Nov-Dec 2012

Nov/Dec 2012 • Volume 30 • Number 6

Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association • Serving Colorado, New Mexico, & Wyoming

Advance

Know How to Prepare for the Future 7 Slow Season Solutions 11 Catalogs Go Digital 14 Prepare for 2013 & Beyond with ProGreen 22 Member Profile: The Pottery Patch

Your #1 source.

All the latest for your hydroponic and traditional growing!

• Complete line of nursery & greenhouse containers.

• OMRI and traditional soils from SunGro along with standard and JUMBO perlite and vermiculite.

• USDA & OMRI certified organic fertilizers, disease & pest control • Greenhouse coverings — hard and soft.

• And much more!

Nurturing grower businesses for 100 years!

Delivery to Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Mexico & Kansas

DWF Growers Supply 4800 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80216 Phone: 303-399-3235 Fax: 303-376-3125 Toll-free: 1-800-829-8280

RichaRds, seeley & schaefeR, inc.

Insurance by Greenhouse Specialists WestminsteR, coloRado

303-429-3561 castle Rock

303-814-2679

www.rss-insurance.com eschaefer@rss-insurance.com

Workers’ Compensation Dividend Plan Member Discounts Safety Plans Competitive Pricing

Greenhouse Packages Garden Center Packages Boiler/Crop Insurance Commercial Automobile Home & Auto

EndorsEd by thE Colorado nursEry & GrEEnhousE assoCiation

“Professional Insurance Service with a Personal Touch” 2

LooseLeaf November/December 2012

Our Mission Professionals growing for a better tomorrow... your growing resource.

Cover Photo Courtesy of The Pottery Patch, West Palm Beach, Florida

In This Issue 3 Calendar, New Members, Classifieds, & Advertisers 5 Board Message: Don’t Get Stuck in Slow Motion

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Prepare for 2013 & Beyond with ProGreen

6 CNGA – A Member-Driven Organization: A Focus on Precious Resources

7

Slow Season Solutions for Staffing & Sales

16 CSU Update: 2012 Superior Annuals 19 Safety Corner: SelectNet Clinic Provider Rating System 20 Taking Care of Business: Loss Prevention Best Practices

21 N.M. Chapter News: Certified Nursery

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Professional Program Coming

Catalogs Go Digital

22 Member Profile: The Pottery Patch, West Palm Beach, Florida

Board Of Directors Dan Gerace, President Welby Gardens Company, Inc. 303.288.3398 dangerace@hardyboyplant.com Bill Kluth, Vice President Tagawa Greenhouse Enterprises, LLC 303.659.1260 x205 bkluth@tagawas.com

Stan Brown Alameda Wholesale Nursery, Inc. 303.761.6131 stan@alamedawholesale.com Steve Carlson Carlton Plants 303.530.7510 scarlson@carltonplants.com Jesse Eastman Fort Collins Nursery 970.482.1984 j.eastman@fortcollinsnursery.com

Davey Rock, Secretary/Treasurer Trinitiy Farms 720.810.1232 rockandrock@mac.com

Tom Halverstadt Country Lane Wholesale Nursery 303.688.2442 countrylane@myedl.com

Kent Broome Bailey Nurseries, Inc. 303.823.5093 kent.broome@baileynursery.com

Sarada Krishnan, Ph.D. Denver Botanic Gardens 720.865.3601 krishnans@botanicgardens.org

Bob Lefevre Advanced Green Solutions 303.916.0609 1950rfl@gmail.com Monica Phelan Phelan Gardens 719.574.8058 monicaphelan@phelangardens.com Les Ratekin Ratekin Enterprises 303.670.1499 lesratekin@earthlink.net Terry Shaw Harding Nursery, Inc. 719.596.5712 hardingoffice@aol.com

Publishing Info

EDITORIAL

Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association

Sharon R. Harris Executive Director Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 303.758.6672 sharris@coloradonga.org

959 S. Kipling Pkwy., Ste 200 Lakewood, CO 80226 303.758.6672 or 888.758.6672 Fax: 303.758.6805 info@coloradonga.org www.coloradonga.org The LooseLeaf is produced by CNGA and Keystone Millbrook Printing Company 3540 West Jefferson Hwy Grand Ledge, MI 48837-9750 Fax: 517.627.4201 www.keystonemillbrook.com www.colorado nga.org

Ex-Officio Members

The LooseLeaf feature writer and editor is Tanya Ishikawa of Buffalo Trails Multimedia Communications www.coloradonga.org/editor-tanya-ishikawa Visit www.coloradonga.org for classified advertisements, plant publications, upcoming events, a member directory, and much more!

Jim Klett, Ex-Officio CSU Dept. of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture 970.491.7179 jim.klett@colostate.edu Lynn Payne, N.M. Chapter Senator Sunland Nursery Company 505.988.9626 ld@paynes.com Sharon R. Harris, Executive Director CNGA 303.758.6672 sharris@coloradonga.org

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Dan Gerace

Sharon R. Harris

Tanya Ishikawa

Dr. Jim Klett

Scott Shick

Amy Statkevicus

ADVERTISING INFO Bill Spilman Tel: 877.878.3260 Fax: 309.483.2371 bill@innovativemediasolutions.com

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2012/13

calendar

Owners & Managers Meeting

ProGreen EXPO 2013

Friday & Saturday, Nov. 2 & 3, 2012

Tuesday-Friday, January 15-18, 2013

New Location for 2012: Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colo.

