Stutzmans Greenhouse, Hutchinson, Kansas
2017 Greenhouse Greats - 2017 Greenhouse Greats: Grower/Retailer
Stutzmans owner Ben Miller with his wife Marlene and son Justin
Photo courtesy of Ben Miller
WHY THEY'RE GREAT:
Ben Miller, the owner of Stutzmans Greenhouse, runs a business that controls all aspects of its supply chain. By growing their own annual and perennial crops under 7 acres of covered production space, and selling to garden centers they own, Stutzmans is largely a self-sufficient operation. Additionally, Miller says growing their own plants allows the business to better serve customers at their 12 locations across the state of Kansas.
Here's how operating as both a grower and a retailer gives Miller's business an advantage over the competition, in his own words:
BEN MILLER: "We've been both. We've been a wholesale operation where [it was] 75 percent of our [business]. We've always been in retail. But in the last six years, we've really made a transition to where we are [supplying 100 percent of our retail needs] now. For us, being a retail grower gets us more in-tune to what the end consumer wants. Because we have our own stores — 12 retail centers, 11 of which are open spring all the way through fall — consumer success is paramount. If they're not [successful], we won't be either. Knowing and handling the product line that does well for our area is crucial and something we pay a lot of attention to.
[The ability to control supply] has been a major deal for us as well. For the most part, if you're guessing your production based on the past year's records, that's still a moving target. And [once] you get down to the end of the season, you may have a variety that you just didn't get the calls for, and then you may be sitting on it. But with your own retail, you make deals and move it right on through. And if it's looking good, you can always set a price and sell it. Our shrink has just virtually gone [to] zero. It's incredibly low since we've gone this route."
Brent Horvath, Intrinsic Perennial Gardens
2017 Greenhouse Greats - 2017 Greenhouse Greats: Breeding
Karen E. Varga
One of Horvath's newest plants, Sedum 'Pillow Talk'
Photo courtesy of Brent Horvath
Horvath's love for plants extends beyond his professional life. Here, he poses with an agave that he came upon and liked.
WHY HE'S GREAT:
Brent Horvath, owner of wholesale growing operation Intrinsic Perennial Gardens in Illinois, is a lifelong horticulturist and has bred perennial plants for more than 20 years. Horvath currently has more than 20 U.S. plant patents for his introductions and estimated he would have filed applications for about 20 more by the end of 2016. He has filed most of those applications himself, he says, which is a feat in and of itself.
Horvath's work has led him to work with many different perennials genuses, such as grasses and sedum, rather than limiting himself to one, which distinguishes him from other breeders. "I'm one of the few independent breeders, even though I have a company that helps me make all that happen," he says. "Many other breeders have a bigger company and a bigger group of people working behind those plants, but it's still mostly me." Horvath also wrote "The Plant Lover's Guide to Sedum," published in 2014. The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) recently awarded him the coveted Grower of the Year title in 2016.
Horvath with a Gunnera plant
A PATH TO GREATNESS:
Horvath was born to be a plant aficionado. His parents had a garden center, landscape company and florist that he worked at growing up. After graduating with a degree in horticulture from Oregon State University, he started a nursery division for the company. It was then that Horvath read "Alan Bloom's Hardy Perennials," a book written by a British horticulturist who founded Blooms of Bressingham and helped revitalize people's interest in perennials after World War II. The book describes the process of breeding and introducing some of the more well-known plants like 'Moonshine' Yarrow, "and that really peaked my interest," says Horvath.
"I found my first couple of plants in 1996-97," he says. "In the beginning it wasn't an intense focus. In the last five years, I've really focused on it. I have a part-time breeding assistant that comes in one day a week and we collect and sow seed."
WHY PERENNIALS:
Inspired by his father's work with perennials during his childhood, Horvath pursued an internship at a perennial grower in Germantown, Wisc. called W&E Radtke Perennial Nursery. "I enjoyed learning about them and the wide variety that there was in perennials even in the '80s and '90s," Horvath says.
Horvath's 2016 releases include Rudbeckia 'American Gold Rush'.
