a slow grower, but the blue is a 

 great blue and one of our best sell- 

 ers." 



One watering line has spaghetti 

 tubes for 135 hangers; the rest are 

 hand-watered. "In May, 300 hangers 

 arc in the retail house. I worry 

 about shade and overcrowding, but 

 they move out fast." 



This year, Campbell's also grew 

 I 50 twelve-inch double-begonias — 

 chosen for both their bright color 

 and easy care — to be hung in 

 Waterville Valley's main 

 square. 



"Wc try to help 

 people — if someone's 

 planting too early, we 

 tell them, even if it 

 means losing a sale. 

 "Keep on a protected 

 porch;' 'Water once a 

 day in sunny weather' — 

 we give lots of practi- 

 cal advice. It helps — 

 Campton Mobil had our 

 supertunia hangers still in 

 December, with snow on 

 them. But we've stopped 

 growing fuchsia — people 

 let them dry out." 



They buy in a broad 

 selection of hardy peren- 

 nials. Again, customers 

 prefer the traditional — 

 pink bleeding heart, not 

 white. Material's displayed on weed 

 mat to the left of the greenhouse. 

 Future plans include putting up a 

 14'x60' frame over which shade 

 cloth can be pulled on sunny days. 



Campbell's closes in mid-June. 

 There are no discounts, no sales: 

 "The amount of material thrown 

 away is small compared with the 

 amount we've sold. It wouldn't be 

 fair to someone who bought some- 

 thing at the full price to come back 

 a week later and find it 50% off." 



Crowding has become a prob- 

 lem — there's simply not enough 

 room for the amount of crop 

 they've found they can sell. So, 

 last year, they put up a 28'x45' 

 double-poly hoop house in the 

 rear of the property on the other 

 side of the drainage ditch. It's not 

 completely finished (no heat, no 

 benches), but was used to grow 



some oi this year's crop. Material 

 was transferred to the retail house as 

 needed. (Future plans now include a 

 small bridge that would allow Greg 

 to bring material in his truck to the 

 retail house without having to go up 

 onto the road.) 



And they've been given two 

 forty-footer frames by a customer 

 with land on the Cape that is zoned 

 "residential." These would also be 

 production houses. Exact placement 

 is imdccidcd ("If we knew how suc- 



cessful this was going to be when 

 we first started, we'd have placed 

 the first house in a different posi- 

 tion"), but behind the retail house 

 and perpendicular to it seems most 

 logical. 



They sell material to three inns 

 for their plantings, and for one — 

 Valley Inn — they do the planting 

 and summer maintenance as well, 

 but July and August is for the fam- 

 ily — Adrienne (4 1/2 years) and Jus- 

 tin (ten months). 



FALL BEGINS around August 28 

 when the mums — pots, hangers, a 

 few bushel baskets (they buy in) — 

 arrive and are set out front, just be- 

 hind the sign. The display is its 

 own advertisement. 



Other material includes asters, se- 

 dum, kale, and cabbage. Decorative 

 items — gourds (they grow these 



themselves from any seedlings left 

 after spring sales), 600 pumpkins, 

 Indian corn, corn stalks — are offered 

 as well. Mums are gone by the third 

 week in September, but they're open 

 until late October. Pumpkin buyers 

 are seen as either "decorators" or 

 "carvers:" staying open until Hallow- 

 een accommodates the latter. 



Once the greenhouse closes, 

 preparations are immediately under- 

 way for Christmas. Greg gathers bal- 

 sam, cutting lower branches from 

 trees in areas owned by 

 loggers ("Basically, I'm 

 helping them out"). Lynne, 

 Brenda, and Charlotte make 

 over 300 wreaths, decorat- 

 ing some, making others 

 to order. 



Trees (300 last year) are 

 bought from Toad Hill 

 Farms in Canaan, Ver- 

 mont — a producer who can 

 deal happily with small 

 quantities. Poinsettias, kiss- 

 ing balls, and boxwood to- 

 piaries (a new item that 

 seems to be growing in 

 popularity) are bought in. 

 And, on the weekend after 

 Thanksgiving, Campbell's 

 County Gardens opens for 

 the third time of the year. 



Lynne creates three 

 newsletters each year — in 

 the spring and fall and at Christ- 

 mas. Its eight pages are filled with 

 meditations about the landscape, 

 practical tips, and plant-oriented 

 ways to celebrate the season. The 

 mailing list has grown to 650; 

 some go to summer residents in 

 their home states, but most are 

 sent to people in the community. 



The smaller towns up here are 

 still communities and the best ad- 

 vertising is simply being part of one. 

 People buy from people they know. 

 And, if you're within a community, 

 you know your place. Other green- 

 houses are nearby, but they have 

 their own clientele: "There's still 

 room for everyone." (BP) 



Campbell's Country Gardens is 

 at 1^22 Mad River Road in 

 Thornton. The telephone number 

 is 60^-/26-884^. 



AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1999 



17 