CNGA encourages all decision makers at member companies to attend this year’s meeting, where we will share experiences, ideas and practical information. We are excited to welcome our guest speaker, Dr. Charlie Hall of Texas A & M University, who will be speaking at the newly expanded Saturday program. $105 room rates.

Thank you to our sponsors: Pinnacol Assurance, Tagawa Greenhouse Enterprises, and Wells Fargo Insurance Service.

Attend ProGreen EXPO and get a wealth of information, professional training and education for you and your staff, see new products, services and suppliers at the trade show, and meet your fellow green industry professionals.

Thanks to our event sponsors:

new MEMBERS David Dickey Sales Representative Willoway Nurseries, Inc. 5904 W. 51st Ave. Denver, Colo. 80212 Tel: 440.315.9671 Fax: 303.477.1964 david@willowaynurseries.com www.willowaynurseries.com Pagosa Landscaping & Supply, Inc. 38 Vista Blvd.

Pagosa Springs, Colo. 81147 Tel: 970.403.5219 Fax: 970.618.1128 supplypagosa@gmail.com www.supplypagosa.com Josh Abrell, Owner Founded in 2008

Prime Materials Colorado, Inc. 6100 E. 104th Ave. Northglenn, Colo. 80233 Tel: 303.288.8877 Fax: 303.288.8855 info@primematerials.com www.primematerialsco.com Founded in 2005 Rifle Creek Nursery 2492 County Road 210 Rifle, Colo. 81650 Tel: 970.618.1128 Fax: 970.625.1026 rcnsef@yahoo.com www.riflecreeknursery.com Scott Fields, Owner Founded in 1992

Register for calendar events with CNGA unless otherwise noted.

CNGA is the host of calendar events unless otherwise noted. For more information, registration forms, and directions to programs, go to the Industry Professional site on www.coloradonga.org and open the Calendar under the Events tab.

classified ADS Help Wanted Greenhouse Grower Orchard Mesa Greenhouse in Palisade, Colo. is a year-round producer of bedding plants, potted plants, and specialty cut flowers. We are looking for a grower with a minimum of two years of professional growing experience to oversee and participate in all aspects involved in the production of crops.

Pesticide application and some evening and weekend duty required. Contact Mike at 970.434.4119, or e-mail resume to grower@orchardmesagreenhouse. com.

Professional Gardeners Gardening by Tess in Denver, Colo. is taking resumes for professional gardeners. At least two years experience maintaining lawns and gardens required. Please only apply if you are able to garden for eight-plus hours in the heat, five days a week moving at a fast pace (multiple homes per day). Seasonal work from March through December. Send resumes and at least three references with at least one horticultural experience to Tess@ gardeningbytess.com or contact Tess at 303.550.4310.

CNGA offers free posts of online classified ads to members, including items for sale or lease and job openings. For more information on the postings above and to see other current postings, visit the Industry Professional side of www. coloradonga.org and click on Classifieds under the Resources tab.

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Photo Courtesy of The Pottery Patch

Tel: 303.758.6672 or 888.758.6672 Fax: 303.758.6805 E-mail: info@coloradonga.org

advertisers Alpha One Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 American Clay Works & Supply Co. . . . 20 Baxter Wholesale Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . 10 Britton Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Circle D Farm Sales, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Clayton Tree Farm LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Daniels Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 DWF Growers Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Fort Collins Wholesale Nursery . . . . . . . 17 Harding Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Hash Tree Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Jayker Wholesale Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Ratekin Enterprises/Hollandia Nursery . . 5 Richards, Seeley & Schaefer, Inc. . . . . . . 2 LooseLeaf November/December 2012

Don’t Get Stuck in Slow Motion For most of us this is the slowest time of year.

The days are rapidly getting shorter and lack of sunlight seems to put us into hibernation mode.

If it wasn’t for football, about half the population would be asleep from Halloween till the New Year, only waking up to share the holidays and eat. There are a few things that you can be working on to help ring in a happy New Year for your company. Creative solutions for labor reduction, budgets, pricing considerations and catalogs need to be finalized during this period.

How do you manage labor without losing good employees to other industries? Many in the industry have found that although their business is seasonal, they have things going on year around. By now most companies are on winter hours and are already at minimum staffing. It might be a time to encourage full-time employees to use their vacation time. Some employees may be looking for additional time off; many of our immigrant workforce is more than happy to return home for a longer stay when given the opportunity. I heard about a landscaping company that offered season ski passes to employees. The employees were happy to ski more and work less, and the company saved money overall. Check out the Slow Season Solutions article starting on page 7 for ideas on creative employee solutions during the off season.

If you are unfamiliar with budgets, start simply. Lay out all your monthly expenses for the past 12 months and look at next year’s plan.

If you are planning on growing more, add the additional inputs (pots, tags, soil etc.), labor, and overhead. Check with your suppliers for updated pricing, try to get quoted prices and work at ordering quantities that can save you money.

However, only order larger amounts if you know you will be using those supplies in a timely manner; longterm inventories will counteract any savings you may have gained. Try to get the discounts for paying within 10 days; terms and/ or paying interest can really eat into profits.

Once you have a budget, evaluate it monthly. If you are not on budget, make sure you know why and try to make adjustments. The more budgeting you do, the more complex you can get.

After you have developed a budget, you should be able to really zero in on all your costs. To price your products or services accurately you have to know your costs. Many growers are beginning to use overhead calculations that are www.colorado nga.org

dollars per square foot per week. Prices for items that have higher input costs or take more space or more time on your property need to be higher than for other items. It is very important to project your production out into sales. If you are not profitable after you look at average shrinkage and traditional sales, you may not be pricing correctly.

