At a Crossroad: 3 Years in the Nursery Business

This was our 3rd season as a "retail" nursery - with regular open hours for visitors to the farm. Admittedly, we're not the typical garden center. We're a mom & pop backyard nursery, and we're still having trouble finding time to weed. However, we have made progress towards making it a viable business.
Here's the decision: while out local (in-person) business is showing decent growth, our mail-order selling across Canada at the beginning of the season doubled. That's a good thing, right? Well, yes. But it does leave us debating how to use our limited (time) resources for coming seasons. If those trends continue, it may just be a matter of time before the retail nursery becomes an afterthought (or a distraction?).
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Photo credit:
Compassion Rose by Anna Reg CC BY-SA 3.0

[@jeannineamos1178]

Never apologize for purchasing second hand. It’s called being “thrifty “ and giving a used article new life and many folks enjoyment. Distant Drums is one of my favorites . Also have Distant Thunder. Would love to visit your lovely nursery. Enjoy your videos. Thank you.

[@80sforever3]

And they look right at home too. Very charming

[@TiredMommy-kt2nc]

💯 Buying second hand is also green. It's keeping those items out of landfills in addition to being smart with your money. Total win-win❤

[@valeriezendiver263]

I never see used items as “less than.” You’re saving something from going to a landfill, being environmentally responsible, and saving $$ that can go back into the business. I check the various marketplaces, thrift stores etc before going straight to retails. You’re doing great things here Jason!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Valerie. Right on... we only spend money on "new" when it's the only good option.

[@kimberlyoboyle451]

Same! Thought the tires were being put to good use ringing the plants, nice bumpers for lawn mowers to hit, and weed barriers! Was thinking what color I would have made them at my place- maybe pine green

[@Nurtureddreams815]

What you’ve built within those 3 years is priceless when it comes to a cash register. It might be good to keep the fitness signs up for while so they can grab a tool to help them get or stay fit [just for a little humor]. Your nursery is truly a nursery, just a unique one. The garden tour looks very cozy & beautiful. I’d love to see it in person. Keep growing success. 🌹🌷💐

[@nihatsavmaz6677]

A turkish origin german subscriber here. I feel like in the school class again and learning useful and fun stuff. I like your how to videos. And your farm is like heaven. i wish you all the best and big THANK YOU for what you are doing.

[@dedewarren]

Your place looks great… the seating, the umbrellas, the retail space. Very nice. Good for you marrying a smart woman, no need to buy new when she can find all these great items second hand!

[@marydrew3568]

I grew up in a family who had a family owned business. My parents were successful entrepreneurs for 43 years. I think it is wise to diversify and keep both the local retail business and the mail order. My parents had both and when changes in the economy would have a negative impact on one aspect of the business the other seemed to pick up the slack. You might find that a rose farm could be a perfect event venue as a side business. We have a beautiful farm in the Willamette Valley with a gorgeous view, not far from Heirloom Roses. We are finding that wedding venues, baby showers, engagement photo shoots, memorial services and small class reunions are looking for beautiful spaces like my farm that has a beautiful formal rose garden. If you keep developing your property with that in mind you will have another possible opportunity for income when the economy has highs and lows. I would encourage you to keep both, but just develop your property one year at a time! I'm rooting for your business. If I could I would order roses from you! ❤

[@madelync7753]

That was my first thought seeing the place, it would make an amazing spot for photography

[@megrandmomjean5019]

Jason, Your gardens are beautiful! You've certainly turned your property into a lovely garden center. If I lived in Canada & near you I would love to visit your gardens. I think your inclusion of perennials was absolutely the right thing to do. It greatly enhances your beautiful rose beds & visitors will benefit by your ideas by bringing those ideas back to their own garden beds.

[@barbarawissinger]

Do you have the space for a kids’ corner? It’d be great if there were somewhere where children could learn about planting and weeding. Not with roses, but peas or something cheap & fast growing. When we finally can book our Alaska cruise from Vancouver, my daughter and I will stop by.

[@elainewashington3004]

I to own a garden center and have beautiful display gardens for people to stroll through and get inspired! For only 3 years in retail you are doing well!

[@vasyagardener4619]

Hi Jason, I've been watching your channel for a while now, I've learned a lot from you, I really like your roses. You made a beautiful garden, it’s a great job. I wish you success.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thank you so much!

[@debs-more-plants]

Wow! Your place is looking great! You do such a good job sharing your vision. Hope your business and family continue to thrive! Cheers!

[@catherineslavin7324]

A beautiful setting! So happy that you are finding success. It is no doubt due to your hard work and willingness to learn all you have to learn to make it happen. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with all of us.

