MMerchandising in prime time is ano-brainer. When late spring isbright and blooming, the primalurge to plant afflicts everyone.But as the heat rises, traffic slows

and so does the bottom line. Every garden cen-ter’s dream is to keep the spring traffic movingmore evenly throughout the year so costs andcash flow do not suffer seasonal disparity.

Certainly, we know that fall sales of pump-kins and Christmas trees can augment income,but that should be considered a bare mini-mum. Nature’s glory is arrayed in every season,and it is easy to exploit stellar performers toextend your plant merchandising to year-round strategies.

Obviously, the notion of year-round plantsales will differ radically with regional climate. Itwill be more challenging in Des Moines, Iowa,to draw customers in the cold months than inMiami, Fla. Thankfully, large greenhouses canhelp to even the score.

No matter where your garden center is locat-ed, the key is to expand your thinking.Exploiting lesser-known, outside-prime-timebloomers into standard inventory ensures vividdisplays that catch the eye and lure customers.Unfortunately, many of our customers are notknowledgeable enough to know these “out-siders,” so you will have to raise their conscious-ness with strong information and advertisingsupport. Overall, it’s not just what you stock inthe off-season, it’s how you package it with infor-mation and display that drives sales.

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Learn about all of the plant materials you can offerthroughout the year to ensure your customers know they can garden all year long instead of just in the spring.

By Maureen Gilmer

Gilmer Introduces Gardening E-Books MoPress is the electronic imprint for a national gardening authority and the host of DIY

Network’s “Weekend Gardening” show, Maureen “Mo” Gilmer. Backyard Wedding Makeoveris the first title created with this new concept for E-books.

Gilmer’s solution to long E-books was to create more titles with shorterlengths. Easier to digest, this approach gets the information to readers in aconvenient, time-saving fashion without scrolling through voluminous text.The shorter length is quicker to download through slower-speed Internetconnections as well, according to Gilmer.

To give them greater visual appeal, MoPlants Press engaged RevertGraphics to creatively design every page of the 2-column-format E-books to make graphically pleasing presentations. The application ofcolor photography with captions as well as helpful reoccurring tipboxes and sidebars helps break up the text just as with high dollarprinted gardening books.

Backyard Wedding Makeover can help transform a backyard tomake it ready for a beautiful outdoor wedding. Contents includesections on evaluating the yard, organizing the wedding space and

creatively restoring worn-out garden elements. It also contains referencesfor annual bedding plants divided into easy-to-read color charts that help with

selecting just the right plant palette for the wedding color scheme. Gilmer is offering her new E-book free of charge. To find out more about this offer, contact

Debbie Parisi at (916) 630-9139 or visit www.moplants.com.

Above: Hydrangea paniculata ‘Tardiva’ is a rare autumn bloomer.(Photos: Maureen Gilmer)

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Beat Late Summer DoldrumsAs the frenzy of planting season fades and

temperatures rise, it is a challenge to lure cus-tomers back to the garden center. The heatfatigue factor of late July and August is undeni-able, and planting during high temperaturesdoes not result in happy, healthy transplants.

Trees and shrubs. At this time, trees andshrubs that are late-summer bloomers are bigattention getters because they can make astrong display at streetside. A showy boxed spec-imen such as watermelon-red crepe myrtle outfront will have far more visual impact than raftsof bedding plants you must nurse through heatwaves. Big bloomers may also catch the eye ofmale customers who may find large, woodyplants more to their liking.

Butterfly magnets. Similarly, this seasonfinds big, rangy butterfly bushes blooming. Thegreatest of all butterfly magnets, buddleia havebig flowers and offer a valuable habitat customerscan see as butterflies flit around the displays.

Dwarf forms. To give these old favorites newlife, emphasize dwarfs and newer very dwarfforms. Shorter stature makes many plants a possi-bility for spatially challenged urban gardeners.Lure them with big, showy plants, and you’ll findthe smaller versions an easy sell.

Hydrangeas. The third member of this late-season triad is the hydrangea. The big mop headand lacecap varieties are irresistible, particularlyto flower arrangers. It is far easier to sell bloom-ing hydrangeas, and when there is a well-adver-tised selection to choose from, they are far moreof an event than mere inventory.

