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| Tolumnia in Spike on Windowsill |
Orchids are very exotic. They are big and flashy or small and cute.
Orchids take a long time to grow and flower.
Tolumnia were formerly a part of the more common genus, Oncidium, and now have their own Genus.
This one on my windowsill has a spike moving toward opening colorful flowers.
This wonder of nature requires a lot of waiting.
Anticipation.
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| Sinningia 'Prudence Risley' on the Windowsill |
We sell thousands of plants every week
of the year.
I often wonder where they all go ?
Luckily, for us and our garden center
customers, the final buyer likes plants.
Sometimes, they just want a cheery
flower with color to make their day.
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| Begonia 'Painted Lizard' is a Winner |
The problem with sports is that half of the teams lose at every
contest. A 50% failure rate is not good
so each team must convince themselves that they are better and will win, despite
the odds.
Sports are perfect metaphors for describing
business and life.
The Summer Olympics prove that the
best athletes in the world still lose to the top three medal winners.
The phenomenon of ‘Winner takes all’ is especially cruel. Second place gets to try harder next time.
The theory of the ‘long tail’ of sales
has given the non-blockbusters hope. In
movies, records and books, the top best seller gets the profit, but the
remaining lower ranking digital creations may get a few sales.
But physical products like plants
are limited to the 2-3 best varieties due to limited greenhouse space.
New and different plants create excitement
in garden centers, but only the winners show up next year.
So, what is the conclusion based on
sports metaphors.
Keep introducing new plants. If they prove to be different enough, you
win.
Why is Crown
of Thorns (Euphorbia) ‘White Lightning’ so rare?
‘White Lightning’ is an exceptionally
good plant. Highly variegated green and
white, with red flowers, it likes sun and tolerates being dry.
It’s the perfect houseplant for a
south or west window, which seems too bright for shady foliage houseplants.
But why so rare and expensive?
A Florida succulent/ cactus
wholesale grower has a lock on the tissue culture supply. It grows slowly, taking months to get to a
nice 4” pot size.
Like many rare plants, it takes
someone to champion the plant.
I’ve been watching Crown of Thorns
for 50 years and know ‘White Lightning’ is worth the effort.
We sell them through our 100 Independent
Garden Centers and internet sellers.
Find them here: http://www.garysspecialtyplants.com/locations.html
Call your Garden Center to see if
they have any in stock. Ask them to get one
for you. They live for years and are a
decorative houseplant. It can be grown outside
in summer, if you like.
