Can Ornamental Plants Turn a Profit for You?

By Elizabeth Scholtz and Frederick McGourty, Jr.

Can you make money raising ornamental plants in your spare time? Yes, if you're a fairly experienced home gardener, are willing to work hard and to forego a financial return for at least a year or two. But don't expect windfall harvests of either money or plants, although a few hobbyists eventually go into business full time and are quite successful.

The main pleasure is not financial. It's the opportunity to work from a few to many hours a day with living green things, toward the specific goal of attracting a following of customers by providing the plants they seek as well as occasional specialties they will be excited to discover. There can be a modest return, enough to help offset the cost of a college education or to provide a retirement cushion.

An informal survey of part-time growers was recently conducted by the authors, and we think the results will be of interest to people wondering whether to take the plunge.

The growers we questioned are, to a person, instinctive gardeners and their satisfaction is primarily in the doing, not in monetary gain. All live in rural or semi-rural areas except one, who is a suburbanite. All except one are married, with the spouse working full time in another profession but with time to help in the raising and at least to some extent the care of plants.

Each grower relies on a modest greenhouse for starting his plants and is thus affected by heating costs. Such expenses are of less concern in Atlanta, where it costs roughly $350 a year to provide a 12 x 20 foot lean-to type greenhouse with all services heat, water and electricity winter temperatures being held at 60 to 65 F. Costs necessarily would be more in New England or other winter-cool climates.

Heating temperatures from wood stoves cannot be as closely controlled as those from oil burners or natural gas units. But they do at least allow the spare-time grower to carry over certain mild-climate plants, such as scented geraniums, which can tolerate extremes of heat but not freezing temperatures.

One Connecticut grower with a lean-to greenhouse that doubles as a pottery workshop burns three cords of wood a winter (for night heat only, at a cost locally of about $150). The radiant heat of the sun provides adequate daytime heating, except on cloudy days. Under such conditions rugged sorts of subtropical perennials and cuttings are kept in fairly good condition.

Because of high heating costs, some semi-commercial growers in the North who depend on an oil unit choose not to start up their small greenhouses until late February. They then concentrate on popular annuals, most of which can be ready for sale in May, after thinning, transplanting and hardening off in cold frames.

In the case of a few slow-growing annuals or plants treated as such, these Northerners may buy small ones from nearby wholesalers and grow them on. This method is favored with fibrous begonias and geraniums, both of which are excellent sellers in May if in flower. Good timing is essential because a late start to minimize heating costs may result in flowerless plants at peak sales time.

Colorful Annuals

The raising and sale of colorful annuals has much to recommend it because the grower's season is fairly short, starting in the North in late February and ending about July 1. During this period the grower cannot be away from home overnight unless someone is on hand to maintain the heat and tend the plants.

Because the spare-time grower works on a small volume and margin, it is usually not feasible to hire outside help. Even if it were, some growers report, the bookkeeping involved may rule against it.

Standard annuals, the ones customers know best, are usually dependable sellers provided they are in bloom at selling time. These include marigolds, petunias, salvia and zinnias. Begonias and impatiens, though more costly to raise, always seem the first to sell out.

There is a smaller market for hardy perennials, but it should not be ignored as an adjunct to sales, particularly if they are kinds brought into bloom during the peak selling season. These include columbine, bleeding-heart, delphinium, certain phloxes and bearded iris.

An important consideration is that hardy perennials can be grown exclusively in cold frames and do not require a heated greenhouse, though the latter can spur early spring growth or serve as a propagation aid.

One Massachusetts grower, who does not have a large enough retail market to justify extensive raising of hardy perennials, concentrates on growing them for resale to garden centers and small nurseries. With cold frames and an acre of land for field growth, overhead costs are relatively small. The main expense is his time and labor, especially at plant division time.

The growers surveyed stressed that it is essential to raise plants customers want, which are not necessarily personal favorites of the grower. Other advice consisted of starting on a small scale, first getting to know both plants and their market potential, and reinvesting all profits in the business during a building-up period.

Growing too many kinds of plants can be disastrous, the only beneficiary being the grower's own garden. It is better to sell out of a plant quickly than to have many leftovers, although the grower can sometimes dispose of leftovers toward the end of the season by contracting to plant other people's gardens. It does no harm to have a small landscape-consultant business on the side.

"Corner a Market"

Spare-time growing of house plants for sale can be moderately profitable, particularly in mild-winter parts of the country. A Georgia housewife, for example, who finds it most practical to be a small wholesaler, gives this advice:

"If you want to make money at it, you must corner a market and be prepared to produce at the most inconvenient time. Learn to grow for the demand of the season. The best example I know is a man who learned to grow piggyback plants (Tolmiea menziesii) so well that he supplied the local market exclusively.

"Go to retailers, ask them about their needs and the prices they would like, and try to provide for that. Don't attempt to compete with Florida growers of foliage plants unless you can raise them better or more cheaply. Instead, concentrate on plants that the big wholesalers have overlooked or disdained because they require special care, but for which there is a market. Plants such as African violets are always in demand.

"Small mail-order businesses are feasible for certain kinds of plants. One woman here has a substantial volume selling hoyas by mail, along with plant accessories. Be careful to advertise at first in free papers and magazines or small local newspapers. The cost of advertising in large newspapers is phenomenal."

Regardless of where you live, there are practical matters to settle before engaging in a part-time business selling plants.

First, find out what the local zoning regulations are and what permits are needed. Many of the greenhouses of semi-commercial growers were already on their sites as hobby units, but their uses may be stipulated by law.

Building permits may be necessary for lath houses or other structures. Parking availability and even the size of signs are considerations, too. In case you plan to use restricted pesticides You will need an applicator's license (see your county Extension agent).

A sales tax number obtainable from the state will allow You to buy wholesale.

It's also a good idea to have a bookkeeper if you're not handy at accounting. Bear in mind the tax advantages: it is Possible to depreciate cost of a greenhouse and also to take tax deductions for a business phone, office space and furniture, Utilities and other items of expense related to the business.

Elizabeth Scholtz is Director, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, N.Y. Frederick McGourty, Jr., is Editor of Plants & Gardens and Associate Taxonomist at the Garden.