May - The North Star Monthly

www.northstarmonthly.com MAY 2010 13
and everyone is working, people
tend to buy poinsettias with unusual
colors. When the economy
is bad like it is now, people tend
to go back to the traditional colors.
People are more open to
things when the economy is
good.
The biggest day for their shop
is Valentine’s Day. Suzanne says,
“It is extremely intense.” Paul remembers
that “one time a young
guy came in and bought a dozen
roses, wrapped. There was another
guy in here. The first one
walked out to his car and handed
the roses to his girlfriend, and she
put her arms around him and
gave him the biggest kiss. The
second guy stood here in the
store watching. When the salesclerk
asked if she could help him,
he said, ‘Yeah. I want what he
got.’” Obviously, he was hoping
for the same response.
Overall, Christmas is the
biggest holiday of the year. The
Christmas season is busy and orders
stretch from Thanksgiving to
Christmas. They also sell wreaths.
The first year they bought the
building, Suzanne personally
made 3,000 wreaths by hand.
Suzanne’s favorite holiday is
Mother’s Day. She says, “On
Mother’s Day everyone is in a
good mood. Moms are happy.
Summer is coming. They want
plants. They want flowers. It is the
time of year when the sun is shining,
people seem happier and
things are starting to turn green.”
Artistic Gardens buys from
various wholesalers in Vermont
and the one they use most frequently
is in Middlesex. The
wholesalers buy the flowers from
the growers. Suzanne explains
that there is an entire process that
takes place. “The grower cuts
them. It can be in Holland, California,
South America, Connecticut,
or many other places. The
flowers are chilled immediately
and shipped in a cold truck or
cold container. They go to the
wholesaler and he does the same
thing.” The flowers are delivered
Dr. Richard Leven
Dr. Stephen Feltus
to Artistic Gardens where they
are cut under water, put in a preservative
solution, and placed in
the cooler. Many years ago, flowers
arrived on the bus from
Boston. Suzanne says, “It was a
nightmare. When I worked for
Bob Sokol, we kept silk roses in
stock. He would call Boston
weeks before a wedding and say
he needed pink roses, and sometimes
they would come in on the
bus and they were yellow.”
What is it like working together
as husband and wife?
Suzanne says, “I love it.” Paul
says, “It’s great.” They have their
specific areas. Paul says, “She runs
the flower shop and the greenhouse.
I do the business end of it
and the mail order business. She
grows plants and we kind of
merge in the winter when the
flower shop is not as busy. Then
they help me with the seeds. We
go home together every night and
come in together every morning.”
Suzanne says, “We like each other
so it helps.” Suzanne is boss of
the flower shop and makes most
of the decisions, but she will confer
with Paul if she wants to make
a major decision because he is in
charge of the finances. “I’ll tell
him this is what I want to do and
we talk about it.” Paul says,
“When you are in a business like
this and you are worried about the
business end of it, you cannot be
creative. As long as you have
someone you can trust to do it, it
works out well.” He adds, “We get
along real well.” Suzanne agrees,
“We always have.”
In 1988, Suzanne and Paul
bought “Le Jardin du Gourmet”
from Raymond Saufroy. At that
time, Paul modernized the mail
orders with a computer. Sample
seed packets can be ordered for
35 cents each so that people can
try them in their gardens. Paul
buys the seeds from wholesalers
all over the country. He says, “All
seeds have to be tested and it is
about $700-$800 to have a seed
tested. For me to grow seed and
test it, it would be too expensive.”
