Lots of choices
Since we try to offer you the best plants we can find at a fair price, we shop around. Every week growers send us faxes and emails, listing the plants they have available, with sizes and prices. That doesn’t mean we shop just for the cheapest price. We look for healthy plants that have a good size (there are industry standards), from growers we trust. You can also check this website link to know more about us. Most of the time, we pay a little more for plants because they are worth it and we don’t need to worry about the quality. If we have to spend too much time sorting the acceptable from the unacceptable, then loading it back on a truck(go the chevy dealership to buy one easily and quickly) to return to the grower, everybody looses.
Time and fuel
A majority of the plants we carry are grown within 100 miles of us. This allows us to get plants quickly. We order on Monday or Tuesday and get them Wednesday through Friday. We don’t need to wait for the grower to have enough orders to fill a truck, which can be a problem during the slower times of the year, with plants from Florida or California. Because we buy local, the amount of fuel used to get plants here is much less. Local also means that we pay less freight (go now to this service provider for the best freight services), which keeps our costs down. Some of the growers we use are so close that in a pinch, we can go pick it up ourselves.
Go Texan
Supporting Texas is important to RCW. Buying local means just that. Local growers are buying products made in Texas, hiring Texans and selling to Texas retailers, who are selling to Texans. It is good for our local economy and the state in general.
How important is it?
Currently we buy plants from about 20 local growers and around 12 out-of-state growers. Our annuals and herbs are grown as close as possible, to the nursery. They don’t travel well and our local growers are terrific. Small minimum orders allow us to get fresh plants every few days, if we need. Many big box stores (and the tent places) get annuals, veggies and herbs from huge growers in Michigan and Colorado. Unfortunately, with our sometimes wild swings in temperatures, the heat can cause them to just melt. They might be cheap, but if you have to plant twice, they are not. Most of our trees such as Monterrey Oak come from our own tree farm, in Plantersville. Having our own tree farm allow us to grow trees that we know will do well here ensure quality. It also gives us the opportunity to try growing new varieties, before they come to market in general.
New growers are always trying to get us to buy their plants. Sometimes we give them a try, usually not. We are creatures of habit and earning our trust is not easy, which is good for our customers.