Full sized. By late summer, hostas are alsofull sized, and prairie-born perennials, such asJoe Pye weed, monarda, goldenrod, river lilyand all the coneflowers are at their peak. Theseplants look like a better value in late summerbecause they have reached the maximum sizefor their containers.

Start Autumn FireAutumn is the most counter-intuitive garden-

ing season. Customers are in back-to-schoolmode or settling into hibernation for indoorcrafts instead of gardening. Yet autumn can beeven better than spring for planting in theWest. Getting this message across to the publicis extremely difficult.

In arid regions where drought-resistantplants are common, they fare much betterwhen fall planted. Therefore, the message isn’t“Yes, you can garden in fall,” it’s, “You will findbetter success when you garden in fall.” Withthe entire winter and wet spring to adapt tonative soil and spread outside the nursery-con-tainer-sized rootball, the plant becomes estab-lished and drought resistant sooner in its lifespan. This is a truth unknown to many cus-tomers because newspapers drop their garden-ing stories at summer’s end for more interior-oriented content. Getting the word out on

radio, local TV news segments and in paperswill go far in driving customers into garden cen-ters and back out to their own gardens.

Plant stock for autumn is divided into twogroups: traditional autumn foliage plants andlate-blooming flowers. Maples and burningbush virtually sell themselves in this season.But to encourage shopping for these plants inautumn depends on selling the customer onthe idea that individuals within a singlespecies may vary considerably in color intensi-

ties. Only when plants are purchased in fullautumn spectacle can a customer be absolute-ly sure he or she will be satisfied in future sea-sons. This is even more vital in warmer cli-mates where even the standard fall color canbe highly variable in color.

Hydrangea paniculata. Beyond this typi-cal fall foliage lies some really stellar plantsthat bloom in this odd season. The Hydrangeapaniculata group of cultivars holds its flowerswell into November depending on weatherconditions. During this transitional seasonwhen little else blooms, these big, bold beau-ties are visible to passing traffic and presentoutstanding sales displays with ornamentalgrasses. They also offer strong story lines foradvertising and media focused on pushingback winter until the last minute.

Asters. While chrysanthemums are the stan-dard bedding fare for autumn, asters are alsoappealing and long-lived garden choices. AsNorth American natives, their value to ecologi-cally sensitive gardeners cannot be overstated.Many cultivars have good color range and a civi-lized form. This beautiful cottage-garden-styleperennial deserves to be present to add fresh-ness to this dying season.

Ornamental grasses. Nothing sells in thelate season like ornamental grasses. They arefully flowered and nodding in the autumn winds,often silvered and curling into extravagant ani-mated textures. Here are big bold plants that goin ground in fall and liven up winter landscapesafter they have gone dormant. Stocking thosewith the strongest stalks and best winter colorallows promotions to emphasize winter decorat-ing of the garden through wise fall planting.

Winter Solstice BluesThis is the season of the greatest disparity in

the garden center world. Warmer climates havequite active nurseries, while further north it is avirtual graveyard! But the plant realm is stillfully active with specifics that work well for inte-rior holiday décor and living gifts.

Evergreens. While the ground is not work-able, the container market thrives. Bringingevergreens indoors allows some garden plantsto become temporary interior accents.Topiaries large and small are in high demandnow, particularly conical shapes and the spiral-cut junipers that make haute-living Christmastrees. The benefit of coniferous evergreens istheir cold tolerance, which makes for outstand-ing entry accents and potted terrace displays.The naturally tinted foliage of blue spruce,golden arborvitaes and exotic threadleafjunipers presents a versatile decorating palette.The best part is that come spring they become apermanent part of the outdoor garden.

Asian flair. The rise of Asian design has creat-ed high demand for bonsai specimens. Considerthis an aesthetic choice rather than interest in �

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Top: Maiden grass cultivars of Miscanthus sinensis are showiestin fall flower. Bottom: Large, spiral junipers are upscale mid-winter moneymakers.

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their color and shape with little tono light over a long period andmay become appealing windowplants after the holidays. You canalso promote frost-hardy alpinesedums and sempervivums forwreaths and centerpieces.

