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ARE ORCHIDS SOLD AT
GARDEN SHOPS IN HOME IMPROVEMENT CENTERS TO BE
AVOIDED?
After our February speaker concluded the main
portion of his presentation, members in the
audience were encouraged to ask questions. One of
our newer growers asked a question that involved a
plant she had purchased at a local home improvement
center garden shop. Although the speaker's response
was well-intentioned, the grower who asked the
question as well as other growers in the audience,
may now believe that they should ALWAYS avoid
purchasing orchids anywhere other than commercial
orchid nurseries. Surely our speaker did not intend
to discourage budding orchid enthusiasts. Often
blooming orchids can be purchased locally at a
variety of garden shops, and if they can be
purchased cheaply, and if the plants appear to be
in good condition (with or without name tags), it
is far kinder to a new grower's bank account to
experiment with inexpensive plants than to purchase
expensive ones that may well end their days on a
compost pile.
In the January, 1998 issue of "Chula Orchids
Newsletter", pages 15 and 16, Harry Seward, an
orchid grower and employee of Home Depot in
Reading, Pa., took issue with a few negative
comments Harry Tolen (Chula Orchids) made in the
December, 1997 issue, page 2, of "Chula Orchids
Newsletter". (Harry T. has kindly given us
permission to use "anything" he has printed,
"anytime without asking". You're a Prince of a
Fellow, Harry!)
"Some thoughts on the diatribe about Home Depot
in December's newsletter. I am your customer. I
have been growing orchids for 25 years, and have
been an orchid addict for 2 years. I am a
horticulturist for over 30 years. I have an
Associates' degree in horticulture from State
University of New York/Farmingdale, a B.S. from the
University of Georgia and a Masters degree from
Michigan State. Five years as a manager in a
fertilizer company, twenty years managing a
wholesale flower house, and have worked at several
nurseries and garden centers on the East Coast.
I have taken an early retirement at 50 and now
work 40 hours per week at...HOME DEPOT! Yes, run a
Home Depot Greenhouse! It is neat and clean and
well run. Any time I see a customer in the orchid
section, I talk to them and encourage them. I hold
free classes on orchids, bonsai, cactus/succulents
and tropicals. The orchid class is the most popular
and usually has about 25 people. My manager has
taken the two year course at Longwood Gardens. He
too is a horticulturist.
I know that we are the exceptions in the system.
But we do exist! And we are making a difference! I
learned long ago that you can't change the world;
you can only change yourself.
Now the important part. Many of my customers
really develop an interest. It is at this point my
customers become 'your customers'. At the end of
each orchid class, we discuss resources, the local
orchid society...local greenhouses, AND mail order
sources. I open up to most customers a whole new
world. YOUR WORLD! I show them catalogs and lists.
I explain this is where they have the most purchase
choices. I know they will still purchase from me;
maybe less plants and maybe more supplies.
So you see, in the end, Home Depot and the other
mass marketers can actually ADD to your business.
And about those people growing a million orchids,
ready to sell them for peanuts...GOOD! Because this
is the pool of people out of which come your next
orchid addicts. The ones who MUST have something
different and don't mind a second mortgage to get
it! Get the idea???"
Recently I happened upon an experienced orchid
grower who was working in a local garden shop at
one of the large home improvement centers in the
valley. Not only did the young man impress me with
his knowledge of orchid culture, but also he
expressed an interest in educating his orchid
customers! One of the orchids for sale in the shop
was Onc. Sweet Sugar 'Emperor'. I noted that the
medium in the pot was cinders, and I asked if the
orchids were purchased from Hawaii. The young man
confirmed my assumption. Each plant had a name tag
in the pot, and each plant appeared to have been
grown under optimum conditions. I bought one! The
garden shop orchidist thought that the price on
this plant was expensive, until I told him that
some commercial orchid nurseries have advertised
this plant for 50% more. I bought this oncidium
because I wanted it in bloom for a special occasion
that day.
There ARE exceptions to the
avoid-orchids-at-garden-shops "rule". There are
garden shops where healthy, tagged, inexpensive
orchids can be found. From my experience, it is
rare to find such a shop, but if a seasoned,
open-minded shopper/grower is persistent, he or she
might find satisfactory orchids in a local garden
shop and/or general plant nursery. If the shop is
manned (or womanned) by an experienced orchid
grower, a "mother lode" of sorts has been struck!
Garden shops are NOT a substitute for commercial
orchid nurseries, but they do serve a purpose. Our
next most dedicated OSA member might have purchased
his or her first orchid from a local garden shop!
Our thanks to Harry Tolen the commercial orchid
grower for having the courage to print the response
from Harry the garden shop employee. Harry T. had
said that he "really stepped in it this time", but
if the "Chula Orchids Newsletter" had not printed
negative remarks about garden shop orchids, H.
Seward, serious orchidist and loyal customer of
Chula, would not have been inspired to make his
thoughts known!
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Web Master
Jim Johnson
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