[@carolynclark8780]

Hi, Jason. Your gardens are looking more and more beautiful with all your improvements. I especially like the beds along your zig-zag, split-rail fence. And the pergolas are very inviting and dramatic painted black. I love that you have large specimens of the roses you sell planted in the garden. This is great in helping us know what we’re really buying. It’s so difficult to get a sense of that online - especially what the foliage is like, because all the pictures are closeups of the blooms. I’m slowly adding more flowering things to my garden and I have you to thank for giving me the confidence to grow roses. I’ve added three new ones this year and I was absolutely thrilled when the first one bloomed. How exquisite! I very much appreciate your sage rose care advice.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Wonderful to hear about your success in the garden Carolyn

[@jeannineamos1178]

Your gardens are absolutely beautiful. Living in the desert, you have no idea how much I enjoy them

[@sheilahall9795]

I love your honesty and caring about your customers. I like that you have added more seating, and a welcoming shade area is great, making it more friendly ! It's a longish drive for me but with more seating, ( perhaps later a wee pond to sit by in the shade area?) I can see me at least once a year in the spring, coming for perennials perhaps, since my rose area is full with the roses I've bought from you last year and this. It could then become a one day holiday, by bringing a sandwich and a thermos of iced tea ! I love that you are expecting at this point to do both retail and mail order.

[@pujanpatel9789]

Thank you for giving those lovely bistro sets a new home. I love an eclectic garden. It’s so much more inviting than a formal space.

[@charlesshene9036]

I would advise doing that which brings you pleasure. seemingly the in person and even hands on class instruction where you teach guests how to do what you do in there own garden, i.e. growing from seed, various propagation methods. You'll build life long friends and customers.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Charles. I've really enjoyed doing in-person tours through the rose season, so adding some topic seminars seems like a natural step.

[@debbiewilson6527]

Beautiful Jason... neat that customers can see the full grown bush... Hot and dry here in Texas.❤

[@suzannebartow6390]

Your improvements over the year has been phenomenal and I have enjoyed your journey.

[@iowaclassic]

I'm glad you have thought about wash rooms. Especially if you have picnic tables and snacks to eat. People have to pee (can I say that on KZbin?) And people need to throw their trash away. Especially at the end of a long drive. Your online sales are doing phenomenally well. I'd embrace that. But I wouldn't walk away from the retail market all together. You've mentioned several times about coming out there is an event. If I came out I'd want the opportunity to buy plants. Your place really showcases the plants. I've ordered roses online and its frequently difficult to imagine how they will look at maturity. I dont know how everything works but with that chapel and your gorgeous gardens perhaps you'd like to advertise weddings and or photos. I know you've mentioned that. Perhaps paid tours or classes once a month. But with online sales, garden upkeep, retail sales and youtube, sir you need some help. Even on a seasonal basis.

[@joycerodriguez6837]

California here, I buy from Proven Winners and David Austin Roses because their sizes and prices are reasonable - only 1 rose died and Austin promptly replaced it. I’m downsizing but my next house will have a garden and I would love to buy from you. I love your channel and have learned so much. Thanks for all your hard work and lots of luck 🙏🏼❤️

[@caroleangel9287]

The nursery is beautiful and I can’t wait to see it in another year. Love the videos!

[@jeannineamos1178]

Love hearing the birds

[@ginaiosef]

What a charming place you build there! ❤ Is a paradise, heaven on Earth guys, what a joy watching this video! Thank you gratefully for this wonderful tour! ♥️ Congratulations on all the work and love invested!

[@SrikanthPRABHA7]

Indeed. It’s now my life goal to build a rose farm like this and live there, spend rest of my life in peace.

[@patriciacasey6767]

Three years in is such a short amount of time to gage where to go in the future. You are doing an amazing job with making changes and improvements each year!!! Giving yourself a date to make a decision, such as after your fifth year, will give you a clearer picture of which direction to go. I think by then it will be a more obvious choice. I live in the Memphis, TN area, zone 8, where the humidity really makes growing beautiful roses difficult, but I do love them!

[@Aurorasocali]

Your garden is lovely! The walking paths, flower beds with perennials are beautiful. Nice job!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much

[@ireneNL9349]

Jason, your gardens are maturing beautifully and will look even better in one or two years time. It is always great to visit a beautiful garden, but what I like is to see rose plants in flower so that I can see the actual colour and size of the bloom, and the growth habit. I think selling perennials that go well with roses is an excellent idea. A bonus would just be knowing what soil type the plants on sale require. I have visited various growers in The Netherlands (NL) and one in Belgium. They tend only to be open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, sometimes only Friday and half day Saturday. Pots up on tables are always very helpful because it is so much easier to read the labels (and with the right setup the pots don't blow over so easily - it is both rainy and windy here these days 🙂). Last week I visited a large grower in the east of NL which 7 months ago had to move premises and they no longer have either the tables nor the larger retail section, although I understand that in time they will, once again. It took quite a while to see their stock, bending over constantly and putting pots upright.. I am sure selling products which are not actually plants can be a bit hit and miss because of changes in fashion, but what I like is to be able to find good quality rose supports, in different shapes, sizes and heights. Although often on the expensive side they can be worth the investment (although getting the long ones into a car can sometimes be a challenge!). You see the beautiful plant but cannot easily find comparable support. Here there is too much cheap, Chinese tat, sold mainly online, when it comes to supports. But as a specialist nursery you are already catering to people who are looking for your product and not just impulse buyers in garden centres. My apologies for the length of this message.

