Oops.

Like everyone in this industry, we here at Lawn & Garden Retailer are still trying to figure out how to work social media and all our electronic products into the mix of all the other things we have to do at the office! Summer’s been crazy.

Just before the OFA Short Course, we were working overtime to finish our redesign of our sister magazine, GPN, in time for the July issue, which we hand out at the show. It looks gorgeous, and we’re so proud of it…whew!

Check it out:

Short Course kept us all super busy, too — we’ll be discussing all that in the next episode of Hort TV, which will be out at the beginning of August.

Photos from Short Course are up on our Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/lgr-and-gpn.

What have you been up to this summer?

Why the extra letters? The [American] world may never know.

We’ve been staying in Edinburgh, in Scotland, but Alnwick is a wee bit south into England; the town’s big attractions are a castle and a garden. We visited on a Sunday, so most of the shops in town were closed, but traffic on the one road in and one road out was absolutely nutty.

To weather in Scotland has been incredibly mild and sunnier than usual lately, so the garden was just mobbed!

But this isn’t the formal, straight-laced type of place you conjure up when you think of a garden in the UK. This garden is a charity, dedicated to community and education.

In other words: an absolutely glorious place.

The Duchess of Northumberland founded the garden as we know it in 1996. When we arrived, Ian August, who’s been in the garden’s employ since its inception and is now garden liaison director, took us into a room just off the gift shop and talked to us for about 15 minutes.

The garden had a sort of “soft open”; instead of one grand opening, it was planted and developed in phases, and the public was invited in almost immediately. Developers originally estimated that they’d get 67,000 visitors in the first year and require about 25 employees. They were a bit off: In just the first three months, there were more than 250,000 visitors and needed more than 100 employees!

To say the least, Alnwick Garden has been a hit. Phase two of development has recently been completed, and phase three puts the final touches on the space. They’re testing out new walking surfaces and perfecting some of the accessibility aspects, as well as installing the last of the physical gardening spaces. If I were a regular visitor to the garden, I think I’d prefer seeing it completed in stages like that — always something new to check out!

The gardens, of course, were lovely. It was separated into sections: a rose garden that wasn’t in bloom yet; a “poison garden” used mainly to educate visitors about drugs and other dangerous plants; an ornamental garden with tall hedge walls; a bamboo labyrinth. But the best part about the garden wasn’t plant-related at all, though: What I loved most was the kids.

They. Were. EVERYWHERE.

And they weren’t just staying close to their parents’ sides. They were playing in the water features, running in the grass and chasing one another through the labyrinth. This is a place where kids felt comfortable, a place kids thought was fun!

Families brought picnics out and sat to enjoy them on the lawn; the queue (that’s British for “line”) for the ice cream stand wrapped around the corner after the lunch hour passed. The kids especially loved waiting for the jets to go off over their heads on the cascading fountain display, just off the main lawn. (Check out the photo!) You could hear them squeal from anywhere in the garden when they finally shot up. I couldn’t have had more fun playing in the fountains myself.

This hands-on, educational family atmosphere is something all attraction gardens and garden centers alike should strive for, no matter where they are. I suppose there’s a place for serene beauty and quiet reflection, but these days, the more people we can entice to get passionate about plants, the better!

Yesterday was a scorcher, about 27° C. That’s in the mid-80s, I think, and for Scotland it’s absolutely a day at the beach. We piled into a bus at 9:30 and made our way through town to the stunning Edinburgh Botanic Gardens.

The gardens are free to all visitors and right in the city, so they’re very accessible to the residents of Edinburgh. It’s lovely to see such an investment in the natural beauties by the government. At the newly constructed visitors center, the guides split us into three small groups, and we set off on tours of the grounds — though we couldn’t even begin to cover the 70 acres.

My group’s guide, Stephanie, was a tiny Welsh sprite of a woman, who seemed to know the garden by heart and loved every plant in it. The California garden enthusiasts in the group — some of them Master Gardeners, others just friends and spouses but plant lovers all the same — stopped to “ooh” and “aah” at the rhododendrons and azaleas, exotic trilliums and various trees you just don’t see in the states. (Though we did stop in a grove of redwoods, and everyone seemed right at home.)

After our guided tour, I went with four women to visit the Queen Mother’s garden, planted in her memory after her death in 2002. It was nestled behind a long, tall row of trees that had been cut into hedges — that’s where the photo I posted last night came from. All the plants in that garden had royalty-themed names, and stones along the ground detailed each decade of Elizabeth’s life.

