Market buzz

McCabe’s Greenhouse and Floral recovers from furnace fire

The fire that struck McCabe’s Greenhouse and Floral just before the New Year is long gone, but the smoke damage left behind had the McCabe family and its employees hurrying to restructure its greenhouse into a retail-ready storefront in time for Valentine’s Day sales.

The fire, caused by a furnace malfunction in the ceiling of the gift shop, broke out at the 40-year-old, family-owned garden center and greenhouse in Lawrenceburg, Ind., on Dec. 30. Damages were initially estimated to be about $20,000; however, that figure will increase to about $70,000 as restoration work continues. 

“We thought it wasn’t so bad when it happened. It was a small spot,” says general manager Beth McCabe Legge. The family thought they had the fire under control, but that wasn’t the case.

McCabe’s lost most of its electrical capabilities in the building, and inspectors ordered all insulation be removed. Offices had to be cleared out, so family members took turns bringing computers home and forwarding the business phone to the home number so they could still type up orders for funeral flower arrangements. “Probably 60 to 70 percent of our business is funerals, so that’s just a constant,” she says.

One of McCabe’s two greenhouses is being re-arranged into a storefront while repairs are made. “Our retail gift area had a greenhouse on both sides, so one side we always keep heated — that’s where we have all our plugs started and our growing [operation] — and the other side, we pretty much wouldn’t heat during the winter,” McCabe Legge says. “But we have a small heater running out there, and we keep that just about 32 [degrees] because that’s kind of our cooler now for fresh-cut flowers.” 

But despite mounting costs and delays in repair, the fire damages brought about the possibility of redesigning the shop. The McCabes are still considering vaulted ceilings depending on the cost of insulation. And because the fire caused mostly smoke damage, no merchandise — with the exception of a few Christmas decorations — was ruined.

The fire also brought about a great sense of community for McCabe’s.

“We have two different pizza places on both sides [of McCabe’s] and a McDonad’s that brought food that day, and we’ve had customers who have been bringing us crock pots of food,” McCabe Legge says. And employees stepped in to help outside of regular business hours.

“It’s great to be in a small community when something like this happens,” she says.

The McCabe’s gift shop is predicted to move back from the greenhouse and be up and running by late February at the earliest.

— Cassie Neiden

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Garden center retailers discuss trends, favorite products from AmericasMart

ATLANTA –The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, which closed its eight-day run on Jan. 13, announced that exhibitors throughout the 7.2 million-square-foot AmericasMart campus reported the highest-volume buying since 2007. Attendee numbers were not available at publication.

Chini Alarco Whitmore, manager and buyer at Charlie Whitmore Gardens in Amagansett, N.Y., has been going to AmericasMart for nearly a decade, and says she thought the show was “very well attended.”

She noticed that crown-shaped Christmas ornaments were popular in the holiday sections, while octopuses seemed to be everywhere in the general décor areas.

“I saw crowns repeated in several places; crowns in the trees as ornaments and as tree toppers. It was a very glamorous Christmas,” she says. “There were containers with octopus legs, and octopuses in table décor.”

That could be due to the popularity of nautical items, she says.

“Coastal is so big. And I will say the colors were more neutral, there were more earth tones, at least that’s what I was buying,” she says.

But that didn’t stop her from noticing and admiring the bright, red pottery in The Gardens, a section of AmericasMart.

“Red is really difficult to achieve, so it’s a lot more expensive, but it’s really beautiful,” she says.

Liz Messing, owner of The Artful Garden in Crown Point, Ind., says she’s been going to AmericasMart for the past 15 years, and each year tends to be different.

“For me, when I first attended, there used to be a lot more handcrafted, a lot more Made in the USA, and I seem to find that less and less as far as gardening is concerned,” Messing says. But she still finds gems for her store throughout the market, she says.

One of her favorite products at the show this year were head-shaped planters.

“I saw them from a couple of different vendors, and I’m always looking for new planter heads. I have hair, or grass, growing out of them, and succulents that are droopy so they look like curly hair,” she says. “I make them funky looking. The variety and selection out there is a lot better [than in years past].”

She’s also noticed the popularity of lanterns growing.

“They are always popular, but this year more than ever,” she says. “There are different lanterns made with canning jars and all kinds of stuff. I even saw one light fixture done with old-fashioned cheese graters.”

She also said she noticed more variety of solar stakes, a popular item at her store.

Her advice for buyers trying to navigate the massive show is to “not get distracted.”

