The Survey Says...

In July I held a survey for an article I was writing for TNLA Region II on the surviving the slow economy in the nursery industry. Here is the article I wrote:

Last month the Region II Newsletter staff decided to send out a survey asking how companies were doing in the slower economy. Now for the results! 31 people answered the survey, not a huge number, but not too bad either. Hopefully in the future we can get better participation, more responses mean more information! We got responses from the following companies: Kris Bitner Horticultural Consultant, Greenleaf Nursery Company, JenScapes, Inc., Simmons Oak Farms, Dennis Newton, Turf and Landscape Consultant, Living Expression Landscapes, Enchanted Trees of Texas, Pearl Acres Nursery, Joshua’s Native Plants, Home Depot, Clepper’s Landscaping, Bare Spot Solutions Grass & Installation, Orchis Obsession, JNM Technologies, Inc., Southerwest Property Landscaping, Elways Indutries, Inc., Glueck Tree Farm, Sam Houston State University, Magnolia Garden Nursery, Triangle Nursery, Inc., Verdant Tree Farm, Landscape Art and Plants for All Seasons. Thanks to all that participated! Mostly growers answered the survey at 45.2%. See the graph here:

http://tnlaonline.org/regions/reg2/images/Survey1.gif

Interesting to us was that the sales being up or down was 50/50. Some companies seem to be cooking along even with the slow economy while others are falling behind. From the responses it looks like companies that are becoming experts in their area such as consulting are doing better this year. Also companies offering the total package, such as irrigation, landscape design and installation together so the homeowner only has to choose one contractor. In the grower area it seems larger material is moving more slowly as consumers are on a tighter budget, also because of slower home sales bread and butter items are moving slower as well. Smaller items such as annual and perennials and specialty items are selling well. Along the specialty item line, organics and edibles are gaining in popularity as people are more aware of what they eat, even growing their own food to save money. Drought tolerant plants still remain popular and will continue to do so as water restrictions pick up. On the landscaping side of things it seems commercial is down, probably due to the slow down in construction but residential is up. Homeowners are putting money into the home, as this will become a vacation spot or “staycation” on tight budgets. Some recommendations to stay ahead of the game during the slowdown were to keep the product fresh, and in particular for retail to spruce up the store with some inexpensive fixes, maybe a new paint job, new signs. Let people know you are in business and make them want to come back, nobody wants to shop at a place that looks tired and done. For everyone the biggest recommendation was good customer service, you have customers now, don’t let them go! Some firms have hired extra staff to provide superior customer service. In this economy you have to work twice as hard to get a customer and even harder to keep a customer.

Several changes have been implemented to help survive the slowdown as seen from the graph below. The most popular were to offer more unique services and products and to look at ways to make processes more efficient. Most people increased the marketing budget, which is recommended during a slowdown, you don’t want to disappear! See the graph here:

http://tnlaonline.org/regions/reg2/images/Survey3.gif

These are the results, let me know what you think!

Video Tour is Up!

Well today we did a happy hour of sorts through Twitter. We posted a special that lasted from 2-5pm CST and posted a few videos that takes you through a virtual tour of the facilities. These are posted on youtube. Here they are:

Inside Tour:



Outside Tour:



Just an inside look at what we do everyday, hope you like these! BTW they are narrated by your truly!

SSSSSLLLOOOOWWW

Well the economy just stinks, that I am sure most of us know. We are keeping our chin up but also being realistic. On July 10th we started working a 4 day week, one to cut costs but also because there is less work to do. We have a small skeleton crew working, myself, Holly and Minera our water woman (kinda like Wonder Woman!) Anyway, it is very quiet on Fridays so we hope that things turn around soon, we are getting lonely here! I will say that by working 4 days we have improved efficiencies in the lab. The crew there was on a more relaxed schedule, now the technicians are working longer hours on the 4 days in hopes of making up lost time they would get on Friday. It is always better to work a few long days than a series of short days. I have asked others in the industry are doing but I don't get specifics, just the ol' "We're hangin' in there"

I am excited about the upcoming tradeshows we have, hopefully we will get to see many customers face to face and talk about the Spring of 2010. It will be nice to get a feel for what everyone else thinks this spring season holds for us, I am pretty sure we already know what Fall has in store :((((. I have posted a survey on what companies are doing to survive this slow economy, if you are interested in expressing your opinion, please do so here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=
Lw4WHJ_2fWQDZh07LWXq3wLQ_3d_3d

I would love to hear from you, maybe share ideas if you have them! Even though things are down we are not all doom and gloom. We are working on several exciting projects that are going to make for an exciting future. Remember all good things come to those that wait. I am looking forward to next week, I think we will post another twitter special, if you are not following us you should here: www.twitter.com/MGNLiners we post things like specials too good to be missed, also we keep you updated on what we are doing around the nursery. We are always up to something!