After a long, relaxed walk in the shade through the gardens, we stopped in the gardens’ restaurant for a little bite to eat. Fresh!! I ordered a vegetarian dish, spiced falafel with couscous, and “rocket” (arugula) and mixed greens. Also at the table: Smoked Scottish salmon on a chive scone, and a lovely salad with chorizo, red beans and a mustard vinaigrette. With a glass of wine to wash it down, we were truly “ladies who lunch” yesterday.

I’ve posted some photos on Lawn & Garden Retailer‘s Flickr — go ahead and add us as a contact if you have an account, too! Or, if you like short bursts of information, you can follow me through my travels on Twitter at @lgrmag.

Today, we’re driving along the A1, one of the main “motorways” out of Scotland and into northern England to visit Alnwick. Which is pronounced Annick. (Of course.) The sun’s trying to peek through the clouds and haze, but I’m not holding my breath. The weather today is far more Scottish: misty, chilly and damp. But still beautiful. What a glorious garden getaway so far!

For more information, visit www.gardengetawaytours.com or contact Vanessa Dinning at plantvan@gmail.com.

…I’d say we’re holding up.

My flight to Amsterdam — the first leg of my Garden Getaway Tours journey — left Chicago at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and suddenly it’s Friday morning. And…I forgot to sleep on the plane. But I did get to finish a book and dream about all the beautiful gardens I’m going to see over the next 10 days!

But gardens look better, I think, with a bit more rest. Here’s hoping I make it to Edinburgh with no problems and can meet up with Gary and my group feeling refreshed!

Just checking in…stay tuned for photos and lots of garden talk!

We talked a bit about my upcoming trip to the United Kingdom, and she asked if I’d be visiting any garden centers when I was over there. I honestly hadn’t thought about it and wasn’t sure I’d have time… But Sue used to work for Ball Horticultural and knew someone who might be able to offer some recommendations of great garden centers in England.
I got in touch with Bill Doeckel, who then got in touch with one of his colleagues at Ball Colegrave. Here’s what I got back:

Garden centers near London

Hi Paige,
 
The recommendations below are from a colleague of mine who works for Ball Colegrave in the UK> He knows the independent garden centre business well so you can be sure these are highly rated centres. His contact info is below should you need it.
 

South of London

Squires Garden Centre
Sixth Cross Road
Twickenham
Middlesex
TW2 5PA
Tel: 020 8977 9988
 
Ruxley Manor Garden Centre
Maidstone Road
Sidcup
Kent
DA14 5BQ
Tel: 020 8300 0084

Coolings Nurseries
Rushmore Hill
Knockholt
Nr Sevenoaks
Kent
TN14 7NN
Tel: 01959 532269

North of London

Aylett Nurseries Ltd
North Orbital Road
St. Albans
Hertfordshire
AL2 1DH
Tel: 01727 822255

The Van Hage Garden Company
Chenies
Nr. Rickmansworth
Hertfordshire
WD3 6EN
Tel: 01494 764545

What do you think?

Can you recommend any other stellar garden centers in or around London? Or, if you’re not as horticulturally inclined, are there any amazing general retail operations in the U.K. that are worth a look? I’ll definitely be stopping at Harrods, but I can’t say that will be a professional endeavor…

Please leave a comment and let me know what your London (or Edinburgh) looks like!

If you’re stopping by here for the first time and don’t know what I’m talking about, check out the article I wrote in our February issue of Lawn & Garden Retailer.

I received my final confirmation and itinerary a couple of weeks ago, and now that the June issue of our magazine is put to bed, I can finally focus on being deliriously excited! I connected with Gary, the Orange County Master Gardener who organized my trip, this morning and chatted with him a bit about our upcoming journey.

He went on a tour last year with Vanessa and Josh, who both work with Cultivaris. The itinerary is essentially the same this year, only a week later…Gary’s concerned about the cool weather — lots of travelers in the group are hoping to see some rhododendrons in bloom! — but of course…we all know that we travel (and sell) at the whims of Mother Nature!

The group, in general, is 34 gardening enthusiasts of all ages and experience levels. Sounds like I’ll fit right in. Still, I’m antsy just to get there and meet everyone — and start making friends! I just found out that the Internet connection at our hotel in London is free, so I’ll be blogging and posting pictures from London at least!

Gary’s tour last year had such a great manager that he requested the same for this year’s trip…and he got it! Chris Robson will be leading our group, and he’s supposed to be one of the best! Here’s the bio I received with my itinerary:
“Friends say they secretly based the film Billy Elliot on me. I came from a small northern town, studied languages at Cambridge and then trained as an actor. I love learning and am driven by communicating.
I’ve been lucky enough to work for Spielberg and the Royal Shakespeare Company but am just as excited arriving at the Pont du Gard aqueduct, about to enjoy a lovely picnic of local food and then swim in the river with thousands of years of Roman history towering above us. It is the most rewarding work I do!”

