Garden Center in China Guangxi Nanning (5 of 5)

Why do we end up 'not talking' well, let me explain.

The Chinese love to talk and purchasing something here can and often does become a social event. With my western ways, spending two hours discussing something that should only take two minutes is very infuriating. But I am adjusting to it, slowly.

It means in practise, that when we go on a plant or pot buying jaunt instead of an hour or two, we need to allow the best part of a day as to find our preferred garden plant choices results in visiting several plant nurseries. All requiring plenty of chit-chat.

Firstly on arrival at the nursery you need to find the owner (seller), they may be there, they may not. They may want to sell plants to us at a fair price, they may not.

It all a bit hit and miss and as each encounter is so time consuming, my limited patience is pushed to the limit and my wife often bears the brunt.

So, sometimes we end up in a 'strop'.

Luckily, the tree and shrub nurseries we use mostly here in China Nanning are situated along one stretch of road.

Once we have assembled enough plants from the various nurseries to justify the hiring of a van or small lorry to transport them back to the shop, which is not an easy task, then remembering where all our chosen plants are located and furthermore visualising the volume for loading onto a vehicle can give rise to a 'heated moment' or two...

Another prolonged negotiation takes place between my wife and various van and lorry owners on the mobile phone as she needs to confirm price and above all confirm that they can do it 'NOW'

When you hear, they will be here in 20 minutes, I have learnt, this is the Chinese 20 minutes, probably more like an hour or sometimes two of waiting.

I've given up asking, "Why did you say 20 minutes?" or "Why are they taking so long?"…

As well as plants, we buy Pots and various other bits and pieces for the garden shop.

These also follow very similar lines.

After any of these buying missions we are more often than not both exhausted.

BUT with luck, we have what we need for the shop.

Garden Centre in China Guangxi Nanning as it is now with the newly built Small Bird Aviary on the right.

To the best of my knowledge the only Small Bird Aviary in Nanning, more on this later.

Garden Centre in China Guangxi Nanning (4 of 5)

This is China. There are Garden Plant Nurseries in China, lots of them, especially here in Guangxi Autonomous region - But not as we know them Jim…

Yes, as previously shown in earlier posts, some are extremely well organised (on the surface) and take on the appearance of any Plant Nursery you might find in Holland, for example. No real surprise as these have been modelled on those in Holland, America etc.

As far as I can ascertain, these better run examples are in some way Government funded. Whether regional or national, I'm not sure.

The plant nurseries in Nanning supply most, if not all the plants used for display within the city.

Plants can be purchased from these establishments but quite honestly, I have found the range from them a little limited. They are geared up for huge volume supply, displays etc. (Nanning is known as the Green city and has huge floral displays, ever changing, all year round)

These plant nurseries are not in existence to supply the local plant shops.

It's the other plant nurseries that supply most of our needs, the ones probably run by a Chinese family or two and primarily there to supply anyone that wants to buy from them.

Often a mish-mash of plants of extremely varying type and quality.

Takes me back to the 60's and early 70's  when the UK horticultural trade first 'took off' and plants suddenly had a value and almost overnight stopped being supplied in 'Old Paint cans' and found themselves plonked in poly bags, which 

later gave way to rigid plastic pots.

Here in Nanning China supplied plants are at the poly bag stage and will probably remain at this stage in the most part as plastic is a valuable commodity now and is reflected in the price of rigid pots here, quite expensive by comparison.

I suppose the main issue for me has been lack of variety of plant material but variation in quality has been difficult to get to grips with also.

Here we are living in a sub-tropical region in an area famous for plants and trees and yet strangely, not much of a choice.

The reason for this, I have learnt is simple.

These Chinese nurserymen do not grow plants for the love of it or because they love gardening, they do it to survive.

So, if it sells, grow it…

If you grow it and it sells, keep growing it and only it.

No need to try anything else, no real need to experiment and explore new varieties, they are unproven, they won't put a meal on the table.

Makes sense but doesn't do much for the introduction of anything new in the China plant world.

The problem for my wife in her shop is mainly volume of customers or should I say, lack of volume.

Unlike the Old Flower market where customers are in plentiful supply, so lack of variety plays no real part in the process in the OLD market as there is always demand for the same plants.

And the buyers with their own limitations are always happiest with plants they recognise and know.

After much searching, we have managed to track down one or two interesting plant suppliers here in China Nanning, those that do have the courage to at least try something new.

On the plus side for the shop, it is situated in a fairly affluent area, a lot of middle class, young Chinese that lack some of the shackles of the old ways and are searching for something new and interesting.

We try to accommodate this new garden plant demand with slightly different from the normal  plant varieties and as always the case, quality, no matter where you are in the world will always find a buyer.

Ok, so we have our customer base and have found the suppliers.

The next bit is the most painful though.

For me a westerner, that with a simple phone call can have plentiful supply of plant material delivered to my door in my own country, here in Nanning China it is another matter entirely…

The getting of the plants from the nursery back to the shop which involves both negotiations with Nurseryman to purchase in the first instance and then finding and arranging a suitable transport provider of the plants has often left me and the wife, not talking...

Photo's show some of our plant suppliers in China. 

To be continued...

Garden Centre in China Guangxi Nanning (3 of 5)

It came unexpectedly about a week or two after the Chinese New Year 08, the phone call that is, from one of our new friends at Qingxiushan New Market Jin Hui Ru Yi Fang.