Catalogs are very important in the green industry as customers are very visual. There is still a desire to have a hard copy despite the fact that more and more people are going digital. However, the price of printing catalogs for all your customers and potential customers is prohibitive. Try to get it in a digital version a well, so you can hand out business cards or send a postcard leading customers to your digital catalog.

Just a few things you can do, when the snow threatens, between football games, while under a blanket drinking a warm cup of whatever.

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD

By Dan Gerace CNGA Board President

Encourage fulltime employees to use their vacation time during your slowest months.

Best of luck and stay warm!

Flowering Shrubs • Junipers Ornamental Grasses • Vines • Perennials Container-Grown Shade & Fruit Trees since 1957

Represented by Les Ratekin 303-670-1499 • 303-670-1133 fax lesratekin@earthlink.net

www.HollandiaNursery.com 5

CNGA — A MEMBER-DRIVEN ORGANIZATION

By Sharon R. Harris CNGA Executive Director

A Focus on Precious Resources The 123 attendees at the summer BBQs identified their three key issues and CNGA is responding with the following actions. Some of these programs were initiated before the BBQs, but others came to fruition after hearing your concerns. We value your feedback and encourage you to continue to make us aware of the issues you are facing that CNGA can address.

Water The obvious need for water and limited ways to influence this precious commodity make it a primary concern. Water is never off our radar screen.

A meeting with the Denver Water General Manager is pending and we have met with their Conservation Manager. We are requesting their recognition of the BMPs as standards, use of

the CSU tree and shrub water study findings as a basis for water needs and allocations, and the significant impact of their decisions on the industry. Everyone is not impacted by Denver Water decisions, but many municipalities often follow their lead.

Support and promotion of expanded storage as a key component of future stability is ongoing, most recently stated through a CNGA letter of support for the Chatfield Expansion Project. A number of legislative bills on storage are expected in the 2013 session and all reasonable approaches will be supported.

The October 24 Fall Workshop, “Every Drop Counts”, featured water technologies for production and proven techniques to increase production of drought-hardy plants.

Labor At the state level we continue to maintain the position that immigration policy is a federal issue.

Senator Michael Bennet has developed a Colorado Compact providing a reasonable approach to immigration at the federal level.

Once completed, this document will be distributed to members. The senator’s intent is to send a statewide message from businesses calling for a workable immigration policy. We have been involved in dialogue with the senator for the last 18 months. As I’m writing this, three other states were also working on their state compacts.

Increased Sales

Created Exclusively for ado Landscapes & Gardens Color

AlphaOneInc.com 6

We’re very excited to introduce an incredible plant marketing tool for CNGA members only – Grown’N Colorado®. The distinctive logo and verbiage makes this brand a unique and focused method to promote the plants you sell that truly are grown in Colorado. Unlike similar programs, this one has specifically defined guidelines for use of the logo. A second offering will be made in the future for non-plant products like honey, soaps, pickles, clothing and other similar products that were “grown in” Colorado. Depending on the timing of your receipt of the LooseLeaf, you may have already received your promotional information from us. Based on research, we found 92 percent of Coloradoans would buy products from our state. We expect this to be a significant marketing tool for our members.

LooseLeaf November/December 2012

Slow Season Solutions for Staffing Sales

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No one wants to lose skilled and reliable employees.

Yet, each winter company owners and managers in the green industry, who face months of low revenue and reduced workloads, must lay off at least a few valued staff members.

Photo Courtesy of Boxelder Tree Farm, Wellington, Colo.

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Cross training can help reduce the number of people who get laid off. For the remaining unavoidable layoffs, owners and managers can motivate staff members to return through showing a commitment to keeping them working as long as they can with new revenue streams, and providing information and terms that will help them until their jobs return.

Boxelder Tree Farm, a field-direct wholesale grower of trees and shrubs in Wellington, Colo., has a staff of 10 to 12 through the spring and summer, but in September, that number is cut down to about three full-time employees and three hourly employees.

The four to six employees who get laid off usually have other jobs that will carry them through the winter. Some work at vegetable processing plants in Greeley, while others work as mechanics or in restaurants.

“We’re constantly looking for things to try to keep our guys busy. I actually talk to other people in the green industry to see if they have openings. I’ve talked to greenhouse growers who start planting perennials in January and February, but it has never worked out for us on that end. As soon as they get someone trained, I’m knocking on their door and asking to bring them back to dig trees,” said Rob Bryner, a co-owner of Boxelder Tree Farm.

Bryner also talked to livestock people in his area about having his staff hire on to help with calving in the winter. “The problem with that is we get started in March when they’re still going at it pretty hard,” he said.

Boxelder Tree Farm sometimes subcontracts its tractors, loaders and employees to snow removal companies. The farm workers get to make some money, while the snow movers appreciate the extra help on large commercial and apartment

At Pine Lane Nursery in Parker, Colo., cross training is beneficial all year long, not just during their slow season.

Photos Courtesy of Pine Lane Nursery, Parker, Colo.

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012

parking lots. Snow removal jobs were more plentiful a few years back when seasonal blizzards were more common. These days, Bryner puts the word out that his workers are available, but the snowfall is not consistent enough to keep them too busy.

He also offers some part-time winter work at a lower hourly rate for jobs such as pruning or adjusting and setting stakes. “I can’t afford to pay the same wages in winter except for the equipment operators and more skilled people. Quite a few guys will take a month off and come back and work on nice days in mid-January when the weather permits.”

Boxelder has minimal maintenance projects in winter, because those are usually done in the fall, so there are few opportunities for cross training employees for other winter work.

