I don’t remember a spring like this in a long time – started early with a very mild winter, has stayed cool, and we even had some soaking rains! For the last decade, seems like every spring has been droughty, and warm weather set in long before May. People are loving it, getting outside and enjoying nature and outdoor sports like kayaking and hiking. The plants are loving it too. We’re getting luxurious growth on all our crops, they’re finishing quicker, and product is flying out of the nursery.

John Q. Public seems ready to spend money on plants and landscaping again. The drought of confidence in the economy seems to be over.

When we were in the depths of the recession, people put off replacing their old cars or moving into new houses or buying themselves unnecessary extravagances (like plants). We did okay selling edibles, because folks thought they’d save money if they could grow their own food. Atavistic survival instinct kicking in?

The car died and had to be replaced. The refrigerator kicked the bucket and you were forced to buy a new one. Now your garden’s a mess, and you need new plants. After paying for all the things you had to spend money on, is there anything left to pretty up your yard with.

Let’s hope so.

Here is a list I have compiled of plants that hummingbirds love. Many of these are varieties that we carry at Grandiflora.

If you have any suggestions of additions to the list, please let me know.

Grandiflora will be exhibiting three successive weekends at large upcoming trade shows scattered around the southeast. 

First up (next weekend) is the Gulf States Hort Expo in Mobile AL. We love to attend this show because the move-in is fast and easy, the hotel we stay at is within walking distance of the Convention Center, and the fresh seafood at local restaurants is delicious. Also, the Show staff is sooooo friendly. They truly understand hospitality in Alabama. Some years the show coincides with Mardi Gras and there is a huge parade right past our hotel, with people fighting for thrown beads, moon pies and kewpy dolls. Unlike New Orleans, this parade is PG – no women exposing themselves and no obnoxious drunks, so bring the kids along!

The next show is Wintergreen in Atlanta GA. Again, our hotel is nearby, just across the parking lot, restaurants abound nearby, and move-in/move-out is a simple affair. The opening night reception has delicious food, and there is always an interesting speaker. Last year Vince Dooley addressed the gathered crowd and talked about facing the recession and keeping an upbeat attitude. Unfortunately, I slipped in the icy parking lot walking to the show the next morning and spent my time working the booth with a painful back sprain.

Our final spring show is also a fun event, the South Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association Show in Myrtle Beach. Some years the weather is blustery and cold, but customers still come in droves to take advantage of low winter-time motel rates, play golf on uncrowded courses, and to see what plants are looking good with spring just around the corner. We always stay at The Breakers, right on the ocean, and Pat jogs along the beach no matter the temperature. We also bring our musical instruments and jam with Laura Lee Rose, a SC County Agent and superb musician.

Please try to attend at least one of these shows to see what Grandiflora will be offering this spring. Stop by the booth and say hello. If you mention that you read this blog, I’ll even give you a 5% discount on your first spring order.

And if you haven’t overdosed on shows by then, you can probably see us the next few weekends walking the aisles at the Tampa and Jacksonville shows where Frank and I go to buy liners, supplies and plants to re-sell closer to home.

Alan

For the second straight year, Grandiflora has held a drawing at the Landscape Show in Orlando FL for a $500 shopping spree at the nursery. To enter, customers must have made at least a $500 purchase from Grandiflora in the past two months. For each $500 spent, a customer received one entry, so the number of chances increased with each order and the size of those orders.

This tears’s winner was Tammy from Niceville Garden Center. Grandiflora owner, Alan Shapiro, let his grand-daughter, 3-year old Delaney Kate Anderson, pick the winning ticket on the last day of the show.

Grandiflora won another award at  The Landscape Show in Orlando at the beginning of October, “Best Themed Exhibit”. We dressed as ship-wrecked sailors on a beach with our sail boat and a background of colorful tropical and blooming plants from the nursery. Our exhibit took the trade show’s optimistic theme of “Full Sail Ahead” and added a twist to reflect the last few year’s struggle with the worsening economy. Our rustic signage had messages  that read “Survived the wreck” and “Weathered the storm” and finally, “Smooth sailing ahead”.

We are optimistic about the coming spring. Hopefully 2012 will mark the beginning of a new era of higher nursery sales.

