It's Over

I am officially through with my internship at Calloway's. It has been an amazing journey that has taught me so much. I enjoyed every minute of it.

On Thursday, I started off working on the weekly specials email, making corrections or changes to the designs on the panels. I put together the one page printable for the specials. While each of those were going through the approval process, I was working on the final pieces of my presentation. I created the last of my ads. I began trying to make a poster for my berry program. The other two interns and I decided to go out to lunch together and talk about the different programs we were working on. It was interesting to hear about the different experiences we had even though we were all interns. We worked at different stores so we each did things a little bit differently. We were riding with the GM during different weeks, so different things were going on in the stores each week. We were each working with different buyers on different projects. In marketing, we worked in different areas in the department where different actives were going on. When I got back from lunch, I got back to work on my posters. Eventually, I decided to draw a design out on paper instead of trying to make something work in Photoshop without a basic idea of what I wanted to do. I went to present to  the Vice President of Merchandising and my buyer again. This time we ran through the entire presentation and found any mistakes and they asked me questions that my audience would likely ask to make sure I was as prepared as possible. I really appreciated the tips and advice because it helped me feel prepared and know what I needed to do to be ready for my final presentation. When that was completed, I went back to marketing to make the final corrections on the email and schedule the send to all of the garden club. I also uploaded the one page printables to the website. The next morning everything was set up to be uploaded to the website and sent to the garden club.

On Friday, I made the final corrections and finished my poster for my presentation. I arrived at work at 9 and was ready for my 2 o'clock presentation by 10:30. I uploaded the weekly specials to the website. My supervisor then had me work with one of the other interns to create a new template for the printable to match the new website. It was my opportunity to leave my mark on the new website. Once we had a good rough draft created, we printed it out to present to the Director of Marketing. I started setting up for my presentation. After some technical difficulties, I was set up and ready to present. At 2, I started my presentation for right around 20 people. I have done presentations to larger groups of people, but this one, I knew that everyone in that room was going to be able to tell if I didn't know my programs like the back of my hand. It was nerve wracking at the beginning, but as I kept going and saw just how much I knew, I got more confident. I presented for just under an hour and was able to answer every question. At the end, everyone thought it went very well and that I had been very thorough. I had even managed to get a couple laughs into my presentation.

Saying goodbye to all of the people I worked with was hard. I loved every second I worked with this company. Each person I worked with was more than happy to help me with anything I needed. I met some amazing people at this company and I hope that when I get out of school that I have the opportunity to come back for them.

The End is in Sight

Its been another 2 days in marketing, and this department is finally slowing down. We have been in the final stages of building the new Calloway's website. Everyone in the department is proofing some part of the website. It appears to be very close to being complete. When it is up for the public, it is going to look absolutely amazing!

On Tuesday, my big focus was building some ads for newspapers and email for my berries and ferns. I also worked on making some posters for my berries, but I couldn't make anything that really sang for me. I decided to take a break from posters and focus more on my actual presentation. I made some edits to make the content more understandable and started thinking of the commentary I will use for each slide. As I work through, I make sure I know my facts and figures inside and out and that I can answer any questions about how the figures were derived. I also try to think of what questions my audience will have as I go through; things like: how did we increase the profit margin, what did you figure in to make the projected margin more realistic, where will we buy the plants, how much will it cost us, how will we do compared to last year, why will we do that well, how much will marketing cost. I am basically ensuring I am an expert on my programs. My slides describing my general experiences in each stage of the internship are also coming along very well. I think this presentation will go very well if I can keep my nerves down.

Today, I began working on the weekly email ad for Friday. Since it is my second time, it is going a little bit easier and faster. I just need upper management to approve them and I will be set to work on uploading the specials to the website. This afternoon, I met with the interior plants buyer to go over that part of the presentation again and make some adjustments to make the data more understandable. He gave me some tips on improving that part of my presentation and we made plans to run through that part on Friday before the real presentation. When I returned from that meeting, one of the other interns reached a stopping point in her project and asked some questions about what I was working on. We started working together to build the Cornelius email. We built some of the ads and I showed her how to navigate the software we use to create and send the emails. It was amazing to realize how much I have actually learned and been able to explain in such a short time. By the time the day was over, I had completed the emails and printables for both Calloway's and Cornelius.