For Center Greenhouse, a wholesale bedding and potted plant grower in Denver, Colo., cross training keeps employees busy throughout the year. “Cross training staff is critical for our business. We try to cross train most of our labor staff to be able to work production, facility maintenance, order-pulling, etc.

The key is to have your systems set so that the procedure is in place and all the staff needs to do is execute it. We can move the crew from one project to the next rather seamlessly,” said Brian Yantorno, the vice president.

Center’s management is constantly analyzing its employee count versus production workload and sales, then streamlining production and shipping. Being a young-plant producer, cash flow remains fairly consistent throughout the year and justifies keeping key employees on a permanent basis. “There aren’t many people that we need to keep on just for the sake of having them,” Yantorno added.

At Pine Lane Nursery in Parker, Colo., cross training is beneficial all year long, not just during their slow season.

Manager Kerry Workman said, “We absolutely rely on crosstraining. Our planting crew is completely separate from our sales crew, but within those crews everyone is able to do everything. The most important skill for both is knowledge of plant material. And we all pride ourselves in that area. This way we are all able to sell the product, as well as care for the product.”

Pine Lane, a retailer and wholesaler of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals, maintains a decreased retail presence during the winter holidays, selling fresh cut and living trees, wreaths and gifts, as well as offering open houses, sleigh rides and garden and landscaping classes. This provides work for the few staff kept through the winter months, and incidental hours to those who are not working full-time hours.

The nursery also puts off all business planning, process work, and as much administration as possible until the winter months. That period is when management reviews the past season, makes operational changes, prepare budgets, and plans and prepares for the rest of the year.

“We try to provide very limited hours to several of the key employees to supplement their unemployment during the winter. The staff knows when they are hired that it is seasonal work,” Workman said.

Pine Lane also helps key employees arrange for job attached unemployment benefits, which helps ensure they can return in the spring. Giving employees flexible summer schedules is another way of making it easier for them to keep a second job, which guarantees them continued income during the winter when the nursery lets them go.

www.colorado nga.org

Back at Boxelder Tree Farm, employees are given a “heads up” with 30-day notice of their layoff sometime in August to give them a chance to start looking for other work. Those who stay until the end of the busy season are given bonuses equal to one-month pay in September, just before they are let go. Bryner said, “It’s an incentive to stay with us through the summer, and seems to help tide them over if they have lag time between jobs. We let them know if they have another job that needs them right away, they can leave and will still get the bonus if we want them back the next year.”

Boxelder’s employees have the option of filing for job attached unemployment, too, and some employees did it a few years ago. But, Bryner said no one has filed for it recently because the benefits don’t hold them over for the number of months when the farm is not hiring. The benefits run out in midwinter and work doesn’t start up again until March.

Even for permanent employees, the farm is shut down for two to three weeks over the winter holidays. A year-end bonus helps them get through the time off.

Another way of keeping employees busy and earning a paycheck is additional crops of hay and sometimes winter wheat and corn. Still, this additional work is mostly available in the summer, with a bit more in the fall and very little in winter.

“This fall, we’re looking at doing more digging up and healing in trees that winter well above ground in our yard. This will help us out because it won’t be so hectic in the springtime, and we’ll keep some guys around longer in the fall doing more productive work,” Bryner said. “We did it last year, and it allowed us to clean up miscellaneous trees that we hadn’t found time to dig up in the spring. We can go through and clean the fields up this fall, put them above ground in the yard over the winter, and if they sell in the spring, great. Otherwise we’ll keep them into the summer.”

RESOURCES • Colorado Job Attached Unemployment information: colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/ CDLE-UnempBenefits/CDLE/ 1251574101437 • CNGA Classifieds: coloradonga.org/ classifieds-sale-and-jobs • ProGreen Seminars: progreenexpo.com • Front Range Community College Horticulture & Landscape Design: frontrange.edu/ Academics/Fields-of-Study/AAS/ Horticulture/ • Colorado State University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture: hla.colostate.edu

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Finding solutions for spreading out the workload is just one part of being as efficient with labor and resources as possible, while producing quality trees and shrubs that sell well. It not only helps the management and employees, but also can help customers by providing more inventory earlier in the spring and throughout the year.

Photos Courtesy of Boxelder Tree Farm, Wellington, Colo.

Quality specimen trees Evergreen Flowering Shade

Baxter

WholESalE NurSEry

888-777-8199 Emmett, Idaho | baxternursery.com

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012

Catalogs Go Digital

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“We all have limited resources and catalogs are a significant investment in time, money and intellectual capital for many firms. It is our key sales and marketing vehicle that incorporates our brand identity.”

– Matt Edmundson, Arbor Valley Nursery

Arbor Valley Nursery, like most CNGA members, produces its catalogs between October and December. The nursery in Brighton, Colo. creates its paper catalogs in-house and prints them with a printing firm, in time to distribute at ProGreen as well as by hand and mail upon request.

“One limitation in printed media is that it locks in information in print until the next publication. Of course, there’s the qualifier that prices are subject to change without notice, but that’s difficult to pass on to a customer as a surprise,” said Edmundson, Arbor Valley’s president and owner. “Few of our customers use the catalog for price information. We adjust prices in our system as necessary, and bids sent to clients are updated accordingly. We also have an unpublished discount schedule based on our catalog prices.”

The nursery also sends out updates to announce special offers that come up and notify customers of market trends. “We bid a lot of material for future jobs. We follow up so that customers understand that when getting other competitive bids, they should double check availability and how long prices are good for.

Trends in availability and prices right now are very unpredictable,” he said.