All that enthusiasm…plus an accent? Be still, my heart! This is sure to be an incredible trip. I can’t wait to meet Gary, Chris and the rest of the California travelers at our hotel in Edinburgh. One more week!

Are you interested in a Garden Getaway Tour of your own? E-mail Vanessa Dinning at plantvan@gmail.com.

New from Skagit Gardens, coreopsis 'Coloropsis Salsa'

Yesterday, the first shipments came to the office.
From Greenheart Farms, a miniature rose called ‘Sorcerer’.
From Skagit Gardens, a wealth of little starts: dianthus ‘Scent First Passion Pink’; euphorbia ‘Ruby Glow’; dicentra ‘Burning Hearts’, one of my personal favorites ever; coreopsis ‘Big Bang Cosmic Eye’; and coreopsis ‘Coloropsis Salsa’ and ‘Coloropsis Jive’, new introductions at this year’s California Spring Trials.

I know more are on the way.

In previous seasons, I’ve had to surrender my little guys to other co-workers — I didn’t have anywhere to put them! — but this year is different. I now have some window box planters and plenty of space just outside my apartment building to tinker and toil in the soil. Really looking forward to it!

Here’s hoping my thumb turns just a little green…

So, I wrote a story for our May issue about Groupon, a collective buying program that lets businesses offer thousands of potential customers a great deal to come in and try out their business. Read up for a moment, then come on back and check this out.

I posted a link to the piece on Facebook yesterday — I’m proud of the writing and think this is an important new business idea for garden centers to know about — and it really struck a chord with one of my friends, who owns a garden center near Rochester, N.Y.:
Give me a break. I can’t seem to look past the thought; the only way to get traffic in the store is to create a 50% off sale. Especially if you are the “best of the best” in your town.
We take advantage of these type of giveaways at our local restaurants. It doesn’t mean we would eat there more regularly without the give away. In fact we don’t … until there is another offer. It just means if they allow me to pay $25 and get $50 in food; why not. Cuts down the grocery…um I mean gardening bill. And they are right, I don’t spend but a few cents more than I have to in order to get my full $50 worth of Thai dumplings…
But really now…this is not a good (Profitable) business practice. It only reinforces that now not only will GCs put their plants on sale at 50% off at the end of the year; they can be suckered into doing it at the height of their season with a new coupon…Oh and I have to pay a % fee out of my 50%. Doesn’t that help make the margins tank.
Ok..I’m done..the rant is over, I’m going to bed and dream a profitable dream. Now go put one dislike in the other column for me.

Well, all right. I’m happy to generate any sort of dialogue with the stories in our magazine, of course. Because that means people are reading and thinking about these things — great news!
But yikes.

By the way, this comment comes from someone I consider to be incredibly tech savvy. He’s doing a lot of fun things for his business with Facebook and Twitter, and I believe he’s having some degree of success with it, too. (Though, like most hort businesses I follow, this garden center’s activity seems to have dropped off considerably now that the garden centers’ peak season has begun…)

So, I’ll now comment on his comment.

Do What Works For You

Naturally, Groupon isn’t a program that will make sense for a lot of garden centers. As with everything we discuss in the magazine, each reader will have to assess what works and what won’t for their business.
If you’re already massively successful, happy with the customers you have and constantly on the lips of everyone in town… Sure, don’t bother.
You probably don’t need to put things on sale in your store to get people to come in and buy.
Still, as a shopper, when I hear about a sale at a store I like? I go in. I buy things on sale. Then I buy other things. And suddenly I’ve spent way more than I should have, but I don’t care. Because darn it, there was a deal in there.
That’s the hope with the Groupon, too. The deals are tailored so, ideally, customers have an incentive to go in but spend more than the worth of their deal.

It’s Not Just a Sale!

Yes, a business has to surrender about half the money from the sales of their deal. But keep in mind: This is a free ad — one that won’t be seen as some annoying spam — going out to tens of thousands of people who may not even have known you existed. And maybe they’ve been looking for a place to take their coworker for a going-away party, or somewhere to have a special dinner for their birthday, or somewhere to stock up on veggie starts to get that little community gardening plot going for the spring. (Or buy some Christmas ornaments or a fresh pine wreath! PossiBILities!)
Time your deal right for your store, and do your job well like you would for any ordinary customer.
The businesses that fail are the ones that treat their discounted Groupon shoppers differently than they would a loyal, longtime customer. The ones who don’t make accommodations for extra staff or product and anticipate that, yes, they might get a little busier in the weeks after their deal goes active and especially in the days just before it expires. (I mean, come on.)
Groupon, just like any major sale event or incentive program, has to be incorporated into the business plan. It shouldn’t be an afterthought or something that’s undergone lightly.