Tomorrow, I will get approval on the emails, upload the specials to the website and finish up my presentation. I will also hopefully have the chance to meet with the Director of Marketing to go over my presentation and get her thoughts. My adventure is almost over, but I am still learning so much!

Marketing: Telling You Why You Want to Buy Stuff

Today, I start my final week at Calloway's. I do my final presentation on Friday and I am so excited and ridiculously nervous, but I will talk about that more when it gets closer. I finished one week in Marketing. This department has been extremely busy this week. On Monday and Tuesday, I set to work trying to decide how I wanted to advertise the products I worked on in Merchandising. I worked on some ads for email and newspapers. I am putting together a clinic for my berry program to teach people about growing berries and help them be more comfortable with growing them. I am also trying to put together some berry recipes to entice people to attend the clinic. I am planning on including ideas for how to display them and where to ideally place them in the stores. I've done a lot more with the berry program than the fern program because the ferns almost sell themselves. I have put together some of the wording for my ads but I haven't constructed the actual Ads yet. On Wednesday, I started pulling together ads for the Weekly Specials Email. This emails is the big one we send out every Friday with the sales for the week. It is sent to every member of the Garden Clubs of Calloway's and Cornelius. To build the email, I used Photoshop to create a banner. The banner in made of a Title that ties into a majority of the items on sale, a picture that elicits an emotional response like a serene garden, a couple planting together, or kids playing in a colorful yard, a couple of vibrant picture of the sale plants and the Store Logo. Underneath that, we list the sale plants by category (annuals, perennials, tropicals, trees & shrubs). When we have listed the products on sale, we let people know of the upcoming events we have. Usually it is clinics or garden book signings. After all of that we list the store hours, a link to a printable ad, a button to forward it and the dates the sales are good.  On Thursday, once the email was constructed, I made the one page printable ads where we summarize the sales. We just list the products and their sale prices. After the printable, we set up the web ad. It follows the exact same format on as the email except it is on our website. The ad is constructed on a private webpage the day before and the following morning, is uploaded to the actual page customers will click on. During this whole process, I got extremely familliar with the approval process. First, I made it, then my supervisor looks at it and makes recommendations, then I take it to another marketing employee who proofs it and will either send it back to me for corrections or send it on to the Director of Marketing or the Vice President of Merchandising, whichever one is available or hasn't seen it. When they proof it, they check grammar, syntax, that all the information is correct, and then look at the overall appeal of the ad. They may ask for the wording of an ad to be change or for some formatting to fixed. Then they might ask for a different emotional photo in the banner because the current one was used 2 weeks ago or it doesn't reflect the season very well. It is a long process, but it ensures the best possible ad gets sent out. On Friday, uploaded the web ad to the website. Then I was asked to help put together the binders for the Calloway's Vendor Partnership program. Each vendor in the program gets their own binder that contains every newspaper, email or web ad that mentions one of their products. These binders are then packed up in binders with a letter from the Vice President of Merchandising and shipped to each vendor.

This week, I will put the finishing touches on my presentation and continue learning about Marketing. I can not believe this internship is almost over. These past 9 weeks have flown by and I have learned so much.

The Cube Life: Making Educated Guesses to How much and what the Public Wants

The past 2 weeks I have been working in the Merchandising Department at Calloway's. Last week I was working on projections for the Top 5 Indoor Ferns. I put together data for how much we are going to sell compared to last year, how much it is going to cost to buy, how much it will cost to ship, how much the Dallas stores will get, how much the Houston stores will get, where we will get the ferns, when will we have a sale and how much will we mark them down. I was able to put together charts and graphs that clearly showed what we expect to do next year. I also pulled together information for how to grow the ferns and what makes people want to buy them. I also learned about why we "book" some plants but not others. Some, you book because you can't just find a whole lot of them anywhere, so if we don't "Book" with a vendor, we won't have them in the quantities we need. Others, you can find good ones anywhere, so if you book them with a vendor, it makes it hard to take advantage of any specials a wholesaler might have. 

