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by J. W. Waddick 2. Advertising; Finding a Big Fish Kansas City
has over 50 specialty garden clubs from Roses to Ponds, Iris, Native Plants,
and Daylilies etc. It also has an 'umbrella organization' that provides
a regular newsletter with a schedule of events. Not every city or region
might have an umbrella organization like this, but there might be a large
general garden club with a regular newsletter such as the local chapters
of the Garden Club of America, the Hardy Plant Society, or a city/region
general Garden Club. Some cities even have a weekly or monthly garden newspaper.
We wrote up a simple invitation for
anyone interested in peonies to come to a program by a noted peony hybridizer
and attend a BIG peony sale. We were very lucky to have Don Hollingsworth
as friend and neighbor willing to show “pretty pictures” and talk peony
facts. With our minute budget we talked a couple of commercial nurseries
into selling us plants at wholesale prices and payment due after our sale
(Whew!). Our biggest helpers here were Hollingsworth Peonies and Caprice
Farm Nursery. Almost a dozen national growers were written to and they
donated some choice peonies (this has been the base for our rare
peony auction).
So we had this mini-story/invitation printed (free of charge) in a parent group newsletter and hocked our treasury big time. All the board (our original group in May) worked to distribute advertising and hand outs, clean and pack purchased plants, dig extra plants from their gardens and much more. And we crossed our fingers.
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