For some it is all year round, for others it happens in the Spring and continues through til first frost.  What is it?  White shoes?  Nope, it an extension of your interiorscape business, Blooming beds and Containers.  These are usually placed to accent an entrance, company logos, etc.  They act as visual signage.  They are an expected part of Office Park, Shopping Mall and Ofice Building.

Usually you will be working with the property owner or manager.  The property owner is most probably open to a high end look (more color changed out several times), while the property manager is more concerned about the cost.  UNLESS, the building is in the leasing stage in which case, the property management firm needs the imp0act and may be more interested in a WOW look.

Appearance is everything here.  A few 4" bedding plants planted in May may provide the right look by September but for the months prior?  You need and they want, instant gratification.  Show them, physically show them, the size most others use, the plugs vs your 6" or 8" finished product.  They’ll get it!  In this case the visual is important.  Spacing is important.  Options are important.

Future work is critical.  Remember seasonal work is just another form of recurring revenue even if it is for 6 months instead of 12.  om while the beds are in bloom this season and still spectacular, meet with your contact and discuss your ideas for "next year".  Lock in your participation.  Think outside the box.  Daylilies, pansies, bright colors mixed with greenery, even large tropical plants can make a real statement.  There was once upon a time, an interiorscaper in my city who each Summer installed a huge Banana Plant in front of a downtown restaurant.  WOW!  Did it ever get attention for the eatery.  "Meet me at the Banana Tree", could be heard around the downtown area.  One huge plant.  One attention getting Exotic.  Increased business for the client.  They repeat it year after year after year.  And, it is not just a Specimen that gets attention.  Color surrounded by greenery such as ivy or lirope can give a "full,saladlike, lush look."  Play with it and have fun.  Be elegant OR controveresial. The choice is yours and your clients.  Pique their interest.

Next, now that the season is in full swing, take a drive around town.  Check out other ‘s blooming installations.  Are they spectacular, just Ok, a mess?  Note the good and bad and make it part of your sales plan while the season is still in the swing of things.  Don’t be afraid to contact the property manager and point out the failings.  Have photos on your cell of your work.  Quick and easy.

And, for the winter months in cold climate areas, there are other Exterior Options for the savvy ‘scaper.  Think Holiday where lighting of trees and bushes is a real option and eyecatching. And, if you live in year round friendly climes, color and or tropicals in containers are good to go year round.   

Now, go out there and get ‘em, Tiger Lilies.

Every year one of your clients holds an auction for some worthy cause and they ask you for a "donation".  Or, it is Holiday time and they donate stuff to a local Kids Toy Drive.  You donate a few poinsettia.  Still, why it is all for a good cause, you go away muttering under your breath, feeling just a bit abused.  I used to feel that way until one year I woke up and smelled the eggnog.  This is a great opportunity, and I suggest you change your attitude.  Here’s the Plan.

LOSE THAT FEELING.  In fact, get in there and participate.  Why not?  You are going to have to do it anyway, so why not think ahead and figure out a way to contribute so it makes you look good, is good for your business and still doesn’t break the bank?

BECOME PART OF THE TEAM.    Find a Special at your Nursery and donate with a lot of splash but not a lot of cash. Maybe you could even get the Nursery to chip in for some acknowledgement.  Holiday time?  Bet you have an old, gently used 7 and a half foot artificial tree stashed away some where.  Put gold balls or red ribbon on it still leaving lots of room for "company ornaments", place it in the Employee Dining Area and let the company sell paper cutout Santas they sell for $1 each, the money going to their favorite charity.  Or, the tree is the center for the boxes of donated toys.  And, don’t forget, after mid December nurseries sell poinsettia for a buck apiece.  Make a huge splash and donate a bunch.  Only stipulation is the pointsettia have to leave the building so you are not conned into caring for them. 