This week I have been working on introducing some new blueberry varieties to our stores. These varieties are supposed to pleasing to the eye and the stomach. It is interesting to see the differences between projecting a tried and true plant and a variety we have never had before. To project the introduction of new plants you need to look into sales data for other comparable varieties to see how the public responds to them. It is also helpful to see how all the varieties of that plant you carry do. So if we were introducing an abelia, we would look at how well we sold all our varieties of abelia. I have also been able to have more contact with vendors this week. It is sort of like starting from scratch for introducing new products. I have to find  vendors, think about how we can market them, how much to sell them for and when to put them on sale. I will say after working on this program, I have a serious blueberry craving. It is not easy to look at so many pictures of blueberries and not want the sweet, tang of fresh blueberries.

Today, I showed the director of merchandising my presentation thus far. He had a couple of pointers, but thought it was pretty good. I am now working on putting the final touches on my presentation. I will do my final presentation on July 25th, after I have completed all parts of the internship.

Merchandising: Buying What The Public Wants

Today was my second day in the Merchandising Department. For this week, I am working with the buyer in charge of interiors, holiday merchandise, and pottery. Yesterday, I went over a few reports that showed how many items we have at each store and total and how much the inventory is worth. My buyer explained that his job required looking at many reports. The inventory going on this week will help true up the numbers for their reports. I also put together replenish orders for the interior plants. We look at the amount of each plant at the stores to see if we need to order more in or put in a Special Order (when a customer specifically asks the manager to put an order in). We also look at the projections for product for the previous and current week. We make adjustments based on what we sold the previous week and what other circumstances could affect sales. We try to make sure we have at least 3 weeks of product on hand each week. As we ordered, we had to keep in mind the actual size of the store. If a store is small, you can't just order product because they are running low. You try to get them enough product, but ordering too much will cause problems at the store.  After, I completed putting together the orders, I emailed them to each of the vendors. The stores should see the product I ordered next week. Another important aspect of being a buyer, is being willing to try new product because doing the same thing will get stale and boring after a while. My buyer's office is full of samples from vendors. Sometimes, you are successful when you try new things, like with the Kimberly Queen Ferns; other times you are not as successful as you hoped, like with the Rabbit Foot Ferns. Some products do better in our Houston market (the Cornelius Nurseries). Houston sells interior plants and home decor much better than the DFW stores.

Today, I worked on projections for next year's Indoor Fern project. Projections are based on previous year's sales data. The buyers then figure how they hope to improve the previous year's data. These projections are important for the company, but they are also important to our vendors. We send them our projections, so our growers can make sure they can produce it all for us. This is called "booking". I also worked on the inventory for the South Arlington store. Calloway's pays a company to come inventory our products. Everything is counted. I helped as an auditor where I would pick random sections to check the counts made by the counters. It is EXTREMELY important that we get the counts as accurate as possible. This will directly affect the profit of the company. It will also help the buyers know that the inventory numbers in the system are correct, so they can order the appropriate amount of product.

The merchandising department is very interesting, and I am learning a lot. I am also putting my Microsoft Excel skills to the test with all of the data I am organizing and analyzing. This is going to be a fun week.

My Quest to EVERY Calloway's in Dallas/Fort Worth

This past week, I rode all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area with the General Manager of Calloway's to ALL of the 17 stores. It was eye-opening to see how each store catered to communities in which they are located. I also had the opportunity to do the safety inspection for 13 of the stores under the supervision of the GM, as well as help the store figure out what they need to do to prepare for inventory that starts on Monday.

MONDAY
I visited the newest store in Little Elm. This location was opened a little less than a year ago, and Calloway's see great potential for it. The GM likes to visit this location first each week to ensure that they are ready for the next coming week.  Little Elm is growing fast, with lots of housing developments going in around the store location. This city is just getting established and this store will have been there since the which I believe will definitely boost customer loyalty. From Little Elm, we went to the Corporate Office in Fort Worth to take care the paper work for the upcoming week. The people at the corporate office and many of the store managers threw a surprise party for my GM to celebrate 25 years working with the company. He absolutely loves what he does with the company and loves the company. My adventures around Dallas/Fort Worth, showed me that a lot of people that work with Calloway's love working there. Every manager I talked to, was excited that I was interested in this part of the industry. When the party was over, the GM and I got started on the paper work. I learned how corporate sets the labor budget and the sales objectives for each store. The GM explained how stores can get a little extra money for the labor budget, and informed me that until fall the labor budget for stores slowly declines starting at the beginning of summer. We looked at sales for each store, and he showed what data to really look at to get the best picture of how a store was doing that day, that month, or this year. We went over approving Purchase Orders and Personal Change Requests (We got a lot of those in due to the termination of seasonal workers or changing temporary employees to full or part time employees).