Frost-hardy succulents sell farbetter when not lost in the shuffleof peak-season competition fromflowering bedding plants. Theseare doubly appealing because theyallow Northern customers to movetheir succulents into the perma-nent garden after the holidays.

The First Breath Of Spring

Invariably, those who neglectedto plant spring bulbs in the falllament the emptiness of their earlygardens. Bulblets become the newannuals of very early spring in cli-mates where the soil can be workedor in containers elsewhere.

Hellebores. In perennial gar-dens, hellebores are in rare formearly on. Their muted yet exoticappeal is never greater than in theremnants of spare winter gardens.A flurry of breeding has producedfar more gardenesque varietieswith visually compelling flowercolors well beyond the formergreenish hues.

Flowering shrubs. This is alsothe season when old-fashioned,early flowering shrubs really standout. Improved forsythia varietiesproduce larger blooms over moreof the plant for better cut and

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true bonsai, which we all know areexorbitantly expensive. What can becalled quasi-bonsai allows a slightlylarger pot, so plants are not so vul-nerable to occasional dryness. Winterstock will consist mainly of coniferousevergreens, which are affordable andavailable. It is not unreasonable to

consider offering a make-a-quasi-bon-sai class to encourage homemadebonsai as both decorations and gifts.This takes the mystery out of theseuniquely pruned plants and sells a lotof small-container evergreens, rocks,decorative gravel and pricey pots dur-ing the slow season.

Succulents. Winter is an idealtime to stock succulents in thegreenhouse. Treated as annuals,exotic echeverias and colorful aeo-nium are finding their way into newholiday table decorations. They arealso hot stuff with the moderndesign crowd. These plants retain

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Late-blooming perennial Russian sage andpurple coneflower are fabulous in September.

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forcing branches. Flowering quince, forgottenby many, is a hallmark of this season, the origi-nal red expanded into an array of shades lightand dark. Together, this splash of color createsdramatic displays large enough to garner atten-tion outdoors.

Willow. Willows, which tend to be lost duringthe growing season, are at their best now.Pussywillow, coveted by decorators and flowerarrangers, can be powerful sellers. In fact, it is dif-ficult to sell willows at any other time of year.

Flowering trees. Finally, keep the early flow-ering trees front and center. Cold-hardy dog-woods offer high appeal as do flowering crabap-ples and redbuds. During the rest of the year,these, too, are overlooked but deserve high-pro-file locations in early spring.

The art of plant merchandising outside primetime requires some strategic thinking andstrong, highly visual displays. In the flowerlessseasons, your ability to put out big, boldbloomers will garner far more interest from pass-ing motorists. If sufficiently inspired, gardenerswill continue to plant well outside the springwindow of opportunity. Most important of all isto get the word out in the media of every kind toeducate the consumer that garden making is notlimited to an ephemeral rite of spring.

G R E E N G O O D S

Maureen Gilmer is host and project designer for DIY’s“Weekend Gardening” show, author of 15 gardeningbooks, writer of Yardsmart, a column syndicated weekly byScripps Howard News Service, publisher of the MoZoneblog and proprietor of the MoPlants online store. She canbe reached at mo@moplants.com.

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 6 L A W N & G A R D E N R E T A I L E R 2 1

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Star PerformersOutside Prime Time

VERY EARLY SPRINGSprouted bulblets Tulip, hyacinthCercis canadensis RedbudChaenomeles japonica Japanese Flowering hybrids QuinceDaphne odora Winter DaphnemarginataForsythia intermedia ForsythiaHamamelis x intermedia Witch HazelhybridsHelleborus hybrids Christmas/Lenten Rose

LATE SUMMERBuddleia davidii Butterfly BushEchinacea purpurea Purple ConeflowerHeuchera foliage Coral BellsHydrangea HydrangeaLagerstroemia indica Crepe Myrtle

AUTUMNAster novi-belgii New York AsterAcer palmatum Japanese MapleChrysanthemum ChrysanthemumEuonymus alatus Burning BushEupatorium maculatum Joe Pye WeedHydrangea paniculata HydrangeaSedum ‘Autumn Joy’ ‘Autumn Joy’

Stonecrop

WINTERIlex HollySedum species StonecropSempervivum HouseleekAssorted Indoor SucculentsSucculentsBonsai BonzaiConiferous Evergreens Evergreens

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