The Power of Viral

And that’s how it is for all this social media and online marketing stuff.
You can’t just say, “I think I’ll give this a try!” and toss off a few tweets or Facebook blasts thinking it’s going to be good for business. If you commit to it (if that makes sense for your business), the rewards can be huge. But the payoff may not come in dollars at first. It can be harder to measure impact online — a banner ad may not result in a physical click, but it might affect your brand awareness — but the more people you expose to your business in this viral society we’re in now? The good word will spread.
Take me, for example:
I have Groupons purchased for seven (SEVEN) restaurants — can you say evangelist?
Say I go to use one of those Groupons. I’ll write on Facebook that I have a reservation and can’t wait to use my Groupon. My 418 Facebook friends will see it. I’ll check in from both Foursquare and Gowalla. When my food comes, I’ll tweet about the fact that my, say, pumpkin ravioli just arrived and post a picture of the beautiful presentation. My almost 1,100 followers (half of whom live in Chicago) will see it. If I get fantastic service and delicious food, I might add a Yelp review of that establishment to the 192 I’ve already written. I’ve been an “Elite” member of Yelp for three years and have more than 300 friends.
That’s some reach, right there. It’s almost unfathomable how many people your garden center could be exposed to with just one favorable experience. (Also…a negative experience.)
And I’m not even one of the most connected people I know.

Just saying.

Have a Little Faith

Another comment noted that there was no cap to the offerings, that businesses were getting overwhelmed and that Groupon was “laughing all the way to the bank.”
…Really?
Are being a successful business and caring about your clients suddenly mutually exclusive concepts?
I say no.
Obviously, I haven’t worked with them. I’m a consumer, not a business. But I do know their reps do a lot of back and forth to develop deals that make the most sense for the business so they won’t be overwhelmed and so the effort will seem “worth it” to them. And as a customer, I have been just short of floored by the lengths Groupon will go to to ensure that the people who purchase deals are happy. I’d like to think they do the same for their business clients. After all, word of mouth feedback from participating businesses affects their future as a business, too.

I don’t know if this helps or hinders the discussion that started on my Facebook, but please let me know what you think — about this post, about the original story, about the commenter’s thoughts. And for heaven’s SAKE, if you’re tried Groupon as a business? Let me KNOW!
I love that this has gotten people talking.

Our editorial director, Tim, is in Wisconsin for the beginning of this week, visiting growers and retailers and working on the cover story for our June issue of Big Grower.

Next week, Tim and I will be in Las Vegas for the National Hardware Show. Lawn & Garden Retailer is the official publication sponsor of the Lawn, Garden & Outdoor Living segment of the show, and we’re teaming up with some of our expert industry friends to educate attendees. Tim will be leading a roundtable discussion on displays that mix green goods and hard goods, with panelists from Dramm Corp., Conrad Fafard, Inc. and Syngenta Flowers who will share their expertise and some great examples.
I’m proud to share the stage with two amazing experts in the horticultural field who also happen to be pretty amazing businesspeople:
The first is Kim Bird, VP of Marketing for Calloway’s Nursery, our 2010 Merchandiser of the Year. She’ll be talking about Calloway’s multistore merchandising strategy, which has a big emphasis on plants — check out our feature on them from our February 2010 issue — as well as how the stores use social media to draw customers to their events and raise awareness in general.
The second is Kelly Norris, who I had the pleasure of meeting at last year’s Garden Writers Association Symposium in Raleigh, N.C. He spoke then on how to cater to the younger, upcoming generations of gardeners — and loved his energy and approach. When we were brainstorming topics for our Hardware Show presentations, I knew he’d be perfect to capture the attention of attendees wandering the floor. He’ll be talking about how retailers can get in touch with their younger customers — it’s going to be a smash.

Then, later this month, I take off for my Garden Getaway Tour. I’ll be traveling with a group of Master Gardeners and their friends and family from Orange County, Calif. Stay tuned for more on that later this week…this deserves a post all on its own!

We love your comments — what did you think of the Spring Trials coverage? What would you like to see here on the blog?

As always, you can keep up with the Lawn & Garden Retailer staff here on the blog, as well as the following:

• Facebook: facebook.com/lgrmag
• Twitter: @lgrmag
• Web: www.lgrmag.com