[@michaelmcdonnell1280]

Congratulations on your progress. I'm looking forward to watching your garden grow with time. Michael in the West of Ireland 🇮🇪

[@dianakenney2963]

Hi Jason, as a keen gardener living south east England, I always like to look at the support flowers around the roses. The R H S gardens at Wisley have beautiful rose garden with lots of ideas of plants to grow with roses. Although I spend more on individual roses the accompanying plants seem to cost more in the long run. For example I have just bought several penstomon garnet as mine either didn't survive our very wet winter this year, or they are not in good health. Then I have decided to replace nepeta Walker's Low, with a small nepeta called Persian blue. As they cost £ 10 each I am propagating as many as possible from the 5 plants I bought, but in the long run roses which can last for 50 years are the constant in the garden. I think your perennial plant section this a great money spinner, and if you had photos of companion plants with your rose plants at point of sale you could easily make multiple purchases. Good luck and best wishes

[@lindahall1971]

I'm a new gardener in zone 6A. I'm a rose lover ❤and you have helped a great deal! Thank you!! Your nursery is very beautiful ty for sharing, Linda from Michigan

[@micke6705]

I love it, and I have just begun gardening. Your channel has really helped me to grow roses. I cant wait to see what changes you make.

[@pintsizestories196]

A few years ago I went to Art in the Garden that happens for one weekend in June in Perth, Ontario. Artists bring their art work which is for sale and tastefully arranged around the property which has established annual and perennial beds, sun and shade. Also food vendors come to feed the people. It makes a really enjoyable outing and many people plan to go every year. The nursery owners have plants for sale. In some areas, musicians play nice quiet background music.

[@barbaral.5980]

I really Like that idea. There are quite a bit of nurseries where I live (southwest Germany) specialising in roses and perennials e.g. Ettenbühl funded by John Scarman and Gräfin von Zeppelin. They all have various events spread out over the year that include some sort of art/craftfair, music and special local food. They make a conscious effort to include other local food or craft businesses From what I can tell these are a huge success and people drive quite a bit to attend and it attracts people who may come for the music but leave with some plants nontheless.

[@sheilaberry9837]

Beautiful garden! I’ve been watching your videos for a while and very much appreciate your science-based, practical information. I know it’s a lot of work but I hope you will add the US to your mail order business sometime soon.

[@Bandaid17]

Same here. I love your roses!!

[@katrinhjorth]

I am in Denmark and have been following you since the beginning. I would be buying your roses online if I could and I would also visit. Of the roses I have bought here in DK, I have bought 50/50 online and at garden centers. Gardening tourism is a growing business and I the online sales will draw attention to your farm. You have so much space (some areas on the verge of feeling bare) that I am with Mary Drew, who suggested considering developing the property as a wedding/reception venue (imagine the newlywed photos by the rose covered pergola 😍). You might just be a mom & pop backyard nursery at the moment, but the revenue from the online sales will enable you to hire more staff sooner than you think. Your wife is an impressive thrifter. It pairs well with the no-nonsense, hands on style of your videos. It is such a pleasure to see your nursery grow. Thank you for all your teachings.

[@SrikanthPRABHA7]

I want a Rose farm like this, those mountains, clouds, the serene vibe. Yes, I can retire and live there happily, read and write. Spend time with Rose plants.. it’s life

[@twilliams5078]

Jason, love these comments as well as your most interesting video. So glad I was able to fit in a quick visit last week. And the Hope Garden Club welcomes your visits. So glad you're not just a video superstar, but a nearby nursery owner that I'm lucky enough to visit. Loving my new purchases. May you be able to survive these warm days.

[@kater8730]

Jason, what about having a vendor to share a few times in the season that sells honey or baked goods. Sell some obelisks and garden items that go along with the roses. An Easter egg hunt for the kiddos or a Halloween pumpkin patch that people could take photos with their family. Summer fun for the kids, with activities like planting up a potted plant or seeds to take home. It would get people familiar with your location so that they would come back to buy roses or think of your nursery when they are looking for plants. I think you and your wife have done an amazing job, love the thrifted items. Thank you for the tour.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much. I love the idea of collaborating with other vendors. We've had yoga groups, school classes and photo clubs come out as well... great fun! We appreciate the feedback and support.

[@user-wn4pd7gk7i]

a highlight area have the farm’s name, some arch and beautiful climbing rose and other flowers for visitors to take a memorable picture.

