Carpenter's Olde English 



The vear after Rose Carpenter 

 opened a small flower shop on 

 South Mam Street in Newmarket in 

 195C. John built a small glass green- 

 house^lOxlS — beside it. His first 



crop was geraniums. 

 Tnese were hobbie- — hobbies m 

 New Hampshire tend to somehow 

 earn monev — but five vears later, 

 John and Rose lett their jobs and 

 entered the rlorist,'sreenhouse 

 business fiill-time. 

 Bv 1975. there were six houses and 

 an expanded flower shop. More 

 greenhouse expansion beean around 

 1975. That was the vear of an 

 unusually hezw snowstorm "when all 

 the gutter-connected houses went 

 down." 5a to prevent possible stww 

 build-up and "to give us peace oi 

 mmd," the newer houses — seven 

 27x96 gothic-st\le "New Eriglanders" 

 and — latet — ^four 17x96 "inflation 

 busters" — have all been free- 

 standing poly. 



Today at Olde English, 17 houses 

 sive 6C,00C square feet of growing 

 area. Geraniums are still the main 

 crop; seven houses are specifically for 

 :hem. .And the letail side, with the 

 f.cwer shop as a major component, is 

 flourishing. 



"\i'e"re several businesses here," Rob 

 Carperiter, the son of "J. B. 

 Carpenter &. Son, Itk.," says. 

 ">X'holesale geraruums is just one." 

 Thirteen :onal tvpes arvi fourteen 

 .\nes are grown. Rob has "alwa>"s 

 staved awav from the ro\-alties 

 hassle." but this vear, he's offering 

 Oglevee's "Kim" and "Pix\k 

 Expectations" xsruls and "Simone," 

 "Nichole," and "Monique" ivies. 

 The royalt>- fee adds to the price, 

 but customers ask for them." 

 2 1/4's (Jiff\- 7'5) are produced year- 

 round (a half-million were produced 

 last year), but spring is the busiest 

 time. Major crops then iiKzlude both 



IS THE PLASTSMAS 



There's Ahva-ss 

 Somethino- Neu'. 



finished and pre-fmished -^ 

 geraniums. The pre-rmished are "one 

 step beyond the 2 1/4's and are for 

 growers who want to stav closed a 

 linle longer." This is the tourth year 

 that Olde English has ottered them 

 and Rob savs they're selling well. 

 Thev now also sell off 90% of their 

 stock plants in March after the plants 

 have been stripped oi their final 

 cuttings. ('The>- make spectacular 

 patio plants," Rob says.) 

 During the wmter in one of the shut- 

 down "inflation busters" (two shut 

 down m wmter), people fill pots 

 whene\-er there's time. 36C Hea\A 

 Weight Metro-mix is used. (The 

 mixture is bagged — not haled. Rob 

 says "it costs more, but it doesn't 

 freeze; it's never wet; it's not too 

 hea\-\ — one person can handle it. It's 

 worth a little more expense.") The 

 pots are stored on pallets ( 1 500 per 

 pallet) and covered with plastic 

 and wTapped in shrink wTap. Bv 

 spring, 70.000 4" pots have been 

 prefilled. 



As the 2 1/4's and stock are sold, the 

 4' pots are brought in with a forklift. 

 Cuttings are direct stuck. Most of 

 them can be put on berKhes with 



Biotherm bottom heat and there is 

 verv' little loss. 



W'holesale holiday crops is another 

 busmess. Olde English wholesales 

 6000 hnished poinsettias. Rob buys 

 unrooted cuttmgs rather than keep 

 stixik plants because his summer 

 retail business goes into August and 

 It's more profitable to use his houses 

 tor that. 



He finds Hegg most reliable. He 

 liked Lilo, but found it "too finicla ." 

 .A.nd he liked Marble — it was his 

 tavonte — but customers like red, so 

 he's cutting back on other t\pes and 

 colors. 



Easter crops irKlude flowering bulbs 

 and 2500 Easter lilies. 

 In tall, thete are 3500 mums m 8 1/2" 

 fiber pots. The plants — two of them 

 per pot — are direct stuck around July 

 first and pinched once. Normally, 

 mums are begun m May, but by using 

 two plants, he saves t*o months of 

 labor and creates a selling point: 

 "You get two tor one," customets are 

 told and they like dns, splitnng the 

 pot and plantmg each half with its 

 flat side against the house. 

 One house is used only for cool- 

 temperature crops. VtHien the house 

 is empn- oi cyclamen after Chrisrmas, 

 Rob pots up 1200 Martha 

 Washingtons. using one single- 

 shooter pre-ciX)led cutting in a 5' pot 

 or three single-shooters m a 6 1/2. 

 To stop white tlv problems, 

 evenT:hing else is kept out of the 

 house. The roots "don't like 

 svstemics, but with the use of 

 pvtethrums and Safer Soap, "there's 

 no white tlies." With 14-hour days 

 Vmcandescent bulbs on a timer) and 

 constant feed, the Januan- cutnngs 

 begin to blossom m Apnl. They're 

 sold berween Eastei and Mother's 

 Day. "The\'re a nice crop." Rob says, 

 "because thev sell whenever they're 

 readv." 



