Smart marketing can sweeten your rose sales this year

Roses are exciting plants, but they can be daunting at the same time. Here are some simple ways to help you and your customers find the best rose for the right place and have great success in the garden—which, of course, means more repeat business for you.

The key to successful rose marketing is understanding what your customer is looking for. Some, unaware of today’s easy-care options, may think roses are needy prima donnas. So teach them which kinds of roses are best for certain uses, from hedges to containers to big blocks of color. Here are some strategies and teaching tips I recommend you share with your customers:
 

1. Teach “right rose, right place.” Not every variety is suitable for where it is being planted. Inquire of the customer: Do you want a large bush up to 6-feet tall, a climber, a ground cover to 3-feet round, a mini, or just a hedge rose?

2. Repeat flowering or not? Again, you need to ask the customer to determine the appropriate rose: Do you want a rose that has repeat flowering throughout the season, or a rose with limited florist type blooms? Keep in mind that while any rose plant will provide flowers for cutting inside, it is only the hybrid tea type that provides you with the florist-type blooms, and these, of course, do not provide as many blooms per bush.

3. Looking for a “blooming machine”? Your best bet is the repeat-flowering types, primarily ground covers like Flower Carpet, or taller hedge types.
 

Anthony Tesselaar, co-founder and president of Tesselaar Plants, says garden centers can do a better job of  marketing roses when they understand just what the customer is looking for.

4. If you have a favorite, let your customer know. People love to get a recommendation from you. Their perception is that you know far more about roses than they do, which is why they are coming to YOUR nursery. Do not disappoint them.
 

5. Some roses do far better than others. They might look the same in the nursery pot, but rest assured, it could be very different once they are planted out and established in the garden.
 

6. Create and post a list of suggested varieties that grow well in your area. But, make sure you have sufficient quantities of the varieties you recommend, as they can easily out-sell the other varieties by 10:1.
 

7. Explain pruning requirements. OK, I had to throw this one in because there is no such thing as “pruning” with Flower Carpet roses. Just get your hedge shears and cut back to 1/3 size each spring. They’ll surprise you with a blooming extravaganza from late spring till early winter. However, gardeners with plenty of time on their hands may prefer roses that need to be more carefully pruned and tended.
 

8. What is in the pot is NOT what is going to be in the garden. The true test of a rose is how well it grows in the customer’s garden over 2-3 years. Will it establish easy? Is it salt-tolerant, especially important in the northern climates?
 

9. If you are selling roses that require spraying, let them know. People just want to know. They may want a particular variety that is special to them, but as long as they are aware they are buying a rose that needs that little extra care, they’re happy.

10. Understand what the term “easy care roses” really means. These types of plants require no spraying, no fancy pruning, no dead heading. Just plant, add 1-2 handfuls of fertilizer and water well.
 

11. Don’t forget to sell them some fertilizer, too. Applications of a good fertilizer with minerals, trace elements and minimal nitrogen will ensure strong healthy-growing