We had lots of rain yesterday and today. The first real rain in months.  A curse and a blessing. The curse is the loss of business. The blessing is the relief the nursery staff feels when we go from 200-225 weekday transactions to 35-40. More time to breathe and more time to appreciate natures beauty that we work around all day.

          Last week was the best sales week in our history. We shattered the mark that we set last year. This week, because of the rain, could be the worst March week in about 5 years. Mother nature can quickly bring you back to reality. We responded to last weeks sales by loading up on inventory this week. That means we will start off next week with a full nursery and will be really prepared to serve our customers during their kids Spring break.

          Gary Lindarman, owner of the Enchanted Forest Nursery in Richmond Texas, and LP Kojis, his manager, dropped in yesterday.  LP is a veteran nurseryman and was the manager of the Cornelius store on Voss Rd.  Everyone in the industry knows LP and he is one of the men that made Cornelius Nursery the most successful nursery in Houston with respect to their earnings and their integrity. Sterling Cornelius had an uncanny ability to attract and keep employees that shared his sincere dedication to their customers. Gary is someone I immediately liked. No airs, no ego, he is just real.  We had a good visit and shared information on suppliers, products and we are contemplating branding our own line of vegetables.  We will proceed if we have support from some of the other independents and suppliers.
              
          I read an article today in the Nursery Retailer Magazine 2008  "Top 100 Retail Nurseries" in the US.  I used to think this was a credible list until I realized a huge chain of nurseries in Houston that should be rated 4th in the nation are not even on the list. I wrote the editor, Jeff Morey, twice, starting 3 years ago and I informed him of their omission. He did not respond to me nor did he add this nursery chain to his list in the next years article. Jeff knows about them but he does not include them. Could there be someone who wants to fly under the "how much sales I am really doing" radar?  Nurseries want to see their names on that list.  Is there a story here? Does anyone care?  I am very curious as to how they stay off that list!
     
          Green Valley Growers in Willis Texas, one of our local suppliers, filed bankruptcy this week. Wayne Massey started Green Valley about 8 years ago,  bought 850+ acres and within 5 years put 400 into nursery stock production. Wow!  He owns 3 large garden centers in Houston. Wayne always thought big in his retail endeavors and that translated into his wholesale operation. I hope he gets past this hurdle. Good luck Wayne.
     
           Rain, rain go away come again Thursday--in August!