Let's get down to business

Not everything about the horticulture field is about the plants. Paying attention to marketing is essential in a business environment, whether you are selling the plants themselves, the landscaping services, or the products to support them. If you are in business, you are selling something.  And the logic is really simple. If your potential customers don't know what you are selling, they won't buy what you are selling. 

The most important aspect is visibility.  If you are selling plants, you want them to look vibrant and healthy and inviting.  Therefore, no dirty containers, NO dead or dying leaves and definitely no "worn out" displays (which would include individual plants that look sickly or dying).  If you are selling landscaping services, you want to include pictures of the landscapes you have done while they are at their peak of beauty. (Also consider asking satisfied customers to post a sign in their landscape with your company logo and ALWAYS leave them several of your business cards.)  And if you are selling products to support landscapes you need to be sure your displays are in tip top shape. 

So here is the scenario:  A couple is holding a backyard birthday party for their 5 year old and a dozen friends.  Their yard is infested with those nasty fire ants.  He has only a few hours to get rid of the pests so he heads off, in a rush, to the local garden store and sees this...

Your company's product is in the silver bag.  What do you assume the chances are that Joe P. Consumer is going to purchase YOUR product?
There are several problems with this picture and all will affect the store's sales numbers and your bottom line as well. There is a method to the madness of how a store stocks is shelves. And many corporations will package their products to create the largest impact.  Bright colors, flashy or bold labeling, large or unique containers.   But all of those efforts are lost if a retailer is not stocking their shelves appropriately or not straightening their shelves.  Compare these two photos.
The simple act of having all labels facing outward with all products straight on the shelf creates less visual chaos. It also improves the possibility that your product is chosen.  A retailer does a disservice to themselves and to your company if they do not display their products in a pleasing manner. 

Which of these shelves is more enticing to purchase from?  The shelf that is nearly full or the shelf that has many open spaces or has products pushed back?  "Flushing" is a retail is pulling everything forward on a shelf so that all products can be seen.

A small tactic of product sales managers will be to flush all items then push the competitor's products back very slightly.  This literally brings the product they are trying to sell 'into light'. Those products that are slightly in shadow receive less attention than those that are pulled forward slightly.

Notice the bottles that are place haphazardly and labels not facing out

The same shelf as but with packages properly "flushed"

 

Let's talk roses.... 

This lovely specimen is my Peace rose.  Gorgeous right?  And this bloom was 3 days old so it was starting to curl. It came down with blackspot this year.  Once again, my heart skipped a beat or two.

rosemagazine.com explains Blackspot: "Diplocarpon rosae, is a nasty fungus that manifests itself on rose bushes as black spots on leaves progressing to black spots fringed with yellow rings on both sides of the leaves. As they develop the spots enlarge."

As the disease progresses, the bush will lose all of it's foliage leaving just the branches and twigs behind.  The newer the leaves, the more susceptible they are to fungal infection. 

photo courtesy: mississippibotanicalgarden.com

Wet, humid weather is perfect for the fungus to grow in. When the temperatures hit 75 or more for 7 or more hours, the fungus is activated and germinates.  Three to ten days later, spots will begin to show up on the leaves. 

After the symptoms are visible, new spores will be created every three weeks.  (And since thousands and thousands of spores are created during each burst of reproduction.... YIKES!!!  It won't take long for a rose garden to be affected... it's like a plague for roses.)  And those spores can be carried on the wind (natural source of transportation), or carried on insects, humans, and animals (mechanical transportation).  rosemagazine.com also advises "Spores can over winter in the garden so autumn cleanup is crucial otherwise the entire cycle can repeat itself the following spring and summer"

photo taken from bayeradvanced.com

 This product is my go-to for roses.  All in One.  Ahhh.  A ray of simplicity in the life of an adult college student (I say adult because I have WAY more responsibilities at home than a traditional student.)  But, I digress.  Back to All in One.  Fertilizer.  Insect Control. Disease Control.  Ahh.  Apply it and go.  Now the application varies. Bayer offers liquid (known as systemic) and granulated which is a slow release.  Liquid is what I pull out when I need big guns. Fast action.  Granules require water to bring them into solution. Because the liquid is, well liquid, it is drawn up through the vascular system faster than a granule.