[@simonekentish7491]

Please keep the farm open for visitors. I grew up in Richmond, where my grandparents kept some impressive roses, but live near Chicago now. I am definitely planning to patronize your store the next time I visit family! I thoroughly appreciate your videos. There are none better on the subject of growing roses. Thank you!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. We'll definitely be keeping the farm open to visitors in some capacity - it's just a matter of finding the right balance.

[@roseyt8713]

I got a little scared at the beginning thinking that you were going to ditch the mail order business. Glad to hear you're expanding it! I'm in Ontario and I love your roses. It is one of the highlights of Spring for me! 21:17

[@Greg-su8gt]

No chance I can ever visit your nursery or even order from you since I live in Michigan. That being said, I never miss your videos and have learned so much about propagation from you. Thank you and please keep it up.

[@MyFocusVaries]

Vancouver BC is a great tourist destination. You could add a visit to the nursery to a trip to the city.

[@UnSharon]

I visited your farm and joined your tour at the end of June, your farm was beautiful and I enjoyed the tour, I was so happy to meet with you in person, as I have learned a lot on how to grow roses from your channel, thanks Jason.

[@anpe4970]

Improved sinage is always a bonus. A continuation of that could be to do a "top 5/10 in the garden right now" little leaflet/sign where the guests artive to shos of what looks the best this week or month because what looks good sells good.

[@helenscoffield]

Charming! I wouldn't know which to choose!! I'd need a fish out a number thing and build a garden around that one!

[@julieemmett4346]

You have improved your gardens by leaps and bounds! Watching this has inspired me to organize a visit with friends , we will be coming from Oregon and make a weekend out of it. I feel a sense of urgency now that you’re inspired by Heirloom. I was deeply disappointed when they closed their display garden. It took me many years to purchase from them again, even though I understood it was apparently cost effective for them. I loved walking through the garden with a notebook to decide what to purchase. Also, I often refer new rose growers to your KZbin videos. I love your concise content, friendly and informative, not zero content verbal chatter/ noise.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Wow Julie. Thanks for the vote of confidence! While I do respect Ben and family for their decision to focus solely on the shipping, don't be too concerned that we'll follow that path. Having strong growth in the mail order business is a good thing, and we're hoping to find a way where it can support the success of the in-person nursery as well

[@MyFocusVaries]

I hope your business keeps growing and you keep the retail side expanding. From my recent shopping experience at your nursery (lucky me!), I think putting the plants on tables would be an improvement. And one nursery near me hangs signs listing plants' growing info (full / part sun, 2-3 feet tall, 1 foot wide) to save gardeners looking up the info. Maybe a note of which rose colours and other plants the perennial blends with (pairing recipes) to help shoppers make selections. Your great selection of unique roses and perennials really sets you apart. It is so worth the long drive for the great experience.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much for the feedback from your visit!

[@veronicascott8012]

Absolutely gorgeous garden!

[@KatesGarden]

The plants are certainly doing well but also glad to hear the business is too. I’m sure you’ve spent plenty of time thinking through your options. Diversifying the income sources is always good for redundancy and unexpected changes. Usually not so good for streamlining and efficiency though. I’m sure you and Lisa will choose the path that fits 👍 Unrelated, my bare root Lady of the Lake opened its first bloom today with more to come. So far so good 😊 The farm looks beautiful, thanks for sharing! 🌸

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Kate. Good to hear your Austin rose is starting to flower for you! I hear that one is fairly vigorous, so hopefully it'll fill in fast.

[@jennifergreene8891]

Hi Jason 👋 Everything looks FANTASTIC! Love all the additional features. Nice 2nd hand finds! Here in the States I do see many of the KZbinrs I follow having special "events" to do their garden tours, and with much success. They are not selling plants but, that might be something you can work towards in the near future. (?) Some sell tickets to the tours, plus they sell merchandise like hats, shirts, etc. And at these tours, the companies that they deal with do donate free plants, tools etc. for like door prizes which in turn helps those companies get their products out there as well. Thank you for sharing this video with us.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Jennifer. I'm on board for doing tours and seminars - we've been doing them pretty informally, but makes sense to get a real plan together!

[@carolexo7269]

Your farm is beautiful and your efforts are obvious. If I came to visit I would want to buy from your retail store for sure. However, I probably will never visit in person, being so far away, so I am grateful for your online outlet! As an aside...please remember the people who live in zone 3b and LOVE scented roses in bush form and climbing.

[@breakingburque2200]

Congratulations on all the growth, your effort is definitely paying off.

[@trishsantos2485]

Hi Jason, We're all rooting for you to be successful. Terrific videos, exceptional knowledge of roses. Mail order "old" roses is of great interest to me. My longstanding source, Cornhill Nursery, N.B. is no longer in the mail order business. Bring it on! Thanks for all you do!

