[Paul_Ward]

Ok - thinking ahead!

I've had some good success this Christmas and last with selling planted baskets of prepared Hyacinth bulbs in particular to the UK market where such things are traditional.

This seems something unheard of in the US, at least as far as online merchants go. Could this be worth the effort for a bulb merchant next year? It's very different in infrastructure from bags of bulbs - being live plants albeit fairly small and undeveloped live plants, but as a living Christmas gift, they are far more popular than a wreath for the door.

Any mileage? I've tried other US plant merchants who have agreed it's a good idea and then gone no further.

[Leader]

This seems something unheard of in the US, at least as far as online merchants go. Could this be worth the effort for a bulb merchant next year? It's very different in infrastructure from bags of bulbs - being live plants albeit fairly small and undeveloped live plants, but as a living Christmas gift, they are far more popular than a wreath for the door.
You've been looking in the wrong places, then. There's quite a few trying to move their unsold fall stock out that way ;)

But, in the US live bulbs aren't a Christmas tradition. It's all poinsettias! Christmas plant = poinsettia. And those poor little doomed tabletop pine trees.

Plus, I've been noticing that they keep on having those bulb baskets in stock, or start offering big discounts. And, the paperwhite kits aren't exactly a hot item. So, I've decided not to touch it for other varieties. At least if I leave them unplanted, I can put 'em out in the Micherator and try again later...

[Paul_Ward]

Thanks Leader - that explains things at least. My UK merchants has sold out of the most popular Hyacinth baskets and I'm moving onto the less popular choices now.

Guess I'll have to push Poinsettias in the US next year. Interesting from the horticultural point of view I guess, Poinsettias come from Mexico (I think) and we have Holland not far away that produces vast quantities of bulbs. That goes a long way to explain the way things are.

[Leader]

As for the poinsettias, they *originated from* Mexico, but most of the cuttings which are grown into plants and sold in the US are actually from one place: The Paul Ecke Ranch, based in California.

As for their popularity, they're popular due to the marketing efforts of the original Paul Ecke (way back before my time...*checks their site* 75 years ago, it says...). The guy singlehandedly started a massive market--before his marketing blitz, poinsettias weren't considered anything special! I've got to tip my hat to him. What a marketer! Now, most greenhouses buy cuttings from there, grow them to maturity, and then sell them at retail. There's some minor competition at the wholesale level, but Ecke's still the giant industry-side supplier.

I'm not sure as to poinsettias' online saleabiliy, because they're available in every grocery store, discounter, etc. for pretty cheap--and unlike bulbs, the poinsettias in the discount/nonplant-focused stores usually aren't all that bad.

But if you can find the people who don't want a grocery-store poinsettia for some reason, you may have some luck.