Nandina Blush Pink™ set to release

Well the HOT weather just won't quit so hopefully it will be a great time to start the official release of our newest Nandina, Nandina domestica 'AKA' or Blush Pink™ Nandina, P.P. 19916. You will see this one at the TNLA Expo in Dallas, TX from August 14-16th. Just check it out in the Flowerwood booth or the Magnolia Gardens booth, we will be in booth 1015! This Nandina will be an exclusive to the Southern Living® Plant Program, I am super excited about it being that it is the first patent Magnolia Gardens has even been granted. Here is the tag that you will see:
A little about this plant,

Nandina domestica 'AKA' is a new Nandina discovered by 3 employees at the Magnolia Gardens Nursery tissue culture facility. April Herring (that's me!!), Kay Herring (Mom!) and Adriana Garza (Our Greenhouse supervisor). This is were we got the cultivar name 'AKA' Interestingly enough AKA is the word for red in Japanese, which in the summer we think the new growth is nearly red, this was really neat considering we were going for a Japanese theme in our marketing. This new Nandina is a sport of Nandina domestica 'Firepower' with some added spice. Blush Pink™ Nandina PP# 19,916 will provide year round interest with its blush pink colored new growth as it continuously blushes from spring till fall. The selection of this plant was made based on its unique and long lasting blush pink colored young foliage in contrast to the typical lime-green colored young foliage of 'Firepower'. Blush Pink™ will remain compact at maturity with a height of 2'-2.5' and a width of 2.5'-3'.

Hardiness: USDA Zones 7-10
Plant Use: Perennial
Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Sun
Water Requirements: Medium

Here are some more pictures of this beauty!

Here I am holding the first one gallon, this is from the original liner found back in July of 2005.

Our first rooted crop!

Our first large crop of liners, look at that color!

Here is a comparison of Firepower, left, Blush Pink right.

Our first 3 gallon crop.

The color remains all year, this is taken in July.

and finally, the winter color is just as nice as Firepower.

Want to know more? contact me at April@MGNLiners.com

Today's Harvest

We the victory garden is producing nicely. Today we harvested the first watermelon. We popped it into the fridge and the employees had a nice treat in the afternoon. Things are slow here but I have managed to keep myself busy mainly by trying to grow new plants, some successes followed by a few failures. It is so sad to see good plants die but this Texas heat has not let up! We have been nearly 100 for 3 weeks now, the heat is just so intense. Many plants can look good in the Spring and Fall here but the real test is the summer. If it can't survive a Texas summer then we are not able to add it to our product line unless we can finish fast before the heat hits. So far most plants are holding up with the exception of some Agapanthus, had a little meltdown on some of those! Other things on my plate include getting ready for 2 tradeshows in August and redesigning the Web site....ahhh yes busy. Our first patented plant is set to release at TNLA Expo so we are super excited about that. I will write about that one tomorrow!

HOT Friday

Well I decided today is a great day to spend some quality time in my office since it will be another day of record breaking heat. Yesterday I spent some quality time at Schlitterbaun in New Braunfels, gotta escape the heat somehow! I hate thinking about the effects this heat has on our poor little plants. Already we have seen some problems in shipping. It is topping a little over 100 degrees each day then the plants get stuffed into a box and put on a freight truck, we may have to hold some shipments back if this heat continues. We hate when good plants die :-( On a lighter note the garden is a buzz, the honey bees are alive and happily pollinating our melons, cucumbers and watermelons. I never knew watermelons grew so quickly, maybe by Monday we can harvest! Also in the garden we planted some of our new Nandinas for some side by side comparisons. These are in full sun so they are not the prettiest but they are not half bad. The only problem is the cucumbers are attacking the Nandina Flirt, oh decisions, cut back the cucumber or let it swallow the Nandina? Depends on how hungry I am when I make that decision, LOL!

The month of July will be spent on getting crops ready for Fall as well as getting everything ready for the 2 tradeshows we exhibit at, the TNLA Expo and the Farwest show. The Expo is in Texas so we go all out at this one since we can ship things on our truck. These orange chairs are just a part of what has been started on. It is going to be fun! Also I will be working on the new MGN liner web site. We hope to bring new and exciting things to the site now that my focus will all be on liners. My deadline for our first rollout is August 3rd, I would say the 1st but that is a Saturday! I have many ideas so we will get the site up and going then add features as we go, if you have ideas let me know and I will see if we can implement them...I am not an expert so there are a few things I cannot do.

Some other things we are trying is holding a special of the week on Twitter. We have several followers now and we hope to get many more in the future. Other new things include our expanded perennial line which has gone over nicely. We are still working on a product line, subtracting and adding as we go, eventually we will find a group we like....then we will find new plants to add and change it again. That's what keeps things interesting for us here and we hope for our customers as well.

Time to go enjoy this HOT Friday as I sip on my Triple Venti Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte, yes!

Don't Spray it, Eat it!

I was watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the travel channel, you know the guy that will eat anything. Anyway it was his survival special and interestingly enough I actually learned something. Purslane is edible, yes you know the weed you keep pulling and spraying. Well after I saw the show I did some research. Not only is it edible but it is really good for you. On the show he made a salad with it, said if you mash it it was like olive oil dressing. The reason for this is all of the Omega-3 fatty acids. That is not the only thing good, it is also high in vitamin C. So save money on that grocery bill and eat what is already available for FREE! Mmmmm Purslane!