[@Growing-Our-Retirement]

Such a great video Jason! Great to have both sides of the business growing. As you said and have been doing, being a destination, retail business is hard to establish. But you are doing it and it’s doing well. I think it fits you well, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s rewarding. Keeps you connected to customers and that has a huge value. Let the online grow, watch the numbers, hire if it makes sense. This could become the larger part of revenues and that’s good. Part of the online is still your physical presence and credibility as a producing grower of quality plants. Doing Both can let the in person and online feed each other. Watch the numbers but of course it doesn’t have to be just about the numbers. You can do both and do them while keeping full integrity. Glad for your continued growth and success! Doing what you love and providing a great product is about as good as it gets. 👍👍👍

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Larry and/or Martha (not sure which of you writes comments for the account). One nice adjacency is that the smaller sized plants we produce for mail order are also nicely sized starts for spring potting into a 1 or 2 gallon pot, so we don't necessarily need to decide upfront how to allocate. The other advantage of keeping both going is that we can write off landscape maintenance and improvements to the business. I hope you guys had a great growing/selling season!

[@Growing-Our-Retirement]

⁠Hi Jason, Sorry it’s Larry. All going well here. Thanks! Yes, Many advantages to keeping a retail presence. You have done a lot in a fairly short amount of time. Everything looks excellent!

[@laurisafine7932]

Jason, your roses are quite heavenly and your colour beds are so interesting. Just Oo-la-la! Congrats on your fantastic work and wishing you stax of success in the future xxx.

[@scallywags12]

I enjoyed our tour of your garden last month with my friend. Your nursery is looking good. Keep up the good work!

[@Sue-ec6un]

All in all, I'd say that your troubles are all positive! It's a lovely garden and would be such a nice place to visit. I like that you have introduced more perennials and showcasing how it all fits together in a garden bed. It seems that since you have roses in various stages of growth keeping both businesses going and growing is the correct path. Time will tell and your success will cascade through the universe and more success will come your way. By then you will be financially able to do things that today you cannot even imagine. Godspeed

[@anne-9374]

I like the improvements and would enjoy going to your nursery if we weren’t pretty much on opposite sides of the country. In looking at your garden, you see it is a new garden that will evolve over the years. In addition to the name of the plants, it could be interesting to put the age of each plant. That would give visitors/clients an idea of what to expect out of their plants. I am thinking you should pursue both sides of the business. It isn’t as though either business is stagnant, they are both improving. If you are able to sell out online within about a month and then your in person nursery is mostly concentrated May to June in terms of high season, then I expect it is manageable and can be complementary (although shipping must be during peak preparation for the season). I am also thinking that by having people onsite it will give a better grasp of what your clientele is looking for, how you can distinguish yourself from other nurseries.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks for the suggestions and insights Anne. If anything, a video & conversation like this can help me to keep my priorities straight. Do I want to encourage visitors? Heck yes. Should I be driving all over the region to attend every garden club meeting I'm invited to? Maybe not if it takes my time and focus away from the mail-order business. So going into next year, I just hope to be a little more strategic in how I spend my time.

[@tedfriesen5357]

After purchasing 6 roses online this past spring I can certainly support the online store. Living on Vancouver Island it isn't pratical to purchase on site. All 6 roses that I received while smaller than if purchased retail, were healthy and proceeded to grow quickly all having their first blooms this summer. I will certainly support the online option in the future and grateful that with this option I can purchase rose varieties that aren't commercially available.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Ted. That's great to hear. We're pushing ourselves this year to propagate earlier and into larger pots, so we're hoping to offer a decent upgrade on the size and vigor of the liners for the coming year!

[@SmallWonda]

Goodness, Jason, the National Trust in UK could learn a lesson from you! Always my biggest complaint with them is their lack of casual seating & hospitality - when you consider how amazing many of their gardens are, they tend to measly at best and uncaring at worst when it comes to seating & picnic areas - you've excelled yourselves! Garden centers are hugely popular in the UK, one reason for that is their hospitality - somewhere pretty and relaxing to go for a cuppa and slice of cake or light lunch, somewhere to meet friends, without having to rush because their parking allowance has expired and then they can buy something nice to take home. Many gardeners are avid collectors - be it roses or whatevers. I think you are headed down the right path, only 4-minutes in! Making your visitors and customers feel Welcome has to be the beginning of SUCCESS!

[@leftunsupervised]

I don't know if it's possible but it'd be an amazing place for a special event venue. It looks gorgeous and the roses would be in peak bloom during the heaviest wedding, anniversary, and graduation times.

[@ritaswift8313]

The wash room is a necessity! Us older ladies need to get rid of our morning coffee or any drink for that matter! Wow you are one super business man with a good heart and an honesty that is refreshing. It would be nice if you can swing both types of of sales, there and online, there is a demand for both. You’ll make the right decision as you have with your business so far. Just can’t believe how many informative and interesting videos you take time to make for us, thank you, Rita Swift

[@elainewashington3004]

Consider signage. It is so helpful in a retail setting. Everything looking good!