TAKE THE CREDIT   It does no good to give stuff and not get the credit.  Signage, article in the company Newsletter, follow up letters to your contacts for allowing you to participate, all go a long way to being part of the Team.  Now go out there and get ‘em Tigers. and sell some TOPsiders for me.

Holiday is over for another 10 months and the good news is that you survived.  Congratulations.  Thinking back to Holidays Past, I recall several that were, shall we say, learning instances.  The truck on Thanksgiving weekend that drove the 100 miles to the large install and the large wreath was back at the warehouse.  Result?  A second trip the following day, a perturbed client, a second truck rental, and two installers time driving and installing.  OOOPS!

The next year we fixed that problem but on another installation, my key designer showed up 2 hours late keeping four other techs waiting.  4 techs X 2 hours = 8 hours paid out not originally budgeted.  I could see the $$ flying out into the snow.

The moral of stories like these?  Plan ahead.  Have lists of materials to be loaded on trucks, check the lists more than once, and allow extra time in your price quotes.  Extra or delayed trips mean dollars lost.  And not just for Holiday.  The second trip for the plant left behind, the containers that didn’t arrive in time-all cost you.  DIRTFT is important in businesses like ours.  Extra time spent in advance is going to save you on the tail end.  DIRTFT should be a motto instilled throughout your company.  Now get out there…..

       Labor Day is traditionally the date marker for the start of Holiday preparation.  It kicks off all the craziness that follows.   But more importantly, it is time to combine creativity with organization.

TRIP #1     This first Trip I suggest you take is just a few feet away.  Walk thru your warehouse or storage facility, gargage, wherever your Holiday Past is hiding.  Amazing, isn’t it, how much dust can accumulate in just 8 months?  Start by getting rid of it.  Feather dusters work but stay away from water in the beginning.  Notice anything?  Do you have artificial floral product like pointsettia that look a tad dull, faded?  Some silver angels that havn’t been used for a couple of years ’cause they are the wrong color?  The time to refurbish is now, not in the heat of the seasonal installation crunch.  Start by making a list of what needs to be done, colors needed, and so on.  And, this is not for just Holiday product.  Make a list of the decorative containers that need some help.  A chip on the edge here, the out of date color there, the scratch or two, all can be repainted and RESOLD!

Now it is time for TRIP #2.     Your friendly Arts and Crafts store.  Michael’s is a national chain that carries the full line of DesignMaster spray colorants for artificials.  Kept under lock and key, they can transform your tired floral products into the look of new.  And, other sprays can mimic Brass, Bronze and other metallics.  A real boon to getting your dollars off the shelf and into a clients lobby.  One line that I’ve discovered may be found more often in hardware and DIY stores is mean’t to paint all kinds of household furniture, accent pieces and is also good for a lot of our decorative containers.    Tricoat products has a line called Sophisticated Finishes.  It paints on metallic and antique patinas on to all types of surfaces.    Iron, Copper, Blackened Bronze, Rust, Patina Green and a host of other finishes can update those unusable containers.  For stores that carry the smaller sizes of their product, call them at 510-614-3900 or on the web, www.tricoat.com.

OK.  So you go to the Craft store and get the spray cans of silk foliage product.  The trick is to apply without getting the color where it should not be.  First, take it outside.  This stuff is volatile and the fumes are heavy.  Spray in a well ventilated area and/or wear a mask.  Next, cover the areas not to be colored with plastic.  I like to make a plastic "collar", like the ones the vet puts around your dog or cats neckso they can’t touch their heads.  Think of a plastic "funnel".  After removing as much dust as possible either with a feather duster or blowing away with a hairdryer, test an area for the right color, and then, spray away and then, let dry.  Voila, bright, red poinsettias or other color florals.  And, for other accent pieces, a new metallic finish can take those unusable silver angels and make them the gold you need. 

Yep, two trips.  One to the warehouse and one to the DIY or craft store.  Great opportunities to make stuff you already have updated and beautiful.  Happy Holidays. 

