We’re not yet done with spring ’23, yet you need to be thinking about getting in your orders for next spring. It’s always a good habit to do it while the current season is fresh in your mind, of course.

With that in mind, I checked in with my friend and colleague Jim Kennedy, sales director for Ball Seed, as I’d heard he’d just been talking about the topic at their annual sales meeting. Jim is in Europe this week, at the Week 24 Flower Trials, but through the magic of Microsoft Teams I was able to shoot him a quick question, the answer to which he was able to shoot back at the end of his work day.

CB: I hear that plug, liner and unrooted programs are starting to hit the street for ’24. What are you hearing from breeders and suppliers about price increases, and what can growers expect on seed and cutting prices in general?”

JK: For 2023, seed suppliers set pricing prior to inflation really taking off in March of ’22. In securing seed for ’24, we are seeing the full impact of two years of inflation, with seed increasing about 6.5% to 7.5%.

The unrooted programs were delayed last year, as suppliers assessed the impact of inflation. Offshore labor costs continue to rise and we are seeing an increase in unrooted [cuttings] of about 4.5% to 5.5% with the programs coming in on time for ’24.

Increases on the seeds and cuttings are having an effect on plugs and liners, as is the increased labor costs for the young plant growers. Plugs and liners are coming in at 7% to 8% increase over 2023.

Parcel rates for UPS and FedEx are tougher to predict … we are anticipating 4% to 5% increase on parcel shipments. Trucking rates appear to be stabilizing as we approach ’24. 

Hmmm ... When I do the math, I come up with an average of 6% increase for these inputs. I asked Jim what he thought it all might mean to the typical customer.

“Chris, the average will depend on the product mix of the grower,” he answered. For an average of all, I’d say your 6% is about right.”

Interesting, Jim—thanks for sharing! That should help growers get some idea of what plant pricing might look like for next year. One can only assume that other brokerage firms are seeing similar impacts of inflation.

Do any of you manufacturers, distributors or brokers have data about your own pricing for 2024? Let me know HERE.

Nicely above average here in the U.S., but well below average in Canada: The final tally for June 3-4 was 8.0 in the U.S. and 6.9 in Canada. The 11-year average (2012-2022) for the first week of June is 7.6/8.0.

Here’s the map:

That’s based on 110 scores from 45 states and eight provinces. You sent in 22 perfect 10s (20% of scores).

Historically speaking, 8.0 in the U.S. for the first week of June is extremely good except when compared to the pandemic years … and even then, it beats 2021 by a tiny fraction. It definitely beats any year prior to the pandemic, except 2019.

Here’s the year-by-year scores for the first weekend of June:

2023                8.0       6.9
2022                8.6       8.7
2021                7.9       7.0
2020                8.3       8.8
2019                8.2       8.2
2018                7.4       6.5
2017                7.4       8.9
2016                7.3       8.1
2015                7.5       7.4
2014                7.8       8.2
2013                6.6       8.3
2012                6.8       7.7

12 yr. avg.       7.65     7.9

For Canada, 6.9 is the lowest ever except for 2018. But Canada is lower than it should be due to three low scores (two 2s and a 3) out of 17 total (including three 10s). If I drop the pair of 2s, the Canadian average jumps to 8.0. But, hey, I can’t just drop scores to make the average look better. Ball Seed sales rep Joey Gordon is my lone correspondent for the easternmost provinces of Canada—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador. He sent in one of the 2s for his territory. When I asked why, he replied “Cold. Rain. Forest fires. Nasty.”

If you had a rough weekend, you had a rough weekend, and who am I to say otherwise! Just know that British Columbia averaged 9.3, Quebec averaged 9.0, Ontario averaged 8.5 and Saskatchewan was 7.75. It was Manitoba (6.0), Alberta (5.7) and the aforementioned Atlantic region (2.0) that had it rough.

When I look at the regional results, one thing stands out. Do you see what I see?

South                           9.0
East                             8.6
Northwest                   8.6
West                            8.1
Midwest                      7.7
Mountains                   7.4
New England              7.3
Plains                          6.5

The South scored 9.0? In June? How is that possible? Moderate temperatures and low humidity, said my respondents from that region. Tennessee scored three straight perfect 10s. Georgia scored a 10. Even my two Florida scores were a 10 and a 9. In other words, it’s still spring down south!

Wrote JD Boone of Alabama (who scored it a decent 7), “Still good and busy. All because of the weather, I think. Not crazy hot yet. Getting some rain.  This is LOTS OF GRAVY! Love it!”