[@joeparker6070]

Awesome. Great video with an awful lot to think about in the way of increasing and improving the nursery. I love the whole rose growing area where each different rose is an individual and stands out on its own. Brilliant idea to show the growing and flowering aspect of each type. Thanks for making a really good video. Definitely going to watch this one a fair few times. All the best mate 👍

[@KawarthaFamilyFarm]

Your destination ideas are a real inspiration. I can totally empathize with this dilemma. Getting people to come out is hard work. And managing both sides (on-line and in-person) is like running 2 businesses! We, like you, are committed to displaying what a plant *will* look like AND making the journey worthwhile but it’s hard!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Shelley. We're very much in the same boat that way - and I'll also say this: despite all our improvements *and* a pretty decent online presence, we've still been a little bit shy about self-promotion. I see the tulip festival people and they're "shouting from the rooftop" so to speak, and it makes sense. They have a limited season, and all that investment, so they have to commit to the idea of ready-or-not it's time to drive visits. We've done so much more of the hand-wringing and "are we ready?" before we commit to local marketing. Not that I'm complaining. We enjoy taking the time to make improvements, but at some point we'll also have to say ready or not and really give the local business a chance.

[@KawarthaFamilyFarm]

@@FraserValleyRoseFarmindeed! We were just sitting outside and looking around and I listed about 7 things, “when we do those then we’ll be ready to cast a wider net…”. Maybe we just need to jump in the cold water!

[@backyardadventureswithandy]

Jason, I have been a follower over the last 2 years or so, and your stuff is one of about 5 to 7 channels that I frequently watch. I am down in the Seattle area and have really enjoyed your content, as there is so much joy from the roses and playing in the dirt. Keep up the good work. I'm actually logging in today to look for advice on white powdery mildew(?) on one of my 25ish roses. Some other things I keep listening for are things like yellow-ish leaves, blackspot on my roses, summer pruning thoughts, and general rose maintenance. As an amateur rose guy, some of these things take many times of hearing and trying to really sink in, so I encourage you to keep these basics in your videos.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Andy! Will do

[@calittlegarden-3311]

I think the farm if do as a garden and can walk along the paths will be much nicer. And customer can imagined the roses looks like blended into the garden bed instead of just individual rose bush stand alone. ❤ I wish I have the big land like this,to grow all the plant I love ❤. Thank you for sharing

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks!

[@titosrevenger]

I didn't even know you had a mail order business! Driving out to Mission is a bit of a journey for me and I do intend on making the trip, but I definitely would have ordered plants from you if I knew you could ship them out to me.

[@chompers11]

I saw an amazing garden on gardeners world a long time ago that had a 10' tall by 10' wide or so pile of dirt they made into a small mound and added stairs to so people could get an elevated view of the entire garden. A pipe dream but it would be nuts to sit on top of a little tower and see every rose at once

[@mdorn6592]

Impressive start. The most successful gardens I've been to have created little rooms and intimate spaces within their gardens, but visit other nurseries and garden businesses to get ideas and inspirations there...look in to some unique arbors and trellises for those rose climbers varieties so people can envision them in their garden...and maybe you can find a local garden artist to sell his/her wares. Open for events (festivals) Looks great! Answer: Do Both

[@SrikanthPRABHA7]

I love your videos ❤. So much learning. My love for Rose plants grew from love to Compassion to borderline Obsession because of your videos. 🙏

[@tcp0347]

Jason, your farm is looking incredible. You have done so much since I was there last spring. Hope you and the family are doing well!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much. Yes, we're all doing great.

[@exploringplaceshistoryanda7004]

Great tour! Keep the “fitness” signs on top of the garden tool racks! Garden work-exercise is the best fitness! Very cool up setup in the store!

[@GradinaLuiDan]

Wow. It is amazing there. If you were closer than 10k km i was visiting you every weekend

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much!

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

The seating areas look great And the swings. All the traded rose beds will be a real draw to rosarians. --- On a separate point, I put in three Buff Beauties on your recomm a few years ago and I just love it. It makes my heart sing every day. Twinned with Ghislaine. Thanks for your nod. --- Can I check : "a 30% increase in sales" compared to when? --- Can you put in a large body of water? It would be divine. And an apple orchard! --- Host art festivals on your land? Offer it out to local community events for events, to bring people in. Put on a collaborative rose festival?

[@emandeli1585]

I love repurposing and thrifting. I especially like that wood bench (no sides to it). Love it. What a beautiful piece of space with a lovely view. If you are catering to visitors at the gardens, have a few small carry-about umbrellas for sun shade (or rain) that people can borrow. I would paint that swing set fully "disney green" so it blends seamlessly with the landscape. If I can make a suggestion for seed selling (I purchased this past winter). They were great seeds however plastic mini ziplock packages don't work as the static caused the small amount of seeds to be displaced and could not get out . Was realllly challenging. I would switch to manila envelope style (mini coin pouches) and then put in a ziplock or sandwich bag before the envelope.