TUESDAY
We saw 4 stores on Tuesday. We started at the Duncanville location. It was an excellent example of how the surrounding stores can help or hurt a business. This started off as a great location and was very successful, but when the big retailers left, business took a big hit. A new Winco Foods is going in nearby which may breathe new life into the area. Duncanville still does okay with what it has and the staff, while small, is dedicated to customer service. The next store, was South Arlington. My GM started there 25 years as a delivery/carryout worker. The area around this location has really taken off, so this location does quite well. It has a larger staff than Duncanville, so it was an interesting contrast. A larger staff can make a huge difference because if you have more employees, you can assist more customers. The next stop was Stonegate. The layout is a bit different from the other Calloway's in that it strays away from the classic building for allied with 4-5 greenhouses beside it and a nursery yard in the back for a pergola, a glass house for interiors and allied, the nursery yard in the middle, and a gift shop like building in the back. This store gears some of their lawn ornaments to TCU fans as it is located close to that campus. The last stop that day was North Arlington. You can see AT&T Stadium from the nursery. This store has a reputation for being literally one of the hottest of the Calloway's locations. The greenhouses now have 2 layers of shade cloth. The top layer is white and the bottom is black. According to the employees, the addition of the white shade cloth has helped tremendously.

WEDNESDAY
We stopped by 5 stores on Wednesday. The first was Plano. Plano was the 5th store built. It is a pretty good location. Because it is one of the oldest stores, it needs repairs a bit more frequently than the others, but it still looks very nice. The biggest problem it has is that more than once people have accidentally driven through the wall of the greenhouse from the parking lot. The next stop was the Preston Rd Location. This location is huge! It is one of the largest of the stores. It has a large staff and is one of the most successful of the stores. The Richarson location came next and was one of my favorites, mostly because it was the original. It has the standard Calloway's design with the exception of one wall in the middle of the building. The other stores don't need it because it wasn't load bearing. I really enjoyed my time at the Richardson store. The next one was Mesquite. This was the 3rd store built. Like Plano, it needs repairs a bit more often than the newer ones, but it is still a beautiful store. the staff is excellent. The last one was McKinney. This store is unique because it is made entirely of glass. As you may imagine, this is a hot store as well. During the summer, shade cloth hangs from the roof and fans are going all through store hours. When it gets real bad, they turn on fans with misters attached. This store is little, compared to the amount of material and customers they serve, so in the spring, when they have all of the busy season plants in, the place is packed. It is a gorgeous store though.

THURSDAY
Little Elm was the first of our 4 stops on Thursday. We came back to make sure they we ready for inventory  and do the safety inspection. They made great strides in preparation for inventory while we were gone and it was amazing to see the changes in such a short time. Denton was our next stop. It is a very small store, but it has plans in the works to expand it. It is set up quite a bit different than the other stores. It still has a building for allied, greenhouses for bedding plants, and a nursery yard along the back. There are plants on every available space. Flower Mound was the next store. This store is also different from the rest. It has a more open design. The nursery yard is in the middle, the bedding plants and interiors are under 2 pergolas, and a building for allied. The front of building has a fountain. and the floor outside the garden is made of permeable pave stone. The stone is pretty but poses some maintenance issues. The last stop was Lewisville. This store is undergoing some repairs do to a storm that blew through. The roof needs to be fix up (nothing serious), the shade cloth had a couple holes, and the awnings needed to be replaced and repaired. When this store is finished with the minor cosmetic repairs, it will be gorgeous.

FRIDAY
My first stop was Southlake. This store was set up very similar to Flower Mound. I met one of my fellow interns here and he will be joining me at corporate soon. It is one of the biggest stores and does very well. Then we went to Hurst. This store is very large. It also houses the warehouse for the company. All of the flocking machines and other seasonal items are stored here. The final store I visited was Greenville. The amount of money made by this store does not make sense for the size and location of this store. It does exceptionally well. The staff is very knowledgeable. It has the standard layout of most Calloway's stores. From there, we returned to the Richardson store, to make a delivery and go over the Profit and Loss statement. The P&L is essentially the company's checkbook. It shows how much we spent on what when. It starts with everything summarized and gradually breaks it down into individual transactions. It was an interesting thing to learn.

