to the website, a 700% increase over 2014 1,200 followers on our social media sites 1,000 photographs posted in our contest