[@Moh_432]

Keep up the good work Jason!

[@jzillaz]

I hope how shopper friendly your garden has become! Would love to visit one day :)

[@gunning6407]

Suggestion for shade: consider some smallish trees like redbuds around the picnic tables in the lawn. Some good options for shade trees on the small side that grow fast (river willow, cherry/plum, etc) that could serve as focal points and be pruned up as "living umbrellas" that create pockets of cool.

[@claudeclawsonne4510]

People are always attracted to water features. Fountains are always beautiful, and if you ever feel like you'd like to get into pond plants ponds with colourful and friendly koi are always real customer magnets.

[@lisajelle714]

It looks really beautiful, thoughtful, and welcoming. Bravo!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Lisa

[@lieslfeldman1725]

I love your beautiful garden area and jealous of all that lush green. I really like that Ballerina rose you show. NorCal has hit summer and we are over 100 degrees F for days in a row. We are putting up shade cloth for protection. Given how you've set up the walking garden it could be used as a wedding venue. I realise that may be way more work than you want

[@MsSixty2019]

I purchased some of your smaller mail order roses this year and have been very happy with them! They were healthy and grew very quickly. Looking forward to more next season…just need to figure out where I can squeeze them in! Also the thrift finds do t bother me in the least-love that you’re reusing things!

[@GardenDoodles]

Loving all the changes! Still learning a lot from you also. Thank you.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Our pleasure. Thanks for your support!

[@harrybryan7530]

wow Jason, great tour and discussion. Gardens look amazing!! Hope to get a visit to your gardens this summer. Keep up the good work. .cheers, Harry

[@avroblue1]

Great progress; thank you for sharing!

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Our pleasure. Thanks for watching!

[@jackpine1033]

Very enjoyable. Thank you.

[@Whipporwhill]

Fantastic! You've done a lot in a short period of time! I'm in the USA but would love to visit!

[@Jordan-dg8tp]

Just a couple things as a non-nursery owner: I wouldn't have thought the furniture is second hand! Even if it was less expensive, it still is a good place to sit and fills the space up and lets people linger in the places you want to. Even if they potentially look "lived in", that still fits the aesthetics of a plant farm (and truth be told, brand new stuff I doubt would stay looking brand new if constantly left outdoors, even if it was outdoors furniture). Maybe it would only be on the "primary" rose beds and not the testing/trade beds, but when you put the name of the rose on the signs, what if you also put a small, laminated QR code for someone to take their phone out to look up the rose on your website? If it happened to be a repeat bloomer "recharging" its bloom or even as a way to direct someone to your storefront/rose pages, it would allow those looking at the rose going "wow I want one of those!" to do so right there and potentially not let them get to the end of the tour without a notepad or forgetting what the specific rose was called. Even if all it did was confirm that the rose was in stock when they went to the areas of purchasing them, it would hopefully either save questions or give them the info they needed right away to ask the right ones once they got to the right spot.

[@kimberlyoboyle451]

Great info Jason, thanks for sharing. I'm still thinking about starting up a Gallica/Hardy OGR propagation nursery here in upstate NY. I love how you did the yellow flowers under the utility pole with the yellow thing on it. I have one on the north side of my field and that's where Harison's Yellow looks great in early spring to welcome in the rose season. Amazing how each year it looks better and better!

[@popandbob]

A big part of the decision is where you want the business to go. Do you want to keep specializing in unique rose varieties? then a mail order business makes sense for that. Do you want to go for a wider variety of perennials? Go into annuals or even trees and shrubs? then retail is far better for that. Or of course the third option as you said is do both - retail lends itself well to buying in products ready to sell and as you probably know there is a wide selection of vendors who will be happy to supply you with far more products than you could ever grow yourself - this would reduce the workload on the retail side by making it so you don't have to grow as much yourself, opening up more opportunities to focus on the mail order business. A final thought as the facilities improve around the farm for the touring side of things is to look at a bit of a botanic garden type scenario - a small fee to tour the garden which showcases what you have available in the retail side. I'm considering similar questions on my tree nursery. I've plateaued where I am now and I need to change something up to keep the business growing and the idea came up about doing a botanic garden on my property - I have the space (40 acres in total) and there isn't any competition within an hours drive for other gardens - in fact there is only 2 or 3 gardens in the entire province (Alberta) I would truly consider good botanic gardens. So I'm looking at separating the garden into its own non-profit so that I can solicit volunteers and donations for it to support starting and expanding it without impacting the nursery too much.

[@HoustonKeith72]

Oh Jason, sending you many congratulations from Texas! The farm looks amazing. Y’all have clearly been busy. Are you hiring? Ha! I so wish I lived in a climate friendlier to roses. Thank you for including us on this journey. And again, I’m so thrilled for you and your family.