In years past, at the tail end of the Holiday Season, some ‘Scapers have been known to throw "Poinsttia Bashing Parties".  Not only that but they often referred to points as the "devil plant".  Why, you might ask?  Why such animosity toward such a beautiful, red, vivacious harbinger of the Season?  Well, friend, poinsettia are beautiful, yes, but they are very testy.  They require almost perfect watering,need to be replaced midseason, and, often, are the reason a client will call.  And this need for attention always, always happens at the worst possible time..when staff is super busy, when weather conditions are abysmal, and when traffic is rushed.  So it is that the interiorplantscaper has a love/hate relationship with the Poinsettia.

AN END TO ALL THAT IS NEAR   It gives me great pleasure to announce a new product from TOPsiders, the Joey Pouch for Bloomers and Poinsettia (JPPT).  These little beauties work for all your blooming needs, broms, orchids, mums, kalanchoe, and, of course, poinsettia.  They stretch the  watering interval from days to weeks, keep the plant at consistent moisture and oxygen mix, and so, the plant lasts and lasts.  This past season, Joey Pouch inventor Joe Byles got 12 weeks from his Joey’ed poinsettia!  Now, we don’t promise 12 weeks but they should go beyond the 6-7 week season thus eliminating the need for an expensive, labor intensive replacement mid season.  This means that, per poinsettia "spot", you will save lots and lots of dollars and stress.  Yep, just think.  A poinsettia in a JPPT, one for the whole season, once a week or longer between "fill ups" depending on the amount of water available to the plant,  reusable over and over again, and no client complaint calls.  A "scapers dream come true.

ONE IMPORTANT WORD.  And that word is "reservoir".  Place the joey pouched bloomer in a very deep saucer or watertight liner (old decorative etc).  The more water the plant is sitting in, the better.  It cannot be overwatered even if it is up to the top.  The more water availble, the longer between waterings.

HOW?  Well, we are asking that you review your past history of Poinsettia use, come up with the number and place orders NOW.  We will only bill you once they ship in early October.  We are only producing TO YOUR ORDER and not keeping tons of these on the shelf in advance.  This means that if you do not order by late August, you will not be able to receive product.  This is how we can save dollars and keep both our costs down.

SO HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH?  JPPT is available be the case (72 per case) at $3.80 apiece ($273.60 per case) plus shipping costs.  Figure out how many you will need and let us know at TOPsiders (800) 533-7661.  For questions, you can call me at (513) 205-8195 between 9-6 EST before May 15th and after that, between 12-7 EST.

Went  to the bank the other day, Feb.25th, and on the teller counter…a still-living poinsettia!  And on the bank officers desk.  And on the coffee table.  Then, I stopped at a local restaurant and, you guessed it..another one!  Now, mind you, there were only a few bracts visible, but, there they were,  Devil Plants.  Kinda like finding a spath living in the desert.

So, what does this have to do with anything?  Maybe, just maybe, inspite of all that is going on in the economy, we should think of ourselves like these remnants of Holiday Past.  We are the survivors.  And, even though the Holidays are months away, how would you like an inexpensive variation of the Joey Pouch created just for Poinsettia and Blooming?

Well, inventor Joe is working on it and it should be announced this summer.  Just think.  One change of poinsettias lasts for all 6 plus weeks.  Watering once per week or longer!  Reusable.  A ‘scapers dream and a surefire way to help lower our costs.  Stay tuned as we work on this industry changing innovation.  And, just a heads up.  As you quote Poinsettia for Holiday proposals, do NOT quote so much per point delivered (the old 2 changes).  Instead, quote so much per "spot" and use the two point formula.  Do not commit to a number but, instead, the resulting look.  That way you will be charging as if there were two when you will need only one.