“I like the thrill of the hunt,” she says.

— Michelle Simakis

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Tesselaar Plants celebrates 20 years

This month, Anthony Tesselaar International is celebrating its 20th anniversary. It all started with the Flower Carpet series of groundcover roses — more than 75 million of which have been sold throughout the world.

When it first arrived, Tesselaar promoted the fact it could flower through summer, in sun through to part shade, that no dead-heading was necessary, and that it could grow across a range of temperature zones. Another benefit the company noted is that it had unprecedented resistance to disease to the point where there was no need for spraying. It was billed as the easy-to-grow environmentally friendly rose. Werner Noack, a German breeder of roses, produced the original Flower Carpet rose, and laid the foundation for the other Flower Carpet roses that followed. There are now 10 colors to choose from.

Anthony Tesselaar brought the rose to the world, but not in a traditional way. He developed a total package to brand the plant on an international scale, using a pink pot and supplying a fertilizer packet with each plant, in addition to other features, according to the Tesselaar website.

For more, www.tesselaar.com

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2015 Farwest Show to host 2015 International Trials Conference

Wilsonville, Ore.  — The 2015 International Trials Conference will be held this year in conjunction with the 2015 Farwest Show in Portland, Ore. The conference focuses on the latest research and techniques for trialing annual, perennial and woody plants. Set for Aug. 24 to 27, 2015, the conference will lead up to the trade show, which opens Thursday, Aug. 27.

The trials conference, attended by plant professionals and industry leaders from around the world, convenes biannually to share ideas on evaluation strategies, develop trialing standards, and explore the plant characteristics demanded by plant buyers and growers. Its ongoing mission is to encourage the creation of universal evaluation criteria and collaboration among plant trial locations, resulting in more meaningful trial data.

The conference is open to all industry professionals who have interest in plant trialing. Registration is required and will begin on March 1, 2015.

For more, www.farwestshow.com

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Friends, colleagues remember retail manager Joe Lutey

Many in the green industry mourned the loss of Joseph “Joe” Lutey, 32, of Grand Blanc, Mich., who passed away Jan. 21 and was a retail manager at Wojo’s Greenhouse and a friend to many. Lutey is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and his son, Aiden.

We asked some of his friends and colleagues to share what they loved most about Lutey.

“He will be missed by all of us. He was kind, considerate, he loved to laugh and make others laugh,” says Joe Wojciechowski, owner of Wojo’s Greenhouse. “He was playful and loved to interact with children who came into the garden center. He had an eye for detail and loved plants.

“Joe was a great employee, he understood much about all aspects of the business and how each part affected another part of the business. He got it,” he wrote. “Joe had a passion for the plants as well and he had extensive knowledge of them to share with our guests and his fellow employees.”

Friend and industry colleague Crystal Cady suggested planting a hydrangea, Lutey’s favorite plant, in honor of him.

“Joe touched the lives of every single person he met - be it his genuine care for others, the knowledge he shared, or his smile and his hugs - he was one of those guys that immediately became your friend, and you knew you could trust and lean on him - for whatever it may be - from sharing retail garden center ideas and strategies, to his opinion on something going on in your own life. Although young, Joe had accomplished so much in his horticulture career, and we all looked up to him as a visionary, a leader, and someone we knew was destined to do great things.”

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made for the future education of Aiden. Wojciechowski says for those who would like to donate, please make checks out to Jennifer Lutey and send to:

Wojo’s Greenhouse
2570 Oakwood rd.
Ortonville, Mi. 48462
Attn: Jennifer Lutey
 

— Michelle Simakis

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Bailey Nurseries acquires Plant Introductions

Bailey Nurseries announced it has acquired Plant Introductions, Inc. (PII), effective Jan. 1, 2015.

Since the introduction of Endless Summer The Original, Bailey Nurseries and Plant Introductions partners Dr. Michael Dirr, Jeff Beasley and Mark Griffith have developed a strong association. This relationship has expanded in the years since with PII breeding genetics for the Endless Summer Hydrangea and First Editions Plants collections.

“This new venture is a natural progression in our relationship with Dr. Dirr, Jeff Beasley and Mark Griffith,” says Bailey Nurseries President Terri McEnaney. “We have built such a collaborative rapport over the last 20 years, and we are incredibly excited to continue the groundbreaking work of PII here at Bailey Nurseries. We are also delighted that Jeff, Mark and Dr. Dirr will be staying on board to consult on breeding, plant trials and market trends.” 
 

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From Twitter

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