[@jomassey4207]

2nd hand or used furniture is a wonderful purchase, as you are saving something that others would put on the tip. It's great that you are doing this! One thing I'd suggest is a coffee machine when your nursery becomes much busier. Also I'd move the picnic tables closer to the roses instead of out in the middle of the lawn. It would make it a much nicer experience for families to smell and examine the roses by sitting closer...maybe check-out some second hand umbrellas for the picnic tables. I love your perenial cottage gardens, including roses, as visitors can see what to plant with roses. Your perenial plants will be a massive seller as they go so well with roses. Some are so easy to propagate from cuttings and seed. Also how is your Nursery signage? Is it big and bright enough to see from the road? Advertising and getting groups to visit at the right time of the year would help too. Because you are so open to make changes, I'm sure your business will become more successful. Jo from New Zealand 😊 Also, I prefer to physically choose my roses, rather than hoping I get something okay by courier....I think other gardeners might feel the same way.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions Jo. On the point of road signage, I'm going to fess up that it's lacking. We have a sandwich board sign on our road in front of the nursery, but nothing on the main highway that runs nearby. It's a step we've debated about because our hours and seasons are limited. Placing a large sign anywhere near the Hwy7 would certainly result in traffic, but possibly also some difficulties with visitors on our off days and off season. So we've paused until we're sure. But it's something we'll have to revisit in coming years.

[@jomassey4207]

Great news that its on your list for the future. You are right, opening hours are very important to get sorted, before any large signage can go forth.

[@emmasim69]

Congratulations on doing so well, Mr Jason. Answering your sales channels question, please keep them both until your business becomes a household name, so big it cannot be threatened by a prettier youtuber with roses. Internet sales are fickle like that. In the mean time, you can bring in extra staff to help around the farm, outsource some of the work, contract some of the growing to third parties. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. Good luck.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Prettier than me? Impossible! Lol. Good points. We've sure seen swings up and down on KZbin and Facebook reach, so your concerns are well founded.

[@hobbyfarmer1452]

I have some business insights. When I bought some plants online, I would discover that Home Depot or Lowe’s started to carry them in a short time period. For example, I bought a Oakleaf hydrangea online from a grower last year. It was a small plant sized one quart and I paid $30 including shipping. A few days later, I found 5-6 plants of 3-gallon pot of exactly the same Oakleaf hydrangea in my local Home Depot store, priced at $30. The 3-gallon pot is blooming like a crazy now but the one-quart pot remains small though growing. I paid the same price for both😢. This kind of things happened a few times including plants from PW. Therefore, I concluded that when growers found out a specific zip code and surrounding zip codes had interests in some kind of plants, they would quickly market them to the zip code’s Home Depot. The online orders acted a like marketing tool for them. They gained big on online sales, but less profits from Home Depot.

[@tamaraabzhandadze2712]

Absolutely lovely!

[@debrabolduc9928]

Congrats, what a great crossroads! I do wish I could visit from the Eastern Townships, Quebec. I love how healthy all your plants look, and the landscape tour gave me ideas for my garden! I will definitely look for your new website.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Debra. We'll launch it through our usual social media (FB mainly) and put links on the old website as well.

[@lanceb7438]

It seems to me doing both is a good solution as long as you are able to. The mail order may be the biggest money maker, but the onsite nursery is still improving, making money and is the part you enjoy. There is a lot to be said for doing what you enjoy. I only see the crossroad if you can't do both for whatever reason. I'm sure it's tough having to be successful in two areas of business. 🙂 You should be proud of what you have accomplished.

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Lance. I'm kinda hoping that the money from mail order can add much-needing staffing to the farm to benefit both sides of the business. Growing space might be the one issue that limits us from doing both (well) but we're a ways from maxing it out.

[@Cowgirl_Sally]

It is beautiful!!!

[@danmorrissette4814]

Online is Awesome !! You reach so many more People that way !

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks Dan. It's fun to see guests on the farm, but outside of say and hour's driving radius it really does make sense to offer the shipping option.

[@debrap947]

Looks like those are good problems to have, I wish you all the success whichever way you move forward. I hope to check out your farm one of these days...it would be great to "stop and smell the roses". Cheers to a great summer!

[@MildaGoesWild]

Canada might be different, but here in the UK, every nursery has a tearoom/cafe which ranges anything from some very basic drinks and cakes to a full on restaurant. They also tend to have shops that don't just sell gardening stuff but it's customary to have cards, Xmas decorations, sweets and other seasonal stuff. The plants draw in the customers but the reliable income is from the cafes and shops. Amazing how far you've come 👍

[@FraserValleyRoseFarm]

Thanks so much Milda. I think Lisa has been secretly planning for something more substantial along the lines of a cafe (if customer traffic justifies the effort). We appreciate the suggestions and feedback!