Marlborough Greenhouses: a Sucti 



Yw ou take a right after the post office, just 

 past the Texaco staUon, and the third 

 house on the right is a yellow clapboard 

 Victorian with white trim set among 

 mature plantings of shrubs and trees. 

 Behind it are the greenhouses — two 

 plastic, three glass — tightly arranged on property of 

 Httle over an acre. 



It was called the Felsboro Gardens five-and-a-half 

 years ago when Diane and Dale Lacasse bought it. It 

 was a local landmark — a retail greenhouse and 

 nursery operation that had been in business for fifty 

 years. Dale and Diane planned to confinue the 

 business in the form in which it had always been — 

 and they did so for three years. "We had over five 

 hundred varieties," Diane said. "We were good," 

 Dale agreed. 



But even the first year had given indications of 

 how slow any growth would be — there was the 

 limited acreage, the cost of oil, taxes (100% assess- 

 ment). They looked at altemafives and they made a 

 big decision: they became a mail order business — ex- 

 clusively bulbs — from October to March. It was a 

 risky step, but they've tripled sales by doing so. "And 

 we expect another big jump this year," Dale said. 



The first year's number of pans was small — 350 

 8" pans, each containing "The Dutch Garden" — 

 nineteen bulbs of five varieUes — tulips, hyacinth 

 jonquil, crocus, scilla — that would bloom in succes- 

 sion. They were still running the retail business then, 

 but the start seemed promising and the following 

 year they decided to concentrate on mail order bulbs 

 only. It was a difficult decision ("It was really going 

 against a town tradition," Diane said, but today their 

 own customer list numbers 7500 and this year 

 they will pot up 10,000 pans. 

 The old greenhouse 

 "V W III Wl \^SI29 "" longer contain 



^1^ V\\ u\ T^ VlMry plants, but under one 



30 X 96 plastic house 

 is a 20 X 90 custom- 

 made cooler "from 

 Bush Refrigeration, 

 out of New Jersey." 

 The two layers of poly 

 keep the weather off 

 and, in winter, keeps 

 the cooler from freezing. 

 Liquid shade is used. 



sprayed on the inside to prevent it from being 

 knocked off by the snow. "We felt we had to move 

 away from the traditional greenhouse," Diane said. 

 "We were spending nine thousand for oil, now we 

 spend one for electricity. We go with the weather. In 



'They looked at 

 alternatives and 

 they made a big 

 decision: they 

 became a mail 

 order business/ 



winter, we need to keep the bulbs cool; in summer, 

 the coolers are empty." 



Most aspects of the business are very precisely 

 defined. There are two crops. The Christmas crop is 

 the main one. The second is sent until March 15. 

 After that, the coolers are emptied and next year's 

 season is planned. 



The only pot used is a white Kord 8: bulb pan 

 with a matching saucer. The customer can have the 

 pan placed in a hand-woven ashwood basket and 

 15% of the customers want just that. 



Now there are variations in the type of bulb 

 garden you can order. The most popular is still "The 

 Dutch Garden," but there are pans of tulips, and 

 mixes of hyacinths and crocus as well. The hyacinth 

 gardens can be blue, pink, or white, or mixed; the 

 tulips come in red and apricot — clean, clear colors. 



Choosing which tulips to use is not a simple task. 

 Many factors arc involved in the decision: the tulip 

 has to prc-cool; it must have sturdy stems and the 

 height should be no more than 18; the color must be 

 attractive (strictly a subjective test); it should force 

 within four weeks; the flower should last two. The 

 LaCasses have checked out a couple dozen ("In 

 winter, our house is fuU of tulips," Diane says), but 

 they admit to being very fussy and have found only 

 three that they've liked. They're trying to find a 



14 