He buys most seeds by the
pound, divides them up, and puts
them in the sample packets. Some
of the more expensive seeds are
bought by the ounce. Paul says,
“We have over 90 different herbs
that we sell.” The number of
seeds in an envelope depends on
the particular seed. A seed like
Angelica is going to have three
seeds in it. Chives and parsley will
have 75-100 seeds. The sample
packets are a special favorite of
people who do container gardening
because they do not have time
to weed a garden or because they
live in apartments and do not
have a lot of space. People will
order 70 to 80 different sample
seed packets. Some order up to
200. If they like them, they can
buy large packets the next year
that cost more. Artistic Gardens
has customers in all 50 states and
overseas as well as seed racks in
stores in New York City. They do
not mail out many catalogs. One
can browse and order through the
catalog on-line at www.artisticgardens.com.
Their wreaths were on the
cover of Vermont Magazine in
2007. About 10 years ago, they
made kissing balls that were featured
in Yankee Magazine.
Suzanne has talked about garden
mums for a Martha Stewart program
on the radio. She has also
done a how-to video for monkeysee.com
on how to make Christmas
wreaths.
When they are not around
plants and flowers, Paul and
Suzanne like to hike, kayak, swim,
and fish. Suzanne also likes to
work in her huge vegetable garden
at home in the evenings.
Suzanne says, “We like working.
It’s a fun business. The kids
are very important to us. Every
decision we made was with them
in mind. Now we are looking forward
to the next chapter. We still
have to figure that one out.”
Bob Amos Band May 14
The Bob Amos Band, one
of the most popular,
high energy bands in all of
Vermont, will welcome
spring with a special benefit
concert and CD release party
at 7:30 pm Friday, May 14, at
the North Congregational
Church in St. Johnsbury.
A benefit for Catamount Arts,
the performance will feature
songs from the band’s new CD
“Wide Open Blue” which will officially
go on sale that day.
The Bob Amos Band consists
of nationally known singer/songwriter
Bob Amos on guitar and
lead vocals, Gary Darling, who
also fronts his own band Gopher
Broke, on mandolin, Amos’ son
Nate, a 2009 graduate of St.
Johnsbury Academy, on drums
and vocals and Amos’ daughter
Sarah, a junior at St. Johnsbury
Academy, on percussion and vocals.
In addition to songs from the
new “Wide Open Blue” CD, the
band will also perform a selection
of other songs from Amos’ previous
CD’s and a few high energy
covers of some classic golden
oldies.
For 15 years, Amos toured as
lead singer, guitarist and songwriter/arranger
for the awardwinning
bluegrass band Front
Range, which toured throughout
the USA and Europe, and
recorded 8 CD’s, including 5 for
Sugar Hill Records.
The group features soaring
harmony vocals and intricate guitar
work set in a high energy folk
framework.The songs from
Amos’ new CD range in influence
from folk to bluegrass and Celtic,
and from country to rock-a-billy.
Tickets for the event are
available by calling the Catamount
Arts Box Office at 1-802-748-
2600 or by visiting the Box Office
on Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury
from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday
through Saturday.
GOODRIDGE LUMBER
ALBANY, VERMONT • 755-6298
12th Annual
Log Home Seminar
Co-hosted by Goodridge Lumber, Inc.
and Perma-Chink Systems, Inc.
The same workshop will continue to be
held two different days:
Saturday, May 15 OR Sunday, May 16
9 a.m. - 12 noon (both days)
25 %
FOR: Builders, applicators, new and existing log home owners.
WHERE: Goodridge Lumber Warehouse - Irasburg, Vermont
OFF
Transition Lenses
Lenses darken in sunlight and return to normal under regular light conditions.
Offer Expires May 31, 2010
Attend the discussions and demonstrations with Goodridge
Lumber and Perma-Chink Systems.
Learn about log home construction and the products used in
their construction, maintenance and restoration. Both new
and existing logs benefit from the Perma-Chink family of
products - cleaners, preservatives, sealants, stains, finishes,
log home screw and more.
See a demonstration of media blasting with Perma-Chink’s
Blaster Buddy.
There is no charge for this seminar. In order to reserve
your space and workshop materials,
call Goodridge Lumber at 755-6298
or visit us at www.goodridgelumber.com
The Log Home Care and Maintenance Authority