Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Plant and flower growers should act less like farmers and more like salespeople, an industry insider told local growers at a conference Wednesday.

“The garden-center business has relied too long on the flowers selling themselves,” said Chris Beytes, editor of GrowerTalks magazine.

Beytes spoke about marketing trends at the 27th Alaska Greenhouse and Nursery Conference at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge. Beytes is a former greenhouse owner who traded in his watering can for a keyboard, spending the last 15 years traveling the world, writing and talking about the nursery business.

“The business is changing rapidly,” Beytes said. “You have to constantly evolve your product. You have to reinvent your business all of the time.”

The magazine editor suggested that growers monitor trends in the home decor industry.

“The plant business is very much the home decor business,” he said. “Look at the covers of home decor magazines when you’re going through the checkout lines at grocery stores.”

Growers should also creatively display their plants and flowers. Even grocery stores, Beytes said, use displays to highlight products, changing the displays regularly.

“Using paint and fabric, you can have a new display that’s trendy, every weekend for just a few dollars,” he said.

Beytes added that growers should be fearless about mixing annuals and perennials, a practice that some people still consider taboo.

“If it’s pretty, it sells,” he said.

Beytes encouraged growers to be more green by using fewer chemicals and plastics and by conserving water.

“We need to do more,” he said. “We need to lead the way.”

Linda Dolney of Ann’s Greenhouses said Beytes inspired her to think more about searching for trends.

“Now when I go to the store, it’s like, ‘OK, I’ll glance at the magazine covers,’” she said.

Cyndie Warbelow-Tack, owner of The Plant Kingdom, said Beytes’ remarks reinforced her own ideas about nurseries.

“It felt good,” she said, jokingly patting her shoulder. “I think keeping up on trends and constantly kind of reinventing yourself, it’s key.”

The convention, which attracts growers from across the state, ends today.

Contact staff writer Amanda Bohman at 459-7544.