Apparently, the resident occupier of the plot we had looked at a few months past had defaulted on his rental payments and had decided to quit, walk away.

Interesting, I thought about it again, not many customers as the place was still new, my wife, with no horticultural experience, me, with no Chinese language capabilities and the Chinese way of doing things completely alien to me.

Once again, it was an easy decision - No way José.

Well, that is what my head was saying, needless to say, a few weeks later and with my passion for plants playing a more prominent role and against all my better judgement - My wife was the new proprietor.

Her, still as keen as mustard and me, well me, I enjoy a challenge.

She took over her Garden Center in China in April 08, about 9 months ago. 

We immediately went too work.

Re-levelled the whole site, cleaned the rather, although newly built, ramshackle building, built shade areas, new paths, re-jigged the ponds, new perimeter fence, new layout and set too, trying to make a successful business.

Now, in the west, more especially Europe and in particular the UK, buying plants in any quantity is a relatively easy exercise.

For the gardeners, just pop along to your local Garden Centre, Nursery or Car boot as your will takes you.

For the proprietors, in most instances, a phone call or quick visit to a plant supplier, normally a Nursery, will result in a delivery within the week and depending how much clout you have, could be following day.

Further orders with the same supplier would in most cases be dealt with by either Fax, Email or Phone.

Plants arrive, you check them over, if all is well, you accept delivery and either pay on delivery or as in most cases, pay 30 days (or more) later.

Their a trusting lot, us westerner Nurserymen.

Right, there you have it, a simplified buyers guide to buying plants…IN THE UK…BUT!

This is China...

To be continued…

Garden Centre in China Guangxi Nanning Video

Some of the Flower and Plant units under construction in September 2007.

My wife's one is far right, towards the end of the clip.

The two on the left are more Garden design and construction, specialising in Roof Gardens.

Garden Centre in China Guangxi Nanning (2 of 5)

After thinking long and hard about it and considering all the difficulties associated with such a Chinese venture, not speaking the language, not knowing or being aware of any suppliers, seeing just how competitive a market placement would be and not least considering the fact that my wife has no experience whatsoever with plants, not the growing of or the selling of, But she was keen as mustard, Oh and finding out that if a unit did become available, which is highly unlikely in this busy market then the 'Key' money, the money one would need to pay the seller would probably be in the region of 80,000 RMB I very quickly decided, NO, its an impossible task.

A few months past and I was still hankering for plants in my life again. We created a roof garden at our apartment in Nanning, which in itself was very nice and pleasurable.

Interestingly, it brought us in touch with Nanning China suppliers of plants, nurseries and the like as too find plants for our garden meant asking around and searching out any establishment that looked like it might be horticultural in some way.

During this time we visited the other Nanning market areas on a regular basis and made a few contacts which to my delight meant we were often invited around for 'Tea', which in turn meant allowing about 3 hours and making room for copious amounts of Chinese Tea but the best bit for me was the opportunity to visit 'Chinese Plant Nurseries' and chat, using my wife as interpreter, with the owners.

It was while we were on one of these invited 'Tea' jaunts that the Nanning Qingxiushan market area was first mentioned.

A few days later my impatience got the better of me, so off we went to have a look.

Photo taken Feb/March 2008. As it was, just before my wife took over in April 08.

September 2007 was our first sight of an area within this market that, at the time was already occupied, but the owner was already thinking about selling the 'Key', that would eventually become my wife's plant centre.

We quickly discovered that at this time, as the market was new and still an unknown quantity, the then present occupier was asking far too much for the 'Key'.

So with this in mind and still considering my earlier decision that to 'do this' would be asking too much... I didn't get too upset with the thought that this would be a 'no go'.

After this first visit we often returned to look around and see how things were progressing, it is a nice area, we made a friend or two of some of the early pioneer shopkeepers there, some are still there to this day…

To be continued...

Garden Center in China Guangxi Nanning (1 of 5)

It started as a wish when I first arrived in this exciting new country, China.

I wondered if it were possible and too my amazement it was.

We, my wife and I had wandered around Nanning looking at other Garden supplies shops, well, I call them Garden supply shops but this is China, so your imagination is required.

There are no Garden Shops/Centres as I know them in China Nanning for gardening as such, what there is are Flower Markets…!!!

A collection of small units selling whatever is available (more on this later) including cut Flowers, various trees and shrubs, orchids, Cactus, Bonsai, Penjing, Chinese Teas, Birds, mainly budgies but others as well (more on this later), Bird cages, Rodents, Dogs, Cats, Bric a bac, Jade, Trinkets, varying kinds of pre-packed fertilisers, Pots in all shapes and sizes but not a great variety of style and more besides, just about everything imaginable…

You get the picture, not just plants. They are 

there, lots of them and they do tend to group together you just need to find them amongst all the other bits and bobs.

Finding the hidden bits is fun and often leads to some exciting finds (more on this later).

Nanning has 3 of these larger Flower plus other bits, markets.

The most popular by far being the older of the 3, often referred to as the 'Old Bird and flower market'. See Nanning China Gardening Information map on right. Situated

 on a steep slope located on the Yuan Hu Lu. (Chinese lesson, Lu = Road)

This market is the one that attracts the crowds all year round, especially weekends and this is the one I spent a lot of time looking at when I first arrived some 2 years ago whilst trying to establish whether or not it would be a wise move for me and my wife to get involved and actually take one of these units on and start selling plants again…

All photo's Old Bird and Flower market. Video link

To be continued...