00000000000000000000000 



this summer and there were plenty 

 of weeds left in September.) 



John Millican was known for his 

 deciduous shrubs. John Bryant 

 added to that diversity. Another 

 addition will be of perennials next 

 year. Bryant has dedded to make 

 Millican's a one-stop buying center 

 for his customers — "which will save 

 them a lot of time in the busy sea- 

 son." The acorn-roofed greenhouse 

 connected to the main work area 

 will have the plastic removed, be 

 covered with shadecloth and be- 

 come the selling area. John's not 

 quite sure how things will be set 

 up, but he hopes to have seventy- 

 five varieties — all in two- gallon 

 containers — in there this spring. 



And in the future, he'd like to do 

 his own propagation — but that's 

 another year. 



Not everything is changing. One of 

 the more remarkable legacies of 

 Mr. Millican's ownership is the 

 winter storage — "the Cadillac of 

 winter storages," Bryant says. 

 Built in 1981 at the cost of $65,000, 

 the 30x100' peak-roofed structure 

 of one foot-thick concrete is built 

 into a hill. Evenly spaced 4x4 posts 

 with 4x4 crosspieces are designed 

 to hold three tiers of pallets that 

 can accommodate 15,000 two and 

 three-gallon shrubs; the center — 

 one third of the total space — is 

 open and can hold taller material. 



Before going in, the plants are 

 stripped of remaining leaves, then 

 sprayed with benlate. High cellar- 

 like windows — four along each 

 side— are opened; the fans are 

 turned on; the lights are turned off; 

 the big door is shut. That's it. 'The 

 only mistake was the gravel," John 

 says. Spread on the floor after the 

 structure was complete, it covered 

 the bases of the wooden posts and 

 its moisture has caused some rot. 

 The gravel's been scraped away 

 and new 4x4's have been bolted 

 onto the posts most badly deterio- 

 rated. 



Why did he make the move from 

 college administrator to nursery 

 operator? "For a better life style," 

 John said. 



The idea of broadening the lines of 

 merchandise sold is not new. But 

 perhaps the idea of 'life style" — the 

 awareness of its importance and 

 of the importance of one's own ac- 

 tions in keeping its quality high- 

 is. The quiet changes — fewer pes- 

 ticides, recycled mixes, simple— 

 rather than complicated — ma- 

 chines — may be the real innova- 

 tions. 



Below the house, a small wooden 

 structure — a house for a child— sat 

 between the burlapped trees and 

 the first rows of nursery stock. The 

 window box was empty, but a fine 

 specimen of Thuja occidentalis 

 stood at one comer and a robust 

 bed of Rubus idaeus ran along the 

 back. A small metal street sign— 



"Nicole Drive"^was nailed to the 

 side. His daughter's playhouse, I 

 thought. The land beyond the deer 

 fence was simply a mowed field 

 and beyond the field was woods. 

 There were customers around, and 

 a few cars on the road, but it was 

 genuinely quiet. 



I commented on how rural it still 

 was. 'It'll change," John said; "I 

 figure I've got fifteen years." 



Still. ..as other people begin to re- 

 alize the value of the tranquil 

 landscape, maybe that fifteen will 

 stretch into a little longer. (B.P.) 



Millican's is located on Pleasant 

 Street in Chichester, New Hamp- 

 shire. For further information, call 

 603-435-6660.) ^ 



From the Griffin Guru 



I asked the Griffin Guru how 

 long he had been writing for The 

 Plantsman. 



Kim Miller (which is the Guru's 

 real name), Vice-President for 

 Marketing at Griffin Greenhouse 

 Supply, said that in 1988, Kathy 

 Gamester (the editor at the time) 

 had asked for new input and that 

 he had phoned in three '"tips" she 

 could use. They came out in De- 

 cember of that year. And the 

 guru's been writing ever since.... 



So congratulations — and thank 

 you — to our longest running col- 

 umnist. And to start off his third 

 year, the guru has two tips for 

 you: 



Do you have a fax machine? 



We have been surprised and 

 pleased with the way our fax 

 machine has been working out 

 for us. Much like the copy ma- 

 chine, we didn't want to spend 

 the money on something we were 

 afraid we wouldn't use that 

 much. 



As it turns out, in placing orders 

 alone, it has saved us money in 

 phone charges and the person 

 can see what we want rather 

 than just hear the order. Thus 

 we have less mistakes. 



One customer requested an 

 M.S.D.S. sheet on a product and, 

 because they had a fax machine, 

 received it within minutes of the 

 call. 



Remember: Communication is 

 one of the keys to success. 



Meetings and trade shows 



Whether it be Florist, Green- 

 house, Nursery or Garden Cen- 

 ter, you are the most important 

 component of any meeting or 

 trade show. Your attendance and 

 support are considered the re- 

 ward for the hours of preparation 

 and cost of renting the hall, so to 

 speak. If your enthusiasm does 

 not keep pace with the cost and 

 effort to produce the function 

 then it will most like wather and 

 die. 



20 THE Plantsman 