…at least when my college football team is winning.

No, just kidding – fall is my favorite gardening time of the year in spite of a few Gator losses.

A Saturday morning in the garden can be wonderfully chilly and brisk and breezy. You’re not dripping with sweat or scratching mosquito bites after a half hour’s digging. The weeds have slowed down and you can finally keep up with them, pulling escapees as you come across ‘em. Spring is a time of drought, but fall usually brings regular rains as the first winter cold fronts roll through. Plants can develop roots all winter even though the tops are dormant or even totally brown.

I lived in South Florida until I was eighteen. There was no change of season, so our tropical landscapes looked pretty much the same year round. Now I live in northern Florida, and am amzed that the tree leaves change color with the first frost, ornamental grasses turn brown and make crackly noises as they blow and rub in the wind, fall-blooming perennials show off with bursts of oranges, yellows and reds.

My favorite fall-blooming perennials are Odontonema (Firespike), Russelia (Firecracker Plant), Tecoma Stans (Yellow Bells), Senna bicapsilaris (Cassia), Clerodendrum paniculatum (Pagoda Plant), and Asters like ‘English Countryside’. Cool season annuals like Violas and Snaps are popular, but more people should try Nemesia, Diascia, and Erysimum. They take the cold as well and make a bigger splash as they grow, spread, and bloom continuously.

So remember that the old slogan “Fall is for planting” is really quite true. You’ll feel wonderful just being outside exercising your muscles. In this less hectic time of year, the landscape dons its spectacular autumnal hues, flowers produce fireworks and then go to seed, and the cooler nights harden the plants and prepare them for a winter’s rest. 

Anyone for a cup of cocoa?

Last year’s $500 Sweepstakes was so successful that we’re doing it again in 2011..

Win a $500 Shopping Spree at Grandiflora!

Grandiflora has won another major booth award at the FNGLA’s annual trade show in Orlando, The Landscpae Show, formerly known as the Florida Nursery and Allied Trade Show (FNATS).

We took second prize in the Large Island category with our four spaces filled with blooming plants and old car parts. The deconstructed pickup truck fit in well with the show’s theme, “Shifting Gears”, and our sign proclaimed “Get your sales in gear with Grandiflora”.

Garnering alot of attention (and photos) was our 6′ tall pyramid of tires painted green and crowned with a shiny wheel to resemble a Xmas tree. This idea was shamelessly stolen from a similar “tree” in Felder Rushing’s yard in Jackson MS. (Thanks, Felder, for the idea). A bench seat from an old Ford gave us a comfy place to sit and shmooze with customers. Hoods and doors and radiators also littered – oops, I mean, classed up our booth.

To stay in theme, the salespeople wore mechanic’s overalls, complete with greasy rags. This was a very practical choice, with lots of pockets in the overalls for cards, glasses, pens, candy, etc. They also kept us warm in spite of the fact that most trade show halls are kept at or near freezing.

Anyone placing a $500 order at the show got one last chance to enter the drawing for a $500 shopping spree. The winning ticket, pulled at the conclusion of the show, belonged to Greenery Construction in Hardeeville. Congratulations, Greenery!

This ends the fall trade shows. Next up – January/February spring shows in Myrtle Beach SC, Atlanta GA and Mobile AL. Maybe we’ll see you there.

The winning ticket of our first $500 Sweepstakes was drawn at The Landscape Show in Orlando and it belongs to… Greenery Construction of Hardeeville SC!

They have won $500 of free plants. We had over 350 entry coupons in the pot for the drawing, one for each $500 of plants purchased from Grandiflora during August and September.

This promotion was so successful that our staff has decided to do it again for the fall/early winter season. Starting on October 1, 2010, any purchase of $500 of plants will earn a shot at the grand prize of another $500 shopping spree, with the contest ending and the winning ticket drawn on December 24, 2010.

A few simple rules:
The $500 minimum is just for plants purchased, and does not include freight or sales tax. Customer’s account must be current.
Employees of Grandiflora and their families are ineligible. You need not be present to win. We will contact you.
The $500 Shopping Spree certificate must be used fully by February 15, 2011. Call the nursery for more details.