BREEDING POTENTIAL:
While Horvath says there's room for growth in plant genuses like leucanthemum, rudbeckia and heliopsis, he's been honing in on grasses, especially prairie grasses, lately. "I'm trying to make them more ornamental," he says. "My big blue stems have scarlet red fall color and near purple black fall color now. I'm trying to do that for other genuses like Indian grass and prairie drop seed." The goal is to "make them more spectacular."
PATENTING HIS WORK:
Horvath's first patented plant was a variegated sport of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' that he named after his father, 'Lajos,' with a trade name of Autumn Charm. "'Autumn Joy' was basically a staple in the garden, so I thought it was worth pursuing, and I thought it would be a big seller," he says. Although he had a few challenges throughout the application process, he was eventually successful in patenting the plant. "After I did one [patent application], I figured I could write all of my patents," he says.
When determining which plants to patent, Horvath considers which plants have the best potential. "Some of my plants are mild selections of native plants that don't really warrant patenting, or they're lower sellers, more novelty plants," he says. "Depending on the category, [I'll] pick whether I'm going to patent it or not." Horvath says that about a third of his plants are patented and "more and more will be patented" in the future.
WHOLESALE GROWING + BREEDING = SUCCESS:
At times, it may be tough to balance his wholesale production with breeding, but Horvath sees a lot of advantages in the combination. "I'm able to compare [new plants] to the ones I'm already growing or ones already in the trade," he says. He's got a handle on the propagation and cultural side because of his growing experience, as well as the ability to ability to propagate large quantities.
ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE BREEDERS:
Start a collection. "Collect a lot of different and unique species once you figure out which genus you want to breed and propagate," Horvath says. "You can make a lot of unique crosses by bringing in some outside genuses that no one else is working with or aren't in the trade."
Choose carefully. Horvath cautions against going into genuses where a lot of work is already being done, such as coreopsis, because it may be hard to stand out from the crowd.
Find an experienced industry partner. "Working with someone to bring [yourself] into the trade is very helpful," Horvath says. "I worked initially with Walters Gardens. They weren't doing as much breeding at that time." While Walters has been doing more breeding of their own since then, Horvath continues to work closely with them and they trial his plants. "They're still very happy to evaluate and look at my new plants, so I send them most everything I've introduced," he says.
Bradford Greenhouses, Bradford, Ontario
2017 Greenhouse Greats - 2017 Greenhouse Greats: Automation
Anthony Ferragine riding a Cushman vehicle to transport plants
Photo courtesy of Bradford Greenhouses
WHY THEY'RE GREAT:
With more than 500,000 square feet of indoor growing space, and plans to expand in 2017, Bradford Greenhouses would not be as efficient if it wasn't for the technologically advanced equipment they use. That's why the team has implemented automated systems into the operation over the years to help with their bedding plants, containers and hanging baskets. This way, they can fully utilize their 300 employees in other ways during spring season to reach peak productivity.
AUTOMATED ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Bradford Greenhouses' wholesale division produces plugs and liners, potted plants, bedding plants and more — shipping about 1,400 racks of plants per day during May. They knew it was time to automate in the early '80s, when they purchased their first seeder. Now, the company utilizes three transplanters to help get those plants into production. But automation for Bradford extends beyond transplanting. Plants are watered using irrigation booms, and hanging baskets are housed on a conveyor belt that carries them throughout the greenhouse, keeping manual lifting to a minimum. And when it's time to ship, 16 doors in the loading dock help to get plants onto the trucks.
MOTIVATED TO EFFICIENCY:
After purchasing a machine, you may want to throw it away, jokes General Manager Mickey Ferragine. When implementing change in the greenhouse, "You're going to hate it before you love it," he says. But he insists that it's worth the leap. For example, the first transplanting machine Mickey purchased years ago could generate an output of 250 pots per hour at a maximum, but as technology has evolved, the new machine can plant up to 800 an hour. That adds up to significant time and labor savings. And while technology certainly helps, getting creative with automation can make improvements in unpredictable ways. Even transporting the racks of plants contains an automated element at the Bradford facility. They built racks that can adjust to any type and size of plant, and then those racks are attached to yellow motorized buggies, called Cushmans, that employees can ride to other parts of the site — another huge time saver.