JD added, “P.S. Gravy is a good thing in the South!”

Many states can go either way this time of year; in the case of the country’s midsection, it was a bit warmer than typical, which slowed sales.

Wrote Fred Holasek of Fred Holasek & Son Greenhouse in Minnesota (who scored it a 7), “Hot weather slowed down sales. With the lack of rain, it’s beginning to look like it will be another hot and very dry summer for us.”

Rain hasn't been a problem in my own state of Illinois, either—we only had 0.42 inches in May at O’Hare International Airport; the normal for the month is 4.49 inches. That makes it the second-driest April since record-keeping began in 1871. That's discouraging to gardeners.

Nevada (10). “Delayed spring now in full bloom, helped by special events; last four weeks very strong after terrible early spring weather. Still working to erase an early deficit.”—Bruce Gescheider, Moana Nursery

Tennessee (10). “We have slowed to about half of where we were, which is typical for our area at this time of year. Our peak is mid-April. Nonetheless, we were 50% above last year for the week and are 21% above last year as a whole. It is turning very hot and dry, so I am sure the weather will have an impact soon.”—Lisa Grugin, Meadow View Greenhouse

Illinois (9.5). “It would have been a 10 when it wasn’t so hot Saturday. It slowed sales down a bit. Overall, early morning super busy and with warmer weather slowing down after 2:00 in the afternoon. Perennials are selling well, so are the shrubs. Vegetables starting to slow down and trees are not moving as fast as we like to see. Very good start of June, very comparable with the last three years.”—JP, Countryside Flower Shop, Nursery & Garden Center

Oregon (9.5). “Geez, we just keep selling plants! Best-ever first week of June. I know the bottom will drop out of it soon when the heat hits, so we’re going as hard as we can while it lasts.”—Ellen Egan, Egan Gardens

Utah (9). “Solid weekend of customer support. Few hiccups of weather popping up in afternoons, but all in all, pretty decent potential business.”—Scott Engh, Sun River Gardens

Texas (8.5). “Often by June, we are already hitting 100F temperatures and sales are done. This spring has been mild with some rain, so still going pretty good.”—Katherine Smith, Smith’s Gardentown

Michigan (8). “Started summer hours on June 1. The heat was on, but people are still buying.”—Jerome Vite, Vite Greenhouses

Vermont (8). “This is a summer-home area on Lake Champlain and our season is just starting, with the strongest sales coming from now through mid-July. We opened on May 28 with strong sales (a 10-rating—Wave Petunia baskets selling fast) and this past weekend was fairly strong.”—Dick Chase, West Shore Farm

New York (8). “Saturday’s weather was nice, with good sales. Sunday temps did not reach 65F and were accompanied by a nasty north wind. Seeing customers shop in the greenhouse dressed in sweatshirts and even some ski jackets, I closed most doors and turned on the heat. Someone forgot to tell the weatherman that it’s June.”—Sig Feile, Atlantic Nursery

Virginia (8). “The weekend was strong, but not record-breaking. We had our regular annual ‘Rose Festival’ and customer turnout was good.”—Duane Weaver, Milmont Greenhouses

New Jersey (8). “Sales were very good this past week. Demand is still very high. Weather was good, but dry. This weekend was cool and somewhat windy. 2023 will turn out to be number one in the record books.”—Bill Swanekamp, Kube-Pak

No. 1? That’s saying something—especially since Bill keeps very accurate books!

Illinois (7.5). “No rain is starting to drag down sales somewhat. But still strong; we are up about 12% for the year so far.”—Dave Cederoth, Mini Earth Greenhouses

Virginia (7.5). “Decent weather and mild temperatures kept the true gardeners out there still planting. It seems like lots of fill-ins and replacements were the bulk of the sales, along with some new tubs and baskets for barbeque events.”—Mark Landa, Boulevard Flower Gardens

Iowa (7). “Hot, hot and more hot. 95F on Saturday and 92F on Sunday. Despite the heat and all employees being attached to hoses, we had a great day. Very steady traffic—sold tons of patio furniture, perennials and drummed up a lot of new business with a fresh shipment of houseplants from Florida. Usually this kind of heat puts the brakes on the season, but people are still planting here in Iowa. Farmers could really use some rain, though.”—Kate Terrell, Wallace’s Garden Center 

New Hampshire (7). “Cool and rainy, but still steady business. Not warm enough to plant some warm-weather veggies yet. Strange spring …”—Matt McElroy, Newton Greenhouse

