The in-season retailer

Marie Meiklejohn, owner of Marie’s Gardens in Collegeville, Pa., works with the laws of supply and demand. She opens her store in early spring, when her inventory is abundant and customers are clamoring for home-grown flowers. She closes her doors in July when supplies dwindle and the dog days of summer set in.

On the last day of the sales season, Meiklejohn hosts an open house that draws in all her loyal customers. It’s also a clearance sale, with a portion of proceeds going to charity. At this year’s event, held July 10, 50 percent of all plant sales and 10 percent of all garden-shop sales went to an animal rescue group, Last Chance Ranch.

“When I have sold everything that I’ve grown, I close,” Meiklejohn said. “I’m very fortunate that I don’t have to be open year-round. Business really slows down by the beginning of July, and it’s a good time to close. I reopen in December and sell wreaths that I hand make from the greens on my property. I also do winter containers for my customers and have workshop classes in the greenhouse. It’s different and a nice change.”

GARDEN CENTER: How did you get into the horticulture business?
MARIE MEIKLEJOHN: I started growing herbs and a few flowers for my garden and didn’t want to throw the extra plants away. I put a small ad in the paper to sell them. After that, my husband and I built a greenhouse on our property and I just started growing plants and herbs, and a business started.


GC: This year you only offered veggies and herbs in organic containers with organic soil. What prompted you to do this?
MM: I had wanted to switch to organic fertilizer for awhile. Each day I’m adding fertilizer to my soil before I pot up the plants. I just don’t want to be inhaling or touching chemicals. It seemed like the logical choice to also begin using organic soil for the vegetables and herbs this year. I must admit that I am struggling with the organic soils. I’m still trying to figure it out—how much to water, fertilize, etc.

GC: You offered more herbs this year, too. Which ones were the most popular with customers?
MM: I grew a few new herbs that I haven’t grown in a couple of years. This year I added herbs such as salad burnet, orange thyme and stevia. The steadfast culinary herbs like rosemary, thyme, basil, cilantro and Italian parsley seem to still be my best sellers.

GC: What are the advantages of being a retail-grower?
MM: Knowledge of the plants that I’m selling. Many of the plants in my greenhouse, I have been growing for years. I’m always expanding the list of plants, but I always tell my customers what I know about each plant and what I don’t know. I plant them in my own gardens, and I know how they grow, what sun conditions they really like. I think my customers appreciate my honesty when I tell them the pros and cons of a plant. Also, if a plant isn’t growing like it should for some reason, I won’t sell it. As the business has expanded, I don’t have the greenhouse space or the time to grow everything. Some plants are bought from local wholesale greenhouses, but most of the unusual annuals I have grown myself, and I think that is a real advantage.

GC: Tell us about your container design business.
MM: I’ve been very lucky to have found a niche in this business. Customers bring their containers to my greenhouse. We’ll spend some time going over what sun/shade conditions they have, what colors they would like to see in their containers, and how much time they want to spend maintaining the containers during the season. I keep a log of what I do for each customer each year. This way I know the next year what I designed and can ask them how they liked it. Occasionally I will go to a customer’s house and plant their containers. Because I do so many containers and hanging baskets, I make sure that I’m growing many different types of plants that grow well in containers.