One of Bradford's three transplanter machines
"In the next few years, we're looking to add a lot more automation to our business," says Shipping and Receiving Supervisor Anthony Ferragine. "We're looking into more site-wide inventory traceability; we're going to start looking into if our ID scanning technology is suitable for us or if we're going to go to barcode technology. We're looking to identify where all products are going to be at all times." Anthony adds that the team would also like to eventually use robotics to space mums.
A perlite alternative
2017 Greenhouse Greats - 2017 Greenhouse Greats: Advertorial
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PBH rice hulls are proven alternative to perlite.
In recent years, as greenhouse growers have embraced sustainability and looked for feasible ways to reduce production costs, the use of parboiled rice hulls in greenhouse growing media has become a popular substitute for perlite. These uniquely processed hulls offer growers environmental, horticultural and economic advantages with no reduction in plant quality. PBH Nature's Media Amendment, the parboiled rice hulls marketed by Riceland Foods, Inc., are OMRI Listed® and WSDA registered.
Available at a lower basic cost than perlite, PBH rice hulls dramatically reduce dust in the greenhouse mixing environment. Their natural color blends well with other media components, while highly compressed packaging in 50-lb. standard bags or 30-cu.-ft. bulk bales generates less waste and reduces storage, handling and freight.
The size, shape and bulking properties of these greenhouse-proven and university-researched rice hulls offer some porosity, air-filled pore space and drainage advantages over perlite. Depending on the PBH percentage, PBH mixes may hold more water than perlite mixes. Always trial any material used in a new application for adaptability to your operation.
For more information and a list of distributors, visit www.riceland.com or call 870-673-5575
Brianna Genovese, ArizonaEast
2017 Greenhouse Greats - 2017 Greenhouse Greats: Marketing
Photo courtesy of ArizonaEast
Brianna Genovese
WHY SHE'S GREAT:
Since diving into horticulture as ArizonaEast's marketing manager two and a half years ago, Genovese has totally revamped the way the industry envisions the New Jersey-based succulents grower. She's harnessed her background in public relations for clients like resort chains and food brands to rebrand and take the company's B2B marketing to the next level — one of trendy Instagram posts, fully realized potted plant collections and even content marketing-styled Holiday Gift Guides. Genovese's work mirrors that of fashion designers and high-end bloggers, leaving the guesswork out of wholesale buying and speaking to (not at) the Millennial and nongardener demographic. Here, she provides some insights into her plant marketing success.
Greenhouse Management: You're also heavily involved in product development. How does that hands-on experience influence your marketing strategy?
Brianna Genovese: It's really nice being able to work hand-in-hand with the two owners [Brian and Joe Vitale]. In the beginning, we were a small team, so I was involved in sales as well, and it helped me understand what our customers are looking for and what their issues are, trials and tribulations, and how that impacts product development. It helped me understand how to change it up to give us a competitive edge.
GM: Your Instagram page looks like a lifestyle brand. How were you able to make the photos in your feed a cohesive look, and stay on trend?
BG: We have a freelance photographer who [also] does workshops, and she came in on a Saturday and we did a 6-hour long [class]. She showed us how to take images on our phone using a VSCO app and ProCamera app. Also, [she explained] things you can think about when you're taking pictures specifically for social media. She listed some great guidelines to make images to speak to your brand, and how you can look at your feed as a cohesive theme, and not just image-to-image. It was a hugely helpful investment.
GM: Why do you think appealing to an end consumer base can help you with wholesale sales?
BG: It's something I've been grappling with ever since I started here. Honestly, it's the past six to eight months that I've honed in on where we need to go. B2B communication is extremely important. That's our No. 1 goal, but we also wanted to own our brand, and help the consumers-at-large understand our take on what these plants can be in the home. We need to do our due diligence to help our customers market to that end consumer. [Our customers] have so many other things to focus on that I just wanted to figure out how to strongly communicate [our message], and hopefully get them to recognize our brand, and that [be] the driver for them to go into the store and buy.