His company also produces a catalog on its website with no pricing included, and electronic versions of the catalog available on thumb drives as well as through email. The nursery used to produce CDs, but discontinued that version because it was too cumbersome. Though easy to burn, the CDs are more easily scratched, broken or lost compared to thumb drives. “Thumb drives can have data loaded with no special software. You can have the data pre-loaded as a straight file structure, hyperlinks or an interactive experience, so we can do it ourselves,” Edmundson explained.

Arbor Valley made the original decision to produce thumb drives to help it stand out as a leading edge company, and found out that many customers preferred the electronic format to paper catalogs. The thumb drive is “pretty basic,” pre-loaded with the catalog and a few other reference documents. More advanced (and more expensive) thumb drives can be formatted to display the content in a file listing as well as an interactive format. Some thumb drives have an application that opens a menu and hyperlinks to files stored on the Internet, when the

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drive is inserted into the computer. The application then automatically updates itself with the most updated file versions.

“Other colleagues of mine have decided to go entirely electronic, taking their budgets for printed materials and revamping their website to improve its interactivity and usefulness.

I think most companies are somewhere in the middle, not in love with printed media but also concerned with possibly losing their influence with those customers who have come to rely on their catalog as the ‘bible’ of their industry,” the nursery owner noted. “Certainly getting product information out electronically carries a risk, but we are looking at the risk of not having electronic media as well.

There is an entire generation who may never look up a phone number in a phone book or open an actual encyclopedia. For these people, the future is certainly not in printed catalogs. At present, in nearly every other industry in which they interact, all information is on demand, current, accurate and available in real time. You can comparison shop, research and transact seamlessly. Very few if any opportunities such as this exist to date in our trade.”

Sharon Harding-Shaw, a co-owner of Harding Nursery, Inc., agreed there are pros and cons to going electronic with catalogs.

The Colorado Springs company, which sells to both the wholesale and retail markets, has been producing its printed catalog in-house since 1979. In recent years, it has also been available on a thumb drive and CD. “We have wrestled with the idea of putting out a catalog online. We could set it up where you needed a password to print the wholesale catalog, because we certainly don’t want retail customers knowing the wholesale pricing,” Harding-Shaw commented.

Though she has seen a lot of nurseries putting retail prices on their websites, she said she prefers customers to come in and visit. She admitted that she may be “old school” but she believes customers can find the right plants and the best value if they come in and talk with staff.

“If you knew your prices were cheaper than anyone else’s, you’d be fine with having your catalog online. If you are trying to be competitive but focus more on growing the best plants and providing excellent customer service, you could start losing

LooseLeaf November/December 2012

“Nothing about this business is simple, but if you are flexible, honest and dedicated to improvement, you’ll attract loyal customers.”

– Sharon Harding-Shaw, Harding Nursery

customers who price shop. Customers who just shop prices are not loyal,” she said.

To keep the attention of retail customers and build loyalty, Harding Nursery sends out quarterly magazines in the spring, summer, fall and before Christmas. The magazines include plant photos and articles by horticultural experts. The nursery also has an online newsletter, with new and seasonal plant ideas and coupons, that is emailed about once a month and can be printed. The nursery also posts articles on topics such as butterfly and hummingbird gardens on its website, as well as updates on Facebook with tips and upcoming events such as popular spring and fall seminars.

Harding also creates retail “catalogs” that are simple stapled sheets of paper with pricing information and specials, which are handed out to retail customers in the store or mailed by request only.

Wholesale customers also get some “specials” sheets throughout the year, but the catalogs provide the main product information.

Growing many of its plants, the company also has to ship in some plants, so its catalog contains both Harding-grown prices and “shipped-in” prices for most plants. “If we have our own products we can sell them for less, but we still have to be able to supply the plants even we are out of our own,” explained Harding-Shaw.

Once the prices are printed in each year’s catalogs, the company usually sticks to the pricing, even though it includes a disclosure statement about having the right to change prices as needed.

For contractors bidding jobs a year ahead of time, Harding can negotiate the price and hold it for the coming year.

Harding-Shaw’s IT staff has been creating the catalog with an Adobe® PageMaker® program, sending it off to a printer to make copies, and producing thumb drive and CD copies as well. With the process getting more complicated and time-consuming, they have decided to get quotes for an outside firm to produce future catalogs and will be making a decision soon.

She has some customers who just want printed catalogs, some who want the electronic version and others who want it both ways. The electronic version is simply a digital copy of the printed catalog, without extra interactive features or spreadsheets.

The catalog is made up of eight-and-ahalf by 11-inch pages, split in half lengthwise, to make a tall, slim catalog with a spiral binder. It has a table of contents and separated sections for shade trees, shrubs, roses, perennials, and fruit trees and berry bushes. More color photos have been added gradually to increase its attractiveness.

Perennials are displayed in two formats, one similar to the photo and descriptions in other sections and the other as a grid, which makes it easier to compare plant properties and features but is smaller, harder-to-read print. The regular format was dropped and only the grid included one year, but so many customers complained that the previous format was brought back.

Plants are alphabetized in each section by common name, instead of botanical names, because the Colorado Springs nurserywoman said, “Many of our clientele who are landscapers don’t know the botanical names. We work with them on the common name level. Some customers asked why we’re not using the scientific names, so we did once and some people said they couldn’t find anything.

You can’t please all the people all the time.

Nothing about this business is simple, but if you are flexible, honest and dedicated to improvement, you’ll attract loyal customers.”

“We try to stick to the prices in the catalogs. Customers don’t like surprises so we try not to give them surprises,” she said.