Kentucky (7). “As normal, the bottom falls out here following Memorial Day. Surprise was that wholesale was very strong, especially higher-end baskets and good young vegetable trays. Not too shabby on annuals, either.”—Jesse Ray Shelton, Shelton’s Greenhouses

Wisconsin (5). “Major slow down this weekend. I think the heat finally got to everyone or they all got everything they needed in May.”—Chris Williams, K&W Greenery

Colorado (2). “I know we are a high desert, but really, 0.9 inches [of rain] one day and 2 inches the next is uncalled for. We’ve been soggy now for a week and the pattern continues. You have to love a business that is somewhat weather-dependent."—Gene Pielin, Gully Greenhouse

British Columbia (10). “Sales are still going strong, with annuals still main demand, but a good  interest in perennials, shrubs and vines, as well. Looks like record sales if supply holds up.”—John Derrick, Elk Lake Garden Centre

British Columbia (10). “Great weather continues. One of our biggest June weekends ever!”—Tim Vaandrager Vaandrager Nurseries

Ontario (9). “Very good weekend! A bit better than last year! Saturday could have been even more if it wasn’t so hot! Sunday was very busy because the temperature was great!"—Anita Van Adrichem, Westland Greenhouses

You can tell Anita was excited about her results—that was four exclamation points!

Ontario (9). “Sales are up 17% for the weekend comparatively, but so are the retail prices. Customer counts are somewhat the same, with higher average sales.”—Rob Gemmell, Gemmell’s Garden Centre

Yukon (9). “Highly anticipated information from the Yukon. Spring has begun in the yukon!!!"—Phil Pitzey, Rainbown Greenhouses

Phil says their sales are up 10% over last year in the Yukon. He also knows I love getting a report from that seemingly frozen outpost!

Ontario (8). “Surprisingly strong, although purchase size is definitely down.”—Joanna Steckle, Steckle’s Produce & Flowers

Ontario (8). “Strong sales for the first weekend in June.”—MaryAnn Vanderemeer, Vandermeer Nursery

Nova Scotia (2). “Rain and the government ban on outdoor activities (due to fires) seriously affected weekend revenue.”—Wile’s Lake Farm Market

Head to Pennsylvania July 27 to attend the Flower Trials Field Day organized by Penn State Extension. This annual event will showcase nearly 1,000 varieties of annual and perennial plants submitted by 30 companies from around the world. I’ve been several times and it’s a great trial in a great setting!

The Field Day takes place from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. July 27, at Penn State’s Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center on Auction Road in Manheim.

Along with the gardens will be workshops on new varieties of annuals and perennials; cutting-edge information from breeders; disease management; and pesticide safety. Category and core pesticide recertification credits are available from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey.

There’ll be plenty of time to network, too, as morning refreshments and a buffet lunch are included in your $64 registration.

Click HERE for more and to register (walk-ins are accepted if space allows).

Th only sad part of the trial is that long-time Trials Director Sinclair Adams won’t be there, as he passed away back in April. However, I’m sure he will be there in spirit!

More information is available on the Penn State Extension WEBSITE.

Here’s a handy little webinar for you and your staff from my friends at Dramm on hand-watering. It’s titled “Improving Hand-Watering for Better Plants and a Better Bottom Line.”

In the hour-long session, Dramm’s Louis Damm provided tips and ideas to improve your hand-watering. Louis isn’t only sales manager and key accounts manager for Dramm, he also has his own greenhouse business, Floral Dimensions, in Fenwick, Ontario, Canada, so he practices what he preaches!

This is one of eight webinars on irrigation and chemical applications offered by Dramm. Check them all out HERE.

This week’s last word comes from GrowerTalks Managing Editor Jen Zurko, who has an Al Roker moment:

A big THANK YOU to Bisser Georgiev, Michelle Young and the rest of the folks at LiveTrends in Apopka, Florida, for generously providing the party favors for my grandma Esperanza’s 100th birthday party.

My cousin and I thought it would be a cute idea to offer small plants as take-home favors for the guests, so she asked if I knew of somebody who did those and I said, “As a matter of fact, I do!” A few emails to Bisser and Michelle later and I had echeveria plants in their Sweet Blossoms pots to put at each place setting. It was the perfect thank-you parting gift, especially for family members who traveled from a long distance to celebrate with us. We made plant tags to put in each one and everyone really loved them.

All of this made me appreciate two things: 1) The generosity of the people in our industry and all of the wonderful relationships I’ve developed through the years; and 2) that it was nice to spend time with my extended family while NOT at a wake or a funeral. Neither of which I can ever take for granted.