I learned so much in my week with the GM. By the time Friday ended, I had not realized how many hours I had actually put in. It was a fun week but I am looking forward to my next weeks at corporate. I'm  even going to get to help with the actual inventory this week that I have been working on with my North Plano store and the GM. This week I have started in the Merchandising Department. This week should be a lot of fun.

My LAST Week at North Plano

Today I completed the first half of my internship. It was my last day working in the stores. I will spend the next 5 weeks exploring the corporate world of Calloway's. In these past 5 weeks I have learned quite a bit, but the most important thing I have learned is that there are no small jobs. When you enter the North Plano Calloway's in the morning, you will see brightly colored plants everywhere, you will see plants lined up neatly in rows, all the shelves are full, the floor is clean and almost dry; there is little indication that we just watered or that there was a big sale the day before. Everyday the employees work to make everything look amazing and beautiful, all while helping every customer. Plants are constantly being moved around the store. Blooming plants are moved up towards the front of the store, plants in dwindling supply are consolidated to make room for new plants, people pick up plants and put them back down after changing their mind. Every morning employees scheduled to water show up 3 hours before opening and water everything. Every task these employees perform helps make the customers' experience pleasant. Each one will drop what they are working on to help a customer find what they are looking for. The managers are some of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met. They have so much experience that after only a few questions and looking at a sample or a picture, can tell exactly what is wrong and how to fix it.

The 2 pictures above have been my home away from home for the past 5 weeks. The people I had the privilege of working with have been absolutely amazing. Each week, my internship supervisor would drop by and ask me if I was having fun and learning a lot. Each time I replied without hesitation, "Yes, Sir!" The boys working back in the nursery taught me so much about the trees and shrubs we carried and could always make me laugh while we worked through the day. The girls up front at the registers could answer almost every question I had about how to run a register, what product will take care of what pest, or who to transfer a call. The people working in the bedding department, never ceased to amaze me with their knowledge of almost every plant that sat on our benches. The management team at this Calloway's is phenomenal. They are among the first to arrive each morning and the last to leave each night. They somehow find time to do all the paperwork required for the store to run day-to-day and take care of the customers and employees. Everyday at a retail nursery presents a new challenge. Sometimes a shipment will come in unexpectedly, other times we lose all water pressure as we try to get everything watered in the heat of the afternoon. They handle each situation like pros. From my experiences at this location and with this staff, I completely understand why this location is so successful.

To each of the staff members I worked with this summer: Thank you for everything. I have learned so much, and everyday when I drove home, I had a smile on my face because of y'all. I have every intention of coming back to see y'all when I get the chance. I will miss all of y'all and know that y'all are the best. 

Thanks and Gig'Em!!!

Here are some pretty flowers, for y'all to enjoy!

The Most Common Questions People Ask Me

I have completed the first 3 weeks of my internship and am starting my fourth. This week I watered, unpacked new plants, received and checked in deliveries, helped customers find the perfect plants for their landscapes. I also learned how to make a lunch schedules so that there is someone in each department at all times.
Customer service is a top priority at Calloway's. Customers will come in looking for plants for areas with certain conditions or they will bring in samples or pictures of their ailing plants. I think it would be interesting to list some of our most common questions.

Color for Shade
One of the most common problems our customers run into is finding color for shade (shade= less than 3hrs of direct sun, partial= 3-4 hrs, Full= 6 hrs). The most common flowers for shade are impatiens, the new guinea impatiens, green leaf begonias, crossandra, shrimp plants, and hostas. Impatiens come in a wide variety of colors from white to purple (not blue). There are 2 types of bedding begonias: the bronze leaf  and green leaf. The bronze tolerates sun and the green leaf will only take shade. Crossandra has light orange flowers and dark green foliage. Shrimp plants have unusual yellow flowers (relatives come in different colors) that almost resemble a shrimp tail. Hostas have variegated foliage and will flower. Some shade plants are best used for their showy foliage rather than flowers. These include coleus and caladiums. Coleus comes in an almost unlimited variety of colors, patterns, and shapes. Caladiums can be grown from bulbs or transplanted. They come mostly patterns of green and pink or white. The strap leaf caladiums can tolerate more sun than the regular. The some good perennials for shade include ferns, turk's cap, and coral bells.