“Even if there is a misprint, even if it is obvious, we still get people who say ‘That’s what the catalog says.’ Once it’s written down, it’s in stone, don’t you know? Even though you proof and you proof and you proof, it still seems like we end up having some typos. We send out a letter with Give Us Your Feedback Please a sticky to put over each Would you be interested in printing catalogs or producing mistake.”

digital catalogs through a CNGA partner who could provide collective, discount pricing to association members? Please send your feedback to Sharon at sharris@coloradonga.org.

www.colorado nga.org

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Prepare for 2013 &Beyond at ProGreen

Photos Courtesy of ProGreen EXPO

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012

Feedback from the 2012 ProGreen Expo evaluation sheets provided an excellent roadmap for planning the 2013 show: increase the skill level of presenters, expand the length of sessions, and provide information for each company and its employees to grow and succeed. Your words guided the Seminar Committee through the vetting and selection process that resulted in 82 seminars, four research or new plant presentations, three certification programs, and eight pesticide CEU sessions.

Seminars for CNGA members provide education for retailers, growers and wholesalers. You will be seeing email messages on all these speakers, leading up to the opening of the show on January 15, 2013.

We are very excited about two speakers who will address estimating production costs and loyalty marketing. Dr. Marco Palma will present “Marketing Trends & Methodologies in Estimating Costs of Production” in a two-hour session. An assistant professor and extension economist at Texas A&M University, his special focus is on horticultural marketing.

Sallie Burnett is a local business owner of a relationship marketing firm and adjunct professor at the prestigious Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. She will present a two-hour workshop on “Loyalty Marketing.” Because of the

applicability to all sectors of the CNGA membership, this session will be offered twice.

Session descriptions will also include the skill level of the presentations, and speakers are aware that the majority of the ProGreen attendees are seasoned, well-trained professionals who are looking for information that matches their experience level.

You will also see changes in the mechanics of ProGreen. A mobile website will provide easier access to the seminar offerings, show registration, and special events information. Access the mobile website by scanning the QR code on the previous page with your smartphone. (You can easily download a QR barcode scanner app for your phone if you don’t already have one).

Reaching out to a broader audience was a goal of the ProGreen Management Team in their planning for the next three years. To that end, you will see a social media presence that is fresh, focused, engaging, and will continue to expand.

As the world of social media changes, so will this offering.

Another staple of ProGreen week is the CNGA Industry Celebration, formerly the Annual Banquet, held on Thursday.

The evening is totally focused on the celebration of our members and the industry. Starting with happy hour at 5 p.m. through the dinner and the acknowledgement of award and scholarship winners, this annual event is all about celebrating and having fun.

The 180 attendees at the 2012 Industry Celebration had one complaint: the drinks were too expensive (up to $12 per beverage). We’ve taken care of that! The 2013 event has been moved to the Embassy Suites, conveniently across the street from the Convention Center, where the price of drinks will be a reasonable $5 to $8. I hope you will come and celebrate this incredible industry with your friends.

ProGreen will provide great education and networking opportunities as well as helpful plant and equipment exhibits.

To increase your preparation for 2013 and beyond, all you need to do is attend!

www.colorado nga.org

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CSU UPDATE

2012 Superior Annuals from Colorado State University Annual Flower Trials The Annual Flower Trials at Colorado State University continue to grow and prosper yearly.

The Trial Garden has become a major university and Fort Collins tourist attraction during the growing season.

By James E. Klett, Professor and Extension Landscape Horticulture Specialist, Colorado State University

Find a complete list of all 2012 Colorado State University

2012 was the twelfth year annual flowers were planted at the Remington Street site near the University Center for the Arts. The garden is planted and maintained by the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture with guidance from a committee of growers, flower seed and plant companies, and public garden horticulturists.

Twenty plant and seed companies participated and funded the 2012 trials along with many in-kind donations of supplies. Industry and university personnel and Master Gardeners served as trial judges. Approximately 1,050 different plant varieties were planted in 2012.

Some of the 2012 top performers from our August evaluation day include: Begonia (hybrid) – ‘Whopper Rose Green Leaf ’ from Ball Ingenuity

larger size with a more upright growth habit.

Flowers were large with good green foliage.

Calibrachoa – ‘Superbells Lemon Slice’ from Proven Winners

Flowers were larger than other calibrochoas with unique lemon color. This variety performed excellently in the container trials and would be great for hanging baskets.

Coleus – ‘Color Blaze Marooned’ from Proven Winners

Its growth habit was dense and very uniform with very dark foliage color. With no flowering, it seems superior over other Color Blaze varieties.

Euphorbia – ‘Diamond Frost’ from Proven Winners

This variety continues to be superior in 2012, with a very uniform habit and non-stop flowering throughout the season. It could have many uses in the annual flower garden including adding a fine texture to any landscape.

The best of our hybrid begonias, it performed well in sun with an impressive

Annual Flower Trials winners at www. flowertrials. colostate. edu.

‘Whopper Rose Green Leaf’

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012

‘Superbells Lemon Slice’

Geranium (zonal) – ‘Caliente Fire’ from Syngenta Flowers

Lantana – ‘Luscious Berry Blend’ from Proven Winners

The fire-red full blooms contrast nicely against the deeper green color of the foliage. Plants give a real impact in the landscape with a larger overall growth habit.

This lantana had abundant multi-colored blooms along with an excellent growth habit. The plant performed excellently in our low water treatment.

