We had a tad bit of excitement this week when one of our greenhouses caught on fire. Thankfully we were able to get the fire out before the fire department even arrived. The fire burned about a 10 foot section along the side wall of our plug production house. All we need is some new plastic and we’ll be good to go.
The weather has reared it’s ugly head again this past week with lots of rain and some severe weather. Some of you in OKC had baseball sized hail last weekend. There was a lot of damage to several garden centers, but clean up is underway and fresh product are on the benches. Nearly everywhere else including here has had 2-4” of rain. I was in town last night and noticed that there are a lot of commercial properties that still have pansies in their landscapes. I assume that the weather has the landscapers a little behind.
Never fear, we still have a good selection of plants for landscapers and garden centers. New availability – avail-5.24
No matter how hard you try, you can never out guess the weather or what the customers will want. I planned for normal 1204 sales in April and heavier sales in May because for the last two years we have had a higher demand for 1204’s in May. This year I needed them in April and the rain in May has us behind on sales. I can never seem to get the sales projections right on them.
In addition to that when we have to plan our production 6-12 months in advance so when a particular item or color becomes the hot item for spring, we can’t increase production because we would have had to sow the seeds or root the cuttings 6 weeks or even 18 weeks prior to selling.
It is all very frustrating at times especially when a customer asks, “Can’t you just order in some more?”
It is this time of year when you can really see the results of the sales versus production struggle when there is a whole planting of product sitting there, looking beautiful but not selling. I predict that there will come a time in the near future when garden centers are going to have to write there orders well in advance of the spring season and commit to product in order to make sure they get it. I don’t see greenhouses being able to produce on spec for very much longer.
Now on to happier topics – THE PICTURES:
