The current competitive situation in Houston makes experienced, knowledgeable employees more valuable than ever. As most of you know, Houston has an abundance of nurseries and box stores that have no knowledgeable sales help. The fourth largest city in America has only a handful of garden centers, anymore, that provide nurserymen to help their customers. The businesses that sell the most plants and gardening supplies, in Houston, are the ones that know the least about what they are selling.

      There are few, if any, qualified nursery people looking for work in retail nurseries. It has been a long time since I was able to hire someone fully knowledgeable about gardening. We have to hire the young and inexperienced and train our employees for quite a long time before they will be fully able to help customers.

      There are things that I do worry about because we are a small family business. If there is a death in the family we would not have enough employees to provide proper service if we all attended a funeral. Our extended family has been notified that they are not allowed to pass away in the Spring.  We are not always able to attend weddings anymore. Some can go but some have to work. We are relieved when my nephew and nieces decide to shack up instead of getting married.         I am not complaining. I get to see my children many times a week and my wife every night. I wouldn't trade that for anything.