Word: gardened
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...these intersecting demands -- for instant gardens and exotic ones, for status plants and designer landscapes -- converge to boost the catalog business. The largest seed company, Burpee, alone sent out 6 million catalogs this year, up 20% from last year. Novices can buy a book, Gardening by Mail, just to help them shop. Author Barbara Barton guesses that there are between 1,200 and 1,500 catalogs covering just seeds, plants, bulbs, trees and shrubs, plus an additional 1,000 garden-related catalogs with everything from ornaments and greenhouse kits to clothes and tools...
With their vast and specialized offerings, the catalogs offer the variety that varsity gardeners are demanding. But at the same time, they can reach out to the rookies, who would like a complete garden in a can. "If you look through garden catalogs, or even retail displays sometimes, you will see companies that actually package gardens for them," says Barbara Newton, publisher of Organic Gardener, the largest gardening magazine in the world, with 800,000 subscribers. "It will say, 'If you buy this whole set it will give you a 14-ft. by 22-ft. garden to go in front...
...catalogs have a garden for every taste and timetable. White Swan markets the Moonlight Garden, a can of seeds for flowers, mainly white, that "reflect the moon and stars," for people whose long hours mean they only get to see their gardens at night. Eighteen dollars buys a straw mat from Smith & Hawken impregnated with 8,000 wildflower seeds, which the impatient gardener can roll onto an awaiting bed of dirt. Just add water...
...catalog companies' success has not come at the expense of the nurseries, which can offer the impatient gardener much more instant gratification. This is not your corner garden shop anymore. The paths between the perennials are paved, so high heels will not plunge into the mud. There is Italian soda available at the door, and tarragon-turkey sandwiches on pita bread. "Today retailing is theater," says Don Riddle Jr., president of Homestead Gardens in Maryland, whose $10 million in revenues last year were up 21% from the year before. Homestead sold $60,000 worth of orchids last year alone, triple...
When the little black bugs eat the bonsai and the fountain fades to a dribble and the water plants are indistinguishable from the algae, the power gardener knows just where to turn. Contrary to their earthy image, gardeners are twice as likely as the general population to own a computer (60%). Next month Sunset Publishing, the Northern California-based book-and-magazine company most noted for its expertise on Western gardening, will release a CD-ROM with the largest encyclopedic plant data base on the market. Ken Winchester says the gardener will be able to type in a ZIP code...