^ f&^ IH^ $-UfmM^ 



^^^^^^^ ^^ j^ ^ Z»>^^ ^ downand Pleasant Viewhasgone from 



m Many people in the green 

 ^1^ house and nursery business 

 have been to Pleasant View Gardens 

 in Pittsfield. ITie Plant Growers' Asso- 

 ciation had its Summer Meeting 

 here eight years ago. 

 But Pleasant View is large and con- 

 tinually changing. There are always 

 useful things to see and it was decided 

 to hold the 1991 NHPGA Summer 

 meeting there. 



Mark Crispi Illustration 



The Huntingtons— Jon and sons Jeff 

 and Henry — bought Pleasant View 

 Gardens fifteen years ago. Then there 

 were three greenhouses totalling 

 18,000 square feet. Today there are 

 four acres of houses totalling 150,000 

 square feet. Sixty people work here 

 during spring production. 



The crops have changed. "We've 

 grown about everything, looking for 

 our niche." But in the last sk years, 

 they've settled down, concentrating 

 on producing plugs and cell packs. 

 They are still in the process of 

 streamlining, but variety is needed 

 to keep the greenhouses filled and 

 potted flowering crops (ranunculus, 

 astilbe) , hanging baskets, and 4" annu- 

 als are grown. Foliage plant sales are 



1 2,000 square feet of foliage to be re- 

 wholesaled last year to 8000 square 

 feet this. As the market shifts, so do 

 the crops. 



Two new marketing devises, used to 

 fill gaps in the year's sales, are the 

 'PleasantPac' and Color Bowls. The 

 'PleasantPac' is an oblong 5x10 con- 

 tainer; the bowls are terra-cotta col- 

 ored plastic— both are filled with a 

 variety of annuals or flowering plants 

 and are sold to the impulsive garden- 

 er who wants instant color. 

 There are two large houses. A ten- 

 bay 30,000-square foot double-poly 

 from Rough Brothers was put up in 

 1989. The ground is healed with hot 

 water pipes and covered with weed 

 barrier. Plants grown there range 

 from "non-stop begonias" Oike tuber- 

 ous, but propagated by seed) to the 

 poinsetUas that will be there in Au- 

 gust. The house works well, although 



Confirmed 

 NHPGA Summer Meeting Exhibitors 



Gardenworks Marketing 

 Van Berkum Nursery 

 AMS Marketing 

 Sharon Sales Co. 

 Bailey Nurseries Inc. 

 Quality Plants Inc. 

 D.A Posocco Inc. 

 Skldelsky & Co. 

 Roseland Nursery 

 B.E. Supply 

 Hamois Industries 

 Tuckahoe Turf Farms 



Verkade's Nursery 

 Roaring Brook Nurseries 

 Griffin GH & Nursery Supply 

 Northeast Nursery Inc. 

 Liberty International Trucks 

 Orchard Equip. & Supply Co. 

 Farm Family Insurance Co. 

 Knoxland Equipment Inc. 

 W. H. Minkowski 

 Syracuse Pottery 

 Wageman Insurance Inc. 

 The von Trapp Nursery 



Prides Comer Farms 



And the list grows everyday 



SUPPORT THESE FINE FOLKS. THEY SUPPORT THE NHPGA 



Jl.ne/July 1991 15 



