Well I can tell you FitzGerald Nurseries of County Kilkenny, Ireland sells them and they doing very well at it; partly (and it's a big part it seems) to the success from their use of social media.
Owner, Pat Fitzgerald, explains in an interview on Horticulture Week, how his controlled use of social media platforms such as Twitter, blogger and Facebook has helped connect his business to potential customers all over the world.
Pat commented "Keeping up to date with all the tweets, posts and updates is not always easy - it makes me dizzy a lot of the time. This is where the iPhone came in. In my opinion, it is revolutionary. Once I started using the iPhone in July 2009, it became so easy to share stuff and it started to allow me to do more on Twitter and Facebook.
"Over the months that followed, things started happening. You need the blog to give the information every two or three weeks or as things happen - whatever is topical goes in there. I use Twitter and Facebook to advertise what's in the blog. Most of those things are done via an iPhone so I can do it anywhere and on the move."
More and more horticulture businesses are turning to social media to promote themselves. Just by monitoring growth here on the Landscape Juice Network (19 new members in the last week) it's apparent that it's becoming a strong medium with which to promote a business.
Fitzgerald Nurseries is now exporting Ceonothus 'Tuxedo' - discovered by Pat Fitzgerald on his nursery in Ireland - to the west coast of America where the plant has been well received.
Californian gardener, Patti Stoll said, "I just picked up one of these at our local Molbak's (near Seattle). It is very impressive looking! Gorgeous black leaves-yes a little brown toned, but almost as good of a black as black mondo grass. Should pair up well with silver foliages.
"Since it's only a #1 size, I plan to keep it in a container for a year or two and to give it protection in some of our harder freezes. We do have a problem here, with many of the specialty Ceanothus hybrids, especially young plants, not being hardy. Even though the parentage of this is a northeastern American native plant, I will still worry.
I hope you make a bunch of money from royalties on this plant. You deserve it! "
Pat Fitzgerald does add a note of caution about the overuse of social media: "Keep the day job your focus. Social media can consume a lot of time and damage your good work."
Thanks for your kind words. Compared to Landscape Juice's great work what I do is pretty basic. Twitter Blog and Facebook activity has however got fantastic coverage for Phormium Black Adder and Ceanothus Tuxedo in USA. Check this funny blog post on them. http://gossipinthegarden.com/2009/09/07/the-adventures-of-black-adder-tuxedo/
Kind regards
Pat
Posted by: Pat FitzGerald | Jul 27, 2010 at 10:31 AM