What does it mean to broaden a supplier base?
Beth Gulley: We buy through a lot of broker representatives, so broadening that base partly means you are spreading out all those pieces of the pie to different broker organizations. It also means finding more vendors who can supply unique products.
Bob Gallatin: Broadening a supplier base has two...
By Matt Edmundson, CHREF Board President
I was sitting at the back-corner table, scanning the room and feeling pretty skeptical about the presentation I was about to hear, wondering how I could avoid demonstrating my apathy and counting the minutes until the bar would open.
I hadn’t been to one of these meetings in a few years since my last term...
CSU RESEARCH UPDATE
By James E. Klett, Ph.D., CSU Professor & Extension, Landscape Horticulturist; and Ronda Koski, CGG, Research Associate, Colorado State University
In the production of container-grown herbaceous ornamental plants, “weeds” can be a perennial problem! Weedy plant species compete with ornamental species for moisture and nutrients, and can quickly take over containers, resulting in ornamentals with reduced growth and...
Financial Affairs
By Bob Conner, Rocky Mountain Region Hard Goods Sales representative, Griffin Greenhouse Supplies, Inc.
With spring barely behind us, now is a perfect time to consider how your operation can better meet market demands (the all-important sell-through!) and improve upon efficiency and profitability for the next spring season.
First, review the pitfalls from this season. Identify the ones you can...
How old is Denver Botanic Gardens?
In just a few years we’ll be celebrating our 70th birthday. The charter for the Gardens was filed in 1951, and it was formally dedicated in 1954, located inside City Park. Starting in 1959, the Gardens was moved to an old cemetery on York Street, which was eventually transformed into the current 24-acre site....
What is the company’s history?
In the 1890s, Clarence Montague opened a clay pot manufacturing plant in Denver, which was the beginning of American Clay Works & Supply Company (now ACW Supply). Since all plant containers in those days were made of clay, the company flourished, being close to a clay source in Golden and easy rail shipping into Denver....
By David McKinney, CSU Scholarship Winner
When looking back on my past three years at Colorado State University, I have come to understand that I could not have made it to where I am now without the help of scholarships. Awards like those provided by the Colorado Horticulture Research and Education Foundation (CHREF) give funds for students struggling to pay...
How did Sunland Nursery get started?
It was 66 years ago that my parents started a retail nursery business in Santa Fe. For many years we relied on outside suppliers, receiving plants from different states at different times and always with a degree of uncertainty as to availability and delivery schedules. That dependence became more critical as the business grew....
What role does horticulture play in your operations?
It’s important at all of our parks, but especially so at Water World, which is my main responsibility. We have two 100-foot long greenhouses where we grow and hold plants. This includes annuals and perennials as well as a large collection of tropical plants and topiaries, which we place outside for the...
Safety Corner
From Richards, Seeley & Schaefer, Inc.
Once you attract and hire qualified job candidates to your open positions, having an onboarding and training process can help employees work safely and effectively. A continuous onboarding program will help orient employees not only to the functional details of employment, such as appropriate safety procedures, but also to the safety culture of...