Hardy, Colorado-Grown

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NURSERY STOCK

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800-794-1289 Our quality is your success www.colorado nga.org

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Marigold – ‘Christy Yellow Improved’ from Ameriseed

This marigold had more of a compact growth habit which resulted in no lodging during the season. It had numerous yellow blooms creating a good contrast to darker green foliage.

This was still an excellent variety late into the season.

New Guinea Impatiens – ‘Super Sonic Magenta08’ from Syngenta Flowers

‘Whispers Star Rose’

The larger magenta flowers on plants with bushy growth habits make it excellent for containers. It is a repeat winner from 2011.

Petunia (vegetative-spreading) – ‘Whispers Star Rose’ from Syngenta Flowers

The smaller flowers were very numerous and uniform in size. Its growth habit results in a carpet of novel flower color.

Zinnia – ‘Uptown White Wall’ from Burpee Home Garden

This zinnia was very uniform in growth habit with abundant white flowers throughout the seasons. Plants also looked good late into the season.

‘Uptown White Wall’

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012

SelectNet Clinic Provider Rating System

SAFETY CORNER

From Pinnacol Assurance

When choosing the right SelectNet medical provider for your company, are you taking advantage of the clinic provider rating system that is part of Pinnacol Assurance’s Clinic Provider Initiative (CPI)? SelectNet is Pinnacol’s integrated, preferred provider network encompassing primary, secondary and ancillary medical services to injured workers who are employed and reside within the State of Colorado. CPI, which is available to all policyholders, is Pinnacol’s statewide, comprehensive program that evaluates SelectNet providers for operational and administrative efficiencies. If you aren’t taking advantage of the CPI rating system, then you are missing out on the key benefits it offers, including:

• Allowing you to make informed designated medical provider selections • Improving the service experience for injured workers • Driving improved efficiencies in claims management processes and service

If you aren’t

• Providing ongoing feedback to medical provider clinics regarding operational and administrative performance

taking

Pinnacol is the only workers’ compensation insurance carrier in the country with this type of measurement system. Using CPI, you can also see how SelectNet primary care clinics score in important areas such as:

• Clinic comfort • Cleanliness and service • Timely submission of medical records • Thoroughness with which clinics address modified duty Providers are rated on a scale of one to five stars with five stars being the highest.

The provider rating system was recently updated with scores Pinnacol compiled at the end of our third reporting period. Visit the SelectNet provider directory at Pinnacol. com and click on the “Manage SelectNet Providers” link under “QUICK LINKS” to see the complete list of primary care provider ratings and the up-to-date performance information.

advantage of the Clinic Provider Initiative rating system, you are missing out on its key benefits.

If you have any questions about the provider rating system or about our SelectNet program, please contact our medical operations team at 303.361.4945 or your Pinnacol marketing representative.

www.colorado nga.org

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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

Loss Prevention Best Practices A credit card authorization guarantees only that funds are available on that account number.

It does not guarantee that the transaction poses no risk to the merchant.

If a sale is too good to be true, the merchant needs to proceed with caution. They may need to speak with a representative of Heartland Loss Prevention.

By Scott Shick Heartland Payment Systems

Imprints, Imprints, Imprints! If a card presents a situation requiring that the transaction be keyed, the merchant should be advised strongly to make an imprint of the card and obtain the cardholder signature on the imprinted draft.

If the back of the card is not signed, ask the customer for identification. Verify the signature on the credit card receipt with the signature on the form of identification.

If you are a card-not-present type of merchant, you should be utilizing AVS and CVV2.

When should a merchant call Heartland Loss Prevention?

You should call...

• when you are going to process and/or have processed a transaction that is substantially larger than your average ticket and/or utilize a processing method for which you are not approved • when you have concerns about processing a transaction • when the customer is exhibiting suspicious behavior • when the customer is refusing free delivery of products • when you are contacted by a cardholder via Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD) or a phone relay system • when a customer wants the product shipped to an address for which you did not receive an AVS match • when you are a card-not-present merchant not utilizing AVS or CVV2 • when you are the new owner of the business and are not listed on the current merchant application • when you want to ask if it’s okay to process in a manner contrary to the approved processing method as stated on your merchant application • any time you have questions regarding the risk of processing credit card transactions Scott Shick is a Senior Relationship Manager of Credit Card, Check, Payroll, Gift & Loyalty programs at Heartland Payment Systems, which provides CNGA members with discount credit card processing and payroll services. Heartland Payment Systems offers a complete suite of payment solutions and processes all major credit cards. Heartland Payroll Services has the experts when it comes to handling payroll processing, new hire reporting, and calculation of payroll checks. For more information, contact Scott at 303.883.1468 or scott.shick@e-hps.com, and visit www. heartlandpaymentsystems.com.

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012

Certified Nursery Professional Program Coming Over the past 18 months, members of the New Mexico Chapter and the Colorado CCNP (Colorado Certified Nursery Professional) committee have been working to modify the Colorado manual for the introduction of the NMCNP. This lengthy process put a fine point on the complexity of the program and has been a reminder of all the work that went into implementing the initial program in Colorado.

The manual, which is 99 percent complete, was introduced at the August 23 Member BBQ in Albuquerque, N.M. and was received with enthusiasm by the chapter members. At this same meeting, attendees identified the need for education on plant care and the elevation of professionalism in the industry as their second highest priority. The implementation of the certification program will certainly meet both those goals.

CHAPTER NEWS NEW MEXICO

Identification of the plant list and development of the New Mexico-specific test questions are the largest remaining components to be completed.