Just thought you would want to know.  Barb

This powerful phrase comes right out of Jeffrery Gitomer’s "Little Black Book of Connections".  Gitomer says that every company in the world tries to teach people how to sell and, that nothing could be more backwards or ineffective.  "What they should be teaching, he says, is how to promote, how to provide value, how to communicate, how to make presentations, how to engage, and how to connect."  All of these are important for us as Interiorscapers but, to start, lets look at one of these, How to provide Value.

Lets take one group of IP clients, the property manager.  He has buildings with office space he leases/rents and then, once he has these tenants, he is responsible for providing maintenance, repairs, etc.t   Lots of opportunities for you to become an invauable resource.  Maybe you offer to provide a gift plant to a new tenant or one that just renewed their lease.  Or, maybe, you help him by suggesting a new service provider you know to be reliable, honest, and so on.  Don’t just sit there like a bump on a log.  Ask questions.  How can you help?  What does he need and not just in plants.  And, also, look at what he is receiving from you and if you can reengineer things so that he is getting the most bang for his buck.  Suggest not just Holiday Decor, but Holiday Decor as the backdrop for a Holiday Charity partnership.   Maybe a tree with $$ ornaments tenants can buy/contribute.  Maybe, a Holiday Egg Nog and Cookies Hour for all the tenants one afternoon.  A great way for tenants to connect and network.  And, if you are providing these extra pluses, it sure helps protect you from those who do not.

You get the idea.  Ask the right questions and you just might make a friend for life..your business life.  Now go out there and get ‘em, Tiger.  And sell a few TOPsiders for me.

My memory just isn’t what it used to be.  Thats why I find myself writing lists, sometimes I even write lists of the lists!  Now for those jobs you have that you do weekly or biweekly, they become indelibly etched in your brain.  But what about Holiday jobs?  They only happen once a year and sometimes we just forget.

That’s why I highly recommend reviewing all of the posts in the Holiday Category (click on Holiday under Categories to the right of this blog).  I guarantee you find a relevant, helpful tidbit that could save you $$ and or time.

Now go out there and get ‘em, Tiger.

That’s right, I said 2009.  Even though you are knee deep in garland for Holiday 2008, I’m asking you to focus just a tiny bit on 2009.  Here’s the deal.  Plan on visiting your local Target, Walmart, Home Depot and so on sometime around the week before the actual Holiday.  This is the very best time to pick up sale items for…..next years Holiday. 

Of course, you have to be careful.  You don’t want to spend too much or purchase stuff that isn’t standard Holiday, prelit trees etc.  And you definitely don’t want a bunch of stuff that you will have to walk around for the next ten months because you are cramped for space.  BUT, if you have the space, buy judiciously, and have the extra bucks, you can save a bunch of money now. 

Just make sure you follow the above rules.  Happy Holidays. 

It is September 2nd and on the interiorscape.com web site someone asked about the best thing to use for Poinsettias and two responses cited Sippers as the best.  One post, however, asked if it wasn’t too early to begin tthinking about Points and Holiday.  Nope, in fact, it is a bit late.  If you will need Sippers, call now.  We get sold out often in late October.  Call the TOPsider office (800)533-7661.

Next, we are shipping Joey Pouches and you are already trying to figure out what to do with them.  Read the instructions and watch the dvd instructional video on the TOPsider website, www.topsidersinc.com.   And, for those of you who want to do Green Roofs, contact the TOPsider office.  We are now the sole distributors for the 42" squares that weigh only a pound and a half dry (instead of hundreds of pounds for soil and drainage material).  The squares are $96.00 each and have irrigation hook ups attatched to them so they can be attatched one to one to one etc.  No soil is needed and they are 2.5 inches (that”s right, I said INCHES) thick. 

Be aware that it takes much more than just throwing a bunch of planted squares on top of a roof to have a green roof.  There is working with the roofing guy, the construction people, and making sure the liability and safety aspects are all covered but those parts are true no matter what product is used.  Our Freedom Squares as we call them, are the lightest, the easiest components ever.  We have a minimum of squares per order required.  Again, see us at Calscape.