Annuals vs. Perennials
Annuals will die after one season. They are great for temporarily filling spaces or temporary color. Most of them provide instant color. Perennials will survive through more than one season. They are more permanent additions to a landscape. Some will stay leafy and green all year (evergreen), others will lose the leaves and basically be sticks in the winter, but will leaf out in spring (deciduous), and even others will die down to the soil until the weather warms back up. Annuals must be replaced at each season change; perennials do not. Annuals are usually cheaper than perennials. One is not really better than the other. It depends on your personal preference.

Rose Diseases
Roses are amazing. They add so much to a landscape. I believe there is probably a type of rose for every landscape purpose. The most common rose diseases are anthracnose and black spot. Both cause black discoloration on the leaves and are a fungus. You can treat them with a standard fungicide. The infected leaves won't be fixed, so cut those leaves off, but new leaves should not be infected. If your rose is producing blooms, but they are rotting before they can open, you may have thrips (they are bad this year). If you take one of the affected blooms and pull it apart, down towards the center of the flower, there should be tiny oblong insects crawling around. These can be treated with an insecticide. Many people have come in with pictures and samples of there roses, complaining of gnarled new growth and bad blooms. This is more than likely being caused by a virus going around called Rose Rosette or Rose Rosetta. It can be transmitted a couple ways. Spider mites and soil are the most common. If you prune on any infected roses, you must disinfect your pruners with bleach or alcohol. If you have any infected roses, remove them immediately and keep them away from uninfected roses. Once you remove infected roses, DO NOT plant more roses in that area for at least 3 years. The virus can persist in the soil. There is no cure and no sure fire prevention. If you get spider mites, use a mitcide to keep the population under control. Keep an eye on your neighborhood's roses. If it gets into your neighborhood, it can spread from house to house pretty easily. This virus only affects roses.

Grass
St. Augustine grass is the only grass that can grow in shade. It still will not grow in dense shade, but it can handle some shade. You can lay down sod or put in plugs. If you have brown patches in your lawn you may have grubs or a disease called brown patch that is caused by a fungus. If the brown patches seem to be forming in rings rather than patches, treat for fungus. If your St. Augustine is still brown (especially in the shade), it may have been killed in this brutal winter we just had.

Killing Weeds
To kill weeds you need herbicide. Some herbicides will only kill broad leaf plants. Do not spray this in a flower bed. It will kill your garden. Some will kill grassy weeds. Do not spray this on your lawn unless the label lists your lawn grass as a tolerant species. With any pesticide (herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, mitcide), ALWAYS READ THE LABEL BEFORE YOU APPLY IT. This way you apply it correctly or to anything you don't want killed. Also, this is my own personal belief, but if there is a plant growing anywhere you don't want it to, you can call it a weed and the reverse is true as well. It is always helpful to know what the weed is actually called before you buy a treatment. You can bring in a sample to Calloway's and we will help you take care of it. There are also great resources online.

Over vs. Under Watering
Oddly enough, the symptoms of over and under watering plants are very similar. If your plant is wilted, touch the soil. If it feels wet, let it dry out. If it feels dry, water it. If newly dead parts of the plant feel crispy, it is under watering. If it is malleable, it is over watering. If the dead parts feel crispy, the soil has always been moist when you water, you may have a bacteria problem or a pest problem. In that situation, it is probably best to bring a sample to an expert.

Nutrient Deficiencies and Fertilizer
All fertilizers are required to list a fertilizer analysis. It is a sequence of 3 numbers separated by dashes. Each number refers to the relative concentration of a nutrient in the fertilizer. The first refers to nitrogen, the second to phosphorus, and the third to potassium. N-P-K.
The most common all purpose analysis is a 20-20-20.
Nitrogen encourages green growth. Plants with a deficiency begin yellowing in the older or lower leaves. Apply a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen (Blood Meal).
Phosphorous encourages root growth and will often speed up maturity (the plant may flower sooner). Plants with this deficiency will have a reddish discoloration on lower leaves and crispy leaf tips. Apply a fertilizer that is high in phosphorous (Bone Meal).
Potassium is essential to most of a plant's chemical reactions. Plants with this deficiency have interveinial chlorosis (yellowing between green veins) on the older or lower leaves, scorching will begin on the edges of the leaf and work inwards. Apply a fertilizer that is high in potassium.
Iron deficiency looks very similar to potassium deficiency, but it will be found on the upper or newer leaves. To treat this apply a fertilizer that is high in iron.
There are more nutrient deficiency than this, but these ones are the most common.