CNGA would like to acknowledge and thank Dana (Schubert) Ford who led the initial work in New Mexico and Keith Williamson, who has taken the lead in reviewing the changes and editing to ensure the two programs are as consistent as possible. The association is very appreciative of your work to expand this beneficial program to the New Mexico Chapter.

HASH TREE COMPANY WHOLESALE CONIFER NURSERY

Growers of Quality Specimen Conifers Selected Seed Sources of Pine, Fir & Spruce

877--875--8733 1199 Bear Creek Road Princeton, ID 83857

Fax: 208--875--0731 E--Mail: Sales@hashtree.com Web: www.hashtree.com www.colorado nga.org

21

MEMBER PROFILE

The Pottery Patch – Keeping Busy with Fresh, Unique Products What is the story behind the founding of The Pottery Patch?

The Ocean Rock Collection from The Pottery Patch

The Pottery Patch Int’l Inc. 412 Tall Pines Rd. West Palm Beach, FL 33413 Tel: 561.697.9377 Fax 561.697.4231 support@thepottery patch.com www.thepotterypatch.com

The Pottery Patch got its beginning by “accident”. Its sister company retails Christmas trees and holiday decorations, and in 1999, while on a shopping mission in Mexico to find wire reindeer, the owner discovered Mexican pottery that was new to the market. Being a roadside vendor, he was confident that this pottery could be sold from roadside tents in a similar fashion as trees and pumpkins. He put together a semi load of pottery and unique accessory items and shipped it to Florida where it was sold with success from a corner lot. That success was the beginning of the pottery business, which has since grown into a wholesale distribution business now importing from China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Italy as well as Mexico.

What is the background of the owner?

University with an engineering degree in 1982, he moved to Florida to start a career as an aerospace engineer. However, it took about one week to discover that engineering was not very exciting, so as a sideline job, he began retailing Christmas trees, buying coin laundries, and obtained an MBA from Florida Atlantic University.

After six years of miserable work as an engineer, he was financially able to quit that career and focus on the businesses, which he had been working on after hours and on weekends. Now his three great kids, who have all been involved in the businesses, continue to work part time in while going to school.

Tell us about your property and staff.

The Pottery Patch has a 2.5-acre site in West Palm Beach, Fla. with warehouses, shipping containers, and open ground used for storage. It

Jack Lucas grew up in Michigan, and since the age of 6, was involved in a small, family business selling trees from the front yard of his home. After graduating from The Ohio State

Photo Courtesy of The Pottery Patch

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The Rainforest Collection from The Pottery Patch

LooseLeaf November/December 2012

shares the property and equipment with the seasonal businesses, which sell fireworks, pumpkins, and Christmas trees, so there is never a dull moment or down time in the company. The office staff consists of eight full-time employees and six to 10 employees working in the warehouse.

Describe your product line.

The product line of The Pottery Patch is very wide, including flower pots, fountains, chimeneas, and décor items. The company sells very little to the retail market and prefers to keep it that way so as not to compete with its local wholesale customers.

The Pottery Patch’s customers keep coming back because it is continually changing its product lines and doing its best to stay at the leading edge of new designs. The first question that everyone asks at a trade show is “WHAT’S NEW?” Having been involved on the retail side of business via seasonal businesses for 29 years, the owner understands the retail customer is always looking for something different. That’s the core of his business model: creating and finding new, exciting products that are easy for customers to sell because they are new and different!

When and why did you become a CNGA member?

The Pottery Patch’s involvement in CNGA is rooted in ProGreen where it found a new

market for its products. One of the owner’s best friends, who is a Christmas tree grower in Oregon and has exhibited at the Expo for years, suggested that he give it a try. The results have been fantastic and the company now has a great customer base of ProGreen attendees from Colorado and surrounding states.

What are your labor solutions for getting through slow times?

Our pottery business is a bit different than most others for a couple reasons. First, we are in south Florida and our statewide selling season is the opposite of the rest of the country.

We have a very short off season for sales, which is July and August. What also makes us different is our seasonal businesses, which are busy during our slower pottery times. There’s never a season when we need to cut back labor, but during the busy shipping season, there is a lot of overtime being paid out!

What are innovative ways that you are approaching catalog creation?

The Pottery Patch is working more on creating new themes and grouping the components of each theme on facing pages versus scattering items throughout the catalog. Two new themes for this coming season are the “Rainforest Collection” and the “Safari Collection”. These themes are getting tremendous interest because they work so well with current fabric colors in patio furniture and home décor. Creating pottery and a matching collection of décor to compliment it helps our customers sell more products and generate more interest on the retail side. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!

“We understand that the retail customer is always looking for something different, and that’s the core of our business model: creating and finding new, exciting products that are easy to sell.”

– Jack Lucas, owner

The Safari Collection from The Pottery Patch

www.colorado nga.org

The Slate Collection from The Pottery Patch

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Colorado Nursery & Greenhouse Association 959 S. Kipling Pky, #200 Lakewood, CO 80226

2013 ProGreen – Expanded Workshops and Sessions for Higher Skill Levels Read about improvements in the 2013 ProGreen seminars, as well as increased accessibility to seminar information, and new plans for the Industry Celebration inside this LooseLeaf issue on pages 14 & 15.

Photo Courtesy of ProGreen EXPO

Coming Up Next!

“Starting the Year off Right” is our theme for the January 2013 LooseLeaf, with articles about ProGreen 2013, soil consistency and quality issues, developments in growing media, and Dr. Charles Hall’s message from the 2012 Owners & Managers Meeting.

And Remember:

You can always find useful information and helpful business tips in the back issues of the LooseLeaf at http://issuu.com/looseleaf.

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LooseLeaf November/December 2012