The active ingredient Tebuconazole is a broad spectrum fungicide that will treat many different fungi, including Blackspot, Powdery Mildew (that's the one my poor Peace has come down with a few years ago), Rust, and Southern Blight. All the nasty little organisms that will ruin my Peace.  Not on my watch.

For your viewing pleasure/reference....

Southern Blight

Powdery mildew

Rust

So why am I doing this?

Growing up, my grandparents kept a garden - it WAS the 70's after-all, nearly EVERYONE had backyard gardens back then. I remember many an afternoon on my knees next to my Besta-Mor  (Danish for Grandma) in their huge garden digging in the cool, black soil, learning and bonding.   Among many other things there were cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, watermelons, and strawberries... Oh the strawberries!!  I think I ate more than I put in the bowl.  We did that back then... we ate stuff right out of the garden... without washing it first. 

In today's day and age, you can't do that.  There is a lot of controversy about pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides being used in our environments.  The names of certain companies are notorious and the acronym "GMO" can raise the neck-hairs of many conservationists.  Many consumers will pay higher prices (in some cases nearly double) for products that have "organic" or "non-GMO" on their labels.  As a horticulture major, this is an every day concern. 

But why? 

What is all the hoopla about?  Well, it is much of it is driven by a very real concern... sustainability.  Our natural resources are being erased by ecological footprints like oil spills, soil contamination, and air pollution. In the last few years, chemical applications to our food sources have been linked to everything from cancers to ADHD.  But I also have learned there are often two sides to every story. I question, how much of the media frenzy is real and how much is fired up by people who want to step "off the grid".  In an effort to learn more, I have accepted a position and have been contracted by the "Weekend Warrior Program" driven by Bayer Advanced, one of the nation's leading providers of lawn and garden products. 

Here's my thought process..... 

As a grown woman, I have several gardens and dozens of indoor plants.  I grow flowers in full sun.  I grow flowers in shade.  I grow all kinds of vegetables and herbs, and I even have several fruit trees.  My favorite is a yellow "Peace" rose.  I have carried that with us through five moves over an eight year period. I dedicate a lot of time to growing things for beauty and for healthy living. 

I also have a husband (aka Hubsy), three dogs, a parrot, and eight chickens.

So I have concerns.  Of course, I want NOTHING to harm my loved ones.  Even those blasted chickens bring me joy and companionship (with the added benefit of eggs & fertilizer).  But I also want my hard work to produce something more than fodder for the compost pile.  I want to support sustainability because I know that bees are as essential to make my gardens grow as are water and sunlight.  I don't want my ecological footprint to erase more and more of our beautiful and limited resources.  But I want to grow a tomato that grows up to be big and juicy and bright red - hard to do when there are bugs galore that want to eat my tomato... even if it is small and green. 

Speaking of green... I adore a yard with lush green grass.  It just looks beautiful.  Or my beautiful Peace rose.  As I mentioned, it's my favorite.  Hubsy bought that for me as a wedding gift just days before he deployed for Afghanistan.  Fitting, don't you think?  It was a beacon of hope for me. I cried tears of joy when the first, gloriously fragrant, breath-taking yellow & pink flower opened!  It was spectacular.  Then after six years and moves from Louisiana to Alabama to south central Texas, one morning I woke up and there were no leaves on it.  All of the flower petals littered the deck.  It was sticks with thorns. I noticed the leaves had a powdery white coating.  Powdery Mildew. The heart of Texas was too humid for my precious plant. I was devastated.  My mother-in-law, praise her sweet southern heart, recommended  "the blue bottle".  In comes Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 systemic Rose & Flower Care. Six weeks later, my rose had begun to put on leaves again.  After just a few months, I had big beautiful rose on it again.  And my acceptance of chemical treatments shifted a little and brings me to my journey with Bayer.  Stick around to hear more.....