OFA Short Course Day 1 highlights: Tidying, touring & touting

Behind-the-scene activities were the order of the day Saturday. July 9, at the OFA Short Course in Columbus, Ohio. Vendors and other show principals spent much of their time setting up booths and arranging plants in preparation for Sunday, the first day attendees walk the show floor.

That said, there were several events on tap for early-goers, including the Short Course Garden Center and Greenhouse Study Tours, a picture-taking session for the 2011 OFA Scholars, and various education programs for both groups. 

Tours du jour
For roughly 100 garden center operators attending the Short Course, Saturday was spent checking out the sights and sounds at four Ohio garden centers. Meanwhile, another hort group – primarily growers – set out for three greenhouse locations to take notes on their respective success stories.

The Short Course Garden Center Tour took two busloads of folks to Baker’s Acres in Alexandria, Hoover Gardens in Westerville, Strader’s Garden Center in Columbus, and Wilson’s Garden Center in Newark. The Grower Tour busses went to Dill’s Greenhouse in Groveport, Timbuk II Plant Co. in Granville, and Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse in Delaware (Ohio).

Retail highlights: Baker’s Acres’ unofficial motto is, “We love people, we love plants, and we love to have fun.” And, indeed, the company delivered a fun collection of remarkable plants that had the people oohing and aahing – and, certainly, smiling. The company specializes in perennials, annuals, edibles, trees, shrubs and vines, with plenty of clever marketing and merchandising perks to keep things jovial (see the picture of the company’s 2011 catalog). Worth noting: If you’re ever down and need a pick-me-up, venture to the Baker’s Acres’ website’s So Called Funny Stuff page – you will not leave unhappy. Here’s one nugget from the site: “I don’t care how optimistic you may be, a diaper is never half empty.” (Cornelius Robinson)

Hoover Gardens changed owners a couple of years ago, and the transition has wrought a business big on new ideas, unique gardening products, savvy merchandising and attention-grabbing marketing. The sum of those parts is a destination garden center that is building strong ties to its community. Besides all that, it has “way cool” plants. Worth noting: Hoover Gardens’ staff has implemented a customer service staple that creates a lasting bond with the folks who shop there. Customers can bring in pictures, tell the staff what they’d like to accomplish, and the Hoover Gardens team crafts a landscaping or gardening plan to fit the specific need.

Strader’s Garden Center is a family business that has been around for more than five decades. There are six Strader’s stores in all. The one that entertained the tour group Saturday features a super-friendly staff that includes two cats, Willy and Lily. A talented team of designers has put together unique displays inside and outside to ensure that shoppers – and OFA Short Course tourists – always enjoy their time at the center. Worth noting: The previous “owner” of the Stader’s Garden Location on Saturday’s tour was a family of raccoons. Owner Jack Stader renovated the older, slightly neglected property – and scared off the raccoons – to create a popular addition to the family’s chain of garden centers.

Wilson’s Garden Center grows and sells thousands of varieties of plants, many of which are trialed in company gardens to ensure that they’ll be “customer friendly” when they’re sold at the store. The business is headed by the second generation of Wilsons. Ned, Harry and Mitzie (Ned’s wife) run the day-to-day operations with a staff that has grown to more than 60 over the 53 years the company has been in business. Worth noting: Wilson’s Garden Center’s display gardens have become something of an outdoor classroom for customers. Most plants are labeled, giving visitors a great look at what each plant will look like in a mature state. 

Grower highlights: Dill’s Greenhouse opened in 1983 with 13,000 square feet of space. Consistent growth has increased the production and retail space to 10 acres this year. The company grows annuals, perennials, vegetable plants and hanging baskets that it sells in its retail center. Worth noting: Dill’s steady growth has produced a number of new customer service options, including landscape design and installation, custom container planting, plant and problem identification, pond information, nursery information and delivery, and custom evergreen wreaths, sashes, centerpieces and grave blankets.
 

Timbuk II Plant Co. is part of the Timbuk Farms operation, which began in 1952 as a Christmas tree farm. The farm continues to be one of Central Ohio’s largest Christmas tree producers. Timbuk Farms’ greenhouse operation is a contract grower of young plants for Ball Horticulture and Dummen USA. Most of these seedlings and cuttings are shipped to commercial greenhouses during the winter. Timbuk Farms supplies around 3,000 greenhouses and garden stores in all 50 states. Worth noting: Timbuk Farms now sells direct to consumers through its Timbuk Farms Garden Mart, which is open April to July.

Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse was established in 1989 and now wholesales about 75 percent of its crops to retail garden centers in and around Ohio. The rest of the plants produced go to the company’s retail operation, which is housed within its production range. This unique retail arrangement gives customers an inside view of just how many plants are grown. Worth noting: Foertmeyer & Sons Greenhouse finished a 2-acre outdoor growing facility just in time for the Short Course.

Smart choices
The OFA Scholars Program’s Class of 2011 gathered for a photo Saturday. Honorees include the following:

Jennifer Hatalski, general manager of Varsity Garden Center in Swoyersville, Pa., and recent recipient of an Associates Degree in Applied Science of Horticulture at the College of Western Idaho. Jennifer has been both full-time student and full-time garden center operator the past few years, traveling back and forth from Idaho to Pennsylvania. She is on OFA’s Garden Center Committee.

Jared Barnes recently earned his master’s degree from North Carolina State University and is now working on his doctorate. He has held several horticulture jobs in the past, including a two-month internship a The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College. He hopes to become a college professor.

Jennifer Evans decided to major in horticulture at Michigan State University because she wanted to build a career around something she was genuinely passionate about. Over the course of her undergraduate career she has sought out new experiences and projects that have led her into greenhouses, high tunnels, public gardens and the floriculture lab. She hopes to keep people interested in horticulture by developing not only plant aesthetics but also the way they smell and taste.

Allison Justice grew up on an ornamental tree farm, which led her to pursue a degree in horticulture at Clemson University. After graduation she returned to manage the family farm for two years. She has since returned to Clemson and is working on her PhD, researching the effects of certain mycorrhizae on rooted cuttings for adventitious root formation.

Lori Moshman is a plant and science and entomology senior at Cornell University. She is interested in IPM of field and greenhouse crops. She spent her junior semester as an exchange student in Melbourne, Australia, and has served as greenhouse manager of Hortus Forum, Cornell’s undergraduate horticulture club. She is involved in lab research on pollination by native bees in New York.

Nicole Rud is a PhD candidate studying stress physiology of floricultural plants at the University of Toledo. While taking a plant propagation class as an undergraduate, Nicole discovered she had a passion for horticulture. She has since studied the physiological disorders oedema and intumescence on Pelargonium, and has begun investigating stress caused by UV light. She hopes she can use her horticultural science background to improve the industry though teaching and outreach programs.

You’ll want to tune in Monday …
The trade show portion of the OFA Short Course will begin Sunday. Be on the lookout for our daily e-newsletter covering all the day’s highlights, notably GIE Media’s presentation of the inaugural Horticultural Industries Leadership Awards.