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wbona

Perennial growers and sellers

wbona
19 years ago

Hello

We'd like to hear from people who grow and sell perennials at their farm market. We just started up this year and have had great success in our small market. We bought some plants and bulbs wholesale, bare root and grew them on, and others are propogated from our own garden. During the season we took advantage of end-of-season sales and picked up some great grasses, perennials and ferns at less than wholesale prices from the big boxes. We've cleaned them up, nursed them along and repotted them. We also sell some houseplants, lucky bamboo and earlier on we sold cut daffodils from our garden.

We designed a garden cart to hold trays and pots and added a market umbrella to keep us out of the elements. We like to be located outdoors and have tried every week, rain or shine to stay outside.

I designed labels with pictures for all of our plants and had these laminated at our local copy shop.

We are planning to sell bulbs and houseplants through the fall, and in December we will sell live Christmas trees, wreaths and garlands.

We are unsure of what to sell through the winter months and may close from January through May. Ay ideas on products to offer through these dark months?

If you sell plants at your market, we'd love to hear of some of your experiences, success stories and failures! If you have any questions, post and we'll be happy to share our experiences.

Comments (6)

  • pattimelt
    19 years ago

    This is my first year also. All my plants have grown at least one winter here if not all their 'parents' lives. We are also in zone 5. I sell all types of perennials, hostas, shrubs, roses, herbs, and am trying to specialize in aquatics and pond supplies. Also I make hanging baskets, living wreathes and other garden ornaments. We also have fresh produce and some cut flowers and I make lots of different jams and preserves which are a top seller right now.
    My biggest problem is tho we only live a couple miles from the Saturday farmers market, the plants can take a beating going back and forth. Plus you never know what to bring, etc. And now that the weather is in the 90's, how many people are planting, or should be?
    This has been years in the making, (as you can probably tell from everything I have to offer) but I have the same questions about selling nursery stock during the winter months plus now in the heat of summer when you really shouldn't do much planting other than annuals.
    Ideally I need to open my gardens up to the public and sell from here so everyone can see things in beds and see planted ponds, etc. Also building a website to sell from there. But the market has such great potential.
    It has ben a real eye-opener to say the least.

  • wbona
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Enjoyed your post. Aquatics is a great idea. How do you display these at your market?
    We live about 40 minutes from our market and have a trailer to move our garden cart and shrubs back and forth. We have room in our stationwagon for seven trays of plants. This solves the wear and tear, and we fill the back seat with cut flowers and delecate shrubs in flower. Our next vehicle will be a van! As to what to bring...we have found that people love to buy anything in flower! A plant will sit around for weeks at a time and as soon as we have a flower, it sells. We always try to bring something new each week and keep a list of what our customers want us to bring. We have a printed catalogue that shows just about every plant we have in stock and that helps our customers decide.
    To stay ahead of the game we sell plants that are unavailable anywhere else locally. This means always surveying what the big boxes and other nurseries are offering.
    The big selling point we use is that all of our plants are grown outside and are aclimatized to the local area...no hardening and the plants are hardy in our zone.
    I'm looking for a Canadian supplier of living wreath forms and would like to offer them next season.
    In your post you mention 'other garden ornaments". What sort of things do you make or sell?

  • pattimelt
    19 years ago

    Do you make your own catalog? How do you keep one step ahead of the big boxes?
    I agree about things in bloom. They really attract.
    I sell birdfeeders, bat houses, mosaic pots,and transform 'junk' into uesable items.
    It is hard to display lots in the small space we are alloted. Also, what to bring. I try to set up a couple of small ponds with different fountains which we make but then that cuts down on the area for plants. And it is hard to showcase water lilies in shallow ponds when they have foot long stalks from being in a deeper pond. Plus the transporting is always a problem. I have a truck and even then only so much can go in plus has to be covered.
    I want to sell my excess plants and fish before winter and just not sure how to do it. I have a 1/2 dozen temporary pools filled with plants and fish that won't winter over.
    Anyone have any suggestions?
    Patti

  • wbona
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Yes we make our own catalogue. We use a database program (FilemakerPro) to keep track of our plants and their care and have designed a format that allows us to print out a catalogue, complete with photos, latin name, size and a brief plant description.
    I like to think that it's the big boxes that have to stay ahead of us! :) While they may have more plants and cheaper prices, we have certain advantages that they will never match. All of our plants are grown locally, organically, not forced into bloom and need no hardening off before our customers plant them. We are knowledgeable about our plants and offer garden design tips. We are passionate about what we grow, keep our plants in excellent condition and offer some plants that none of the big boxes sell.
    KHOW THY ENEMY! We take advantage of the big boxes at the end of their season and have been able to strike deals buying excess plants at a fraction of wholesale. We pot the plants up, grow them along, give them some tender loving care and then sell them for less than the big boxes retail price!
    When you said you specialized in aquatics I thought their transportation and display must be a hassle!
    Selling off excess plants? My phlosophy is to never put our plants on sale. If customers think you're gonna have an annual sale at 50% off, next year they'll just wait for the sale (wouldn't you?) Instead of a sale we usually have a weekly special, offering a good discount on whatever plant we have an excess of. I am opposed to sales. A fair price for a quality plant is what we offer.
    Perhaps you could 'get rid" of your excess plants by setting up a display water garden somewhere near your farm market? It might be some work and money, but what a great way to advertise your plants. What about making a donation to your local park or horticultural society, get some free media coverage, plug your plants and services.

  • pattimelt
    19 years ago

    What I need to do is open up my farm once or twice a week to sell from there. That way they can see the plants in thier settings, plus all the ornamentation set up and displayed. It is just hard thinking about strangers lurking about in my yard.
    I would like to get a catalog or at least a newsletter going. Any pitfalls you have come across to avoid?
    Patti

  • reinbeaux
    19 years ago

    I've been selling at the markets for 4 years - first year was definitely the eye opener. Started off with 20 varieties of herb plants --- had to learn (teach myself) to propagate by cuttings. At the time I started, I thought there was only two types of mint: peppermint and spearmint. I now grow about 500 varieties of herbs, small fruits, and berries including ~ 40 varieties of mints (and just made a trade for 14 more mint varieites!) - anything in the edible landscape or [LEGAL] medicinal --- 99% perennial. I buy one mother plant and propagate all of my own plants I sell (from cuttings or seed) I used to sell plants on ebay but with doing three markets a week and selling wholesale to 8 nurseries last year, I don't have the two days a week to pack plants for shipping so I gave ebay up (at least for now) since I have no employees and I'm still single. Currently all of my plants (all in pots of various sizes) are in my parents small yard while my place sells --- planning on buying / leasing more room for the nursery.

    One old guy (82 years old this year) that sells at one of the markets I sell at sells water plants (and other plants too) - he brings several tubs (half barrels - plastic) and fills them with water at the market for display of his water plants - always sells out of water plants - he also sells mosquito eaters, tadpoles, frogs etc - always runs out of those too way before the market ends - it's his 25th + year at market selling.

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