Customer Service 



You realize that your customers shop 

 at your garden center for plants, flowers, 

 and garden supplies. But did you know 

 they want more? 



According to a nationwide study by 

 Adweek's Market Week magazine and 

 Warwicke, Baker and Fiore advertising 

 agency, 93 percent of customers want 

 more rest rooms and 49 percent are will- 

 ing to pay extra for the convenience. 

 The second most desired item (62 

 percent of these surveyed) was a place 

 to sit down. 



Garden center owners may want to 

 consider making the shopping experi- 

 ence more pleasant by providing 

 functional niceties. Extra seating in the 

 outdoor selling yard or greenhouse can 

 be incorporated in small display gardens 

 that can increase the sale of plant 

 material and garden benches. Clean and 

 easy-to-find restrooms should be 

 accessible to the handicapped. Putting 

 yourself in your customer's place, 

 wouldn't these amenities make your 

 garden center a more pleasant place to 

 shop?'ir 



(from Garden Center Newsletter, May- 

 June. 1990) 



Lilies 



Usually, the lily is associated with 

 specific occasions, like Easter or funer- 

 als. But this long-time trend may be 

 changing, reports the Flower Council of 

 Holland. Extensive research in Holland 

 has enabled the lily population to grow 

 tremendously, allowing it to become a 

 multi-purpose flower. 



Researchers attribute the growth of 

 the lily population to an increased 

 awareness of the flower's ornamental 

 value and keeping quaUties. The 

 increase in the varieties of Oriental and 

 Asiatic Hybrids, including the Connecti- 

 cut King, Enchantment, Laura Lee, and 

 Furore, has also helped to expand the 

 population. 



In 1970, Holland had only two acres 

 devoted to the cultivation of lily bulbs. 



Today there are more than 6,100 acres, 

 and the total supply of lilies to Dutch 

 auctions rose to 236.5 million stems last 

 year. 



Current lily research concentrates on 

 resistance to disease and keeping quali- 

 ties. Researchers are cross-fertilizing 

 Asiatic lilies with Orientals in hopes of 

 combining the best qualities of each. In 

 the short term, this may not increase the 

 quantity of lilies, but it should increase 

 quality, says Holland's Flower Coun- 

 cil.* 



(excerpted from SAF — Business News 

 for the Floral Industry. April 1990) 



And in California... 

 a New Whitefly 



An introduced pest, the ash whitefly, 

 is causing serious problems in Southern 

 California, and it is moving north. The 

 pest host range includes many common 

 landscape species. 



The ash whitefly (Siphoninus phil- 

 lyreae) was first found in Van Nuys, 

 California, in July, 1988. It spread 

 rapidly and is now found in 12 Califor- 

 nia counties. Entomologists believe it 

 will eventually spread throughout the 

 state. It has primarily infested ash and 

 pear trees, but is known to attack apple, 

 peach, apricot, and plum. Heavy 

 infestations cause leaf wilt, early leaf 

 drop, and smaller fruit. 



Pesticides have proved ineffective 

 because the populations are large and 

 widespread. A pesticide-treated tree is 

 soon re-infested by whiteflies from 

 other sources. 



It is not clear where this particular 

 form of whitefly originated, according 

 to Bob Obermire, Oregon Department 

 of Agriculture Plant Division. "We 

 don't know if this is a tropical form or 

 not," he says. "If it is tropical, the 

 chmate may keep it in check. If it 

 comes from northern Europe, it could be 

 a problem, particularly on Rosaceae 

 species." 



Obermire said that the pest does not 

 require plant material to move and may 



travel inside vehicles. This would make 

 a quarantine very difficult to manage, he 

 added. 



Pesticide treatment is used primarily 

 on nursery stock shipments destined for 

 non-infested areas. But none of the 

 pesticides tested provided completely 

 clean slock. And only a few kept the 

 pest at moderate levels for seven days. 

 California researchers are not recom- 

 mending using pesticides on landscape 

 materials. Mature landscape trees have 

 withstood heavy infestations for two 

 seasons without marked loss of vigor, 

 despite some defoliation. 



Researchers are now working on 

 introducing natural enemies of the ash 

 whitefly. These include parasitoids, 

 predators, and diseases. They appear to 

 be a major controlling force in Europe, 

 where this whitefly does not seem to 

 reach pest status. Crop losses have oc- 

 curred only in areas lacking effective 

 natural enemies.lf 

 (from Digger, April. 1990; Source: 

 California Agriculture, Vol. 44, #1) 



And California Again.., 



The State of California may ban 

 metallic or "foil" balloons, due to the 

 power outages they have caused and to 

 their potential life-threatening danger. 



During the first ten months of 1989, 

 metallic balloons caused 593 power 

 outages in California, according to the 

 California Public Utilities Commission 

 (CPUC). The outages disrupted power 

 lines of 733,000 customers and cost 

 power companies $444,52 1 . (The 

 power disruption occurs as the metallic 

 balloon makes direct contact with the 

 power lines.) The CPUC has made 

 three proposals to regulate the balloons 

 to the California legislature. Two of 

 these call for complete bans.'*' 

 (from SAF — Business News for the 

 Floral Industry, April 1990) 



22 