That about sums up the big trends in questions, I get almost every day. Each day I learn more and more because of the questions people ask. If I don't know an answer, I find someone who does and listen to their answer. There is never a dull day when working at a nursery.

Week 2 Adventures in Retailing

I'm in the middle of my second week of my internship at Calloway's. It has been a whirlwind of new experiences and information. I've spent a bulk of my time patrolling the greenhouse/bedding plant section helping customers find the plants to make the landscape of their dreams. I've done everything from recommending plants, identifying pests, diseases and plants; squeegeeing floors, to lining plants up, watering when the plants dry out, to unloading and organizing plants on tables. I am even getting familiar with the big brands Calloway's carries like HortCoture, Proven Winners, Burpee, and Blue Label. Everyday is a new adventure in bedding.

The Memorial Day Weekend sale was hectic, but was by far the biggest challenge I faced. Plants and people were moving constantly. We were selling out of things faster than we could fill tables back up. Every time I turned around there was something new going on.  Calloway's always has a big Memorial Day weekend sale to help move as much inventory as possible before the slower summer months.

I have even started working on the cash register. At first, it was a little intimidating with all the buttons and functions and things to remember, but as I work more and more on it, it is becoming second nature.

This was my register. 

One of my favorite activities I got to do was work on some of the displays. In the displays, I wanted to show the customers how different plants can come together and make beautiful gardens and landscapes. The displays serve as a form of advertising because it shows examples of how each plant can be used. They are also eye-catching and can draw people to different areas of the nursery. Even the Color Creations (pre-done color pots created by the employees) help show the customers ways to use the plants we sell. It is amazing how many people will ask about the plants in the Color Creations and displays each day.

This is one of the displays of interior plants I put together. I love the varieties of colors.

This is another display that I worked on. I took this picture 2 days after I built the display and we sold a few of the Pothos hanging baskets that were in the middle. I love the toad planter at the bottom of the design.

I am just starting work in the Plant Allies section of Calloway's. In this area, I help customers find fertilizers, pesticides, soil amendments and mulches. Many customers bring in samples and pictures of their problems on their plants. There is a huge difference in seeing pictures of different diseases and pest damage and seeing it on an actual leaf. In my down time, I try to learn more about the individual products we sell by reading some of the labels. There I can learn what the product is for, what to use it on, and how to use it.

I have also been learning about the business side of the nursery. I have seen how my location does compared to the other locations and other time periods. I have learned about cycle counts and why the cycle count does not match the inventory. I also learned how to do Receiving, where I had to check the vendor's purchase order with our purchase order with what was actually shipped to us. I also learned that unloading trucks is hard work in our Texas weather but it is important to keep track of what is coming off the truck so that you get everything you ordered.

I also enjoyed releasing some tiny Praying Mantis babies (we sell live praying mantis eggs, lady bugs and beneficial nematodes) into the flower bed in the front of the building. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of them venturing off into the wild for the first time. I will try to keep up with them and see how they do for the remainder of my internship at the store location.

In the second half of my internship I will get to help with a merchandising project that will actually be implemented in the stores. The birding and wildlife section at Calloway's was the project of one of the interns last year. Its really cool to see what other students in my position have done.

This is the Birding and Wildlife Display.

That about sums up my first 2 weeks at Calloway's. I am looking forward to learning even more from this great company.

My FIRST Week

Front of my Store's Location. Isn't it Gorgeous?!

 Today was the first day of my internship at Calloway's Nursery. It was great! The people that work at Calloway's are amazing. As soon and I introduced myself to any of them, they made me feel welcome. I spent today familiarizing myself with the store and getting comfortable with talking to customers. Calloway's Nursery puts customer service and quality of products above all else. The store I work at is the largest location in the chain and can bring in wide array of product. There is always something to do at this store. I am very excited to continue learning from the experiences I'll have during this internship and to get to know my coworkers better.

Yellow Hibiscus I worked with today! It was bright and cheery looking so I thought I would share it!