Santa's Helpers

Gifts that keep giving
County Line Nursery, Harleysville, Pa.
www.countylinenursery.net

At County Line Nursery, the resident “app for that” is store manager Natasha Bieberfeld. “I do a bit of everything here at Christmas, so I get a real sense of what people are into and looking for,” Bieberfeld said. “I teach our classes, order the seasonal plants, do custom wreaths and centerpieces for customers, etc. By far, our biggest draw to get new and old customers in our door is our ‘Make and Take’ classes.”

The interactive classes are pretty much what the name suggests—customers learn how to create compelling lawn and home décor items, which they take home after the seminar is complete.

“Our customers get an experience—they usually come with friends and family—and take home a beautiful piece for their home that they created themselves,” Bieberfeld said. “Most attendees end up spending more in our store afterwards too.”

Bieberfeld said County Line Nursery also takes pride in going “above and beyond” with some of the holiday staples.
“Poinsettias are like any other seasonal specialty plant—mums, Easter lilies, etc.—everyone sells them,” she said. “So to compete, we have to work harder at making our product stand out. We always display our holiday plants with an assortment of pots, containers, and decorative wraps to dress them up. You won’t find foiled pots here. We’re trying to get away from having our plants look like the ones you can buy in a grocery store.”
 

Tree times the fun
Harbor Garden Center, Salisbury, Mass. 
www.harborgardens.com

Tim Lamprey, owner of Harbor Garden Center, says there’s a revival going on in his part of the country. “Oddly enough, cut Christmas trees have been on the rise in the last few years,” he said. “I think it is a sense of going back to better times—when we were kids, no matter what the age. What was more comforting than seeing and smelling a fresh cut tree?”

Lamprey said his store’s staff also expects a boom in custom-decorated wreaths. “Ditto with kissing balls,” he said. “People who are busy will pay extra for someone—translation: us—to do the work. I haven’t figured out what colors will be popular, but all shades of purple have seen increases in the past few years.”

On the floral front, Lamprey sees promise for the “usual suspects,” poinsettias and cyclamen, as well as amaryllis.

More poinsettias, please
Rockledge Gardens, Rockledge, Fla.
www.rockledgegardens.com

Rockledge Gardens is a feast for the senses on any given day, but during the holidays this year, owners Theresa and Kevin Riley will really splash the place with color. “We’re definitely planning on a good response to poinsettias this year,” Theresa said. “We like to provide the ones that the chain stores don’t—some really cool hybrids, in all sizes from 4-inch to small trees. We actually increased our order by about 10 percent as we found a great grower that is willing to deliver twice to us this year. We also increased our order of Christmas cactus by 25 percent, as last year we ran out two weeks before Christmas, and this is a plant that people ask for even after the holidays.”

Riley said Rockledge also will offer grab-and-go container combos this year, including tropical holiday color with bromeliads and anthuriums mixed with tropical foliage. “Mixes of annuals such as petunias, alyssum, snaps, etc., are also quite popular as grab-and-go’s,” she said. “I think herb gardens will be big for gift giving as well, and we’ll do some container veggie gardens also—yes, we can grow veggies in Florida in the winter! I’m thinking we might do some recipe cards with these mixed gardens as well.”

As far as garden accents and gifts go, Riley is banking on firepots to continue to do well this year. “And wind chimes are always big for us,” she said. “We also hope to promote books more and have a book signing planned on Dec. 4. Robert Bowden from Leu Gardens will be here to talk about and sign his brand new book about Leu Gardens in Orlando, a true inspiration to many in our area. This book will make an awesome gift as well.”