Dear Gardening Friends: At this moment, I am so happy to see the year nearing the end (for personal reasons not business reasons). John has been free from the bacteria that forced him to have 2 major surgeries within a two month time frame. He is looking better than ever and the doctors continue to be amazed at his ability to recover and his pain tolerance. (Go ahead and call him a tough old bird, we do.) Aside from some new scars and a floating rib, he seems to be back to normal except he is being careful not to lift heavy objects. He has continued to be cigarette free this year after many stops and starts last year so take heart all ye smokers, it can be done. We could not have made it this year without our wonderful coworkers. In our many absences, they took charge and managed the place wonderfully. And last but not least, I have come to the conclusion that we have the most wonderful customers in the world. Your kind thoughts and good wishes through John's illness were such a morale booster. Thank you so very much, not only for your business, but for your support during this trying year.

Guarantee of Plants - Both Yours and Ours

We are having heated discussions about what our tree/plant/shrub guarantee is and/or should be. Some of us believe that once we sell a healthy plant, we should cover an establishment period of 30-60 days and no more, providing that the purchaser provided the proper care. Others believe that we should match the competition of big box stores and do a one year guarantee. The arguments against competing with big box stores are: 1. They do not grow their own plants as we do. 2. They ship them in weekly from Florida, California or Texas on their own trucks. Consequently, they do not pay for gas heating the greenhouses and are not hit with a gas surcharge for every delivery or higher freight charges from independent truckers. We have talked to many independent nurseries and the guarantees vary from one full year to none. One nursery owner told me, “Why should I guarantee my plants, they were healthy when they were purchased.” One nursery in Ft. Collins sells a full guarantee to their customers. All of our many discussions got me to thinking. Shouldn’t a guarantee be a two-way street between the greenhouse and the person planting the shrub/tree/plant?

When you purchase a plant, never be afraid to ask us how it should be planted, watered, and cared for. We assume (yes, I know we should never assume) unless you request information from us that you are aware of the many challenges Colorado offers in the way of gardening. Roses are planted differently here than where I was raised. Trees and shrubs planted in clay soils require totally different planting methods (this was covered in our last newsletter). Before I moved to Colorado, I knew nothing about winter care (covered in last fall’s newsletter). You dug a hole, watered it in the summer, and 99.9 percent of the time, it came back the following year. Even when you think you have caught on to Colorado’s quirky weather, then a winter such as the last one comes along and decimates our plantings. At any rate, we feel that when you purchase any growing item from us, you are guaranteeing to dig the hole correctly, plant at the proper depth, water it adequately but not over water, monitor plants on drip irrigation systems, pay special attention to the plant during stressful times (both summer and winter) and not abandon the plant for long periods of time. When I say plant correctly, I mean following the guidelines provided by Colorado State University which has one of the finest horticultural schools in the country. Information on planting in the Rocky Mountain area is available on the web as well as in printed format provided at the extension service office at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.

Therefore if I guarantee to provide you with a healthy plant, then you must guarantee to provide one full year of care to establish that plant. Occasionally a plant will fail within a year of your purchase in spite of our combined efforts and we will replace that plant with one of equal value if you paid full price. If you purchased the plant at sale price, we will apply the price paid toward the purchase of a replacement. You need to keep your receipt in order to receive your correct credit. At one time, I could tell you every plant purchased by every customer. I am happy to say that we are now big enough that it's not possible to know that, so you must provide your receipt in order to receive the correct credit.