The California Pack Trials

Now what on earth can this mean? Well, “Pack” refers to a type of container that is used to grow annuals and perennials in a greenhouse environment. “Trial” refers to the process where these ornamentals are grown to maturity for observation and evaluation…thus "Pack Trials".

Every year, many of the flower breeding companies from the USA and overseas come together in California to display their products to visiting seed and plant distributors like Harris Seeds. Ornamental varieties from seed and from cuttings, both new and existing, are grown in various greenhouses up and down coastal California. The object is to have everything in full flower for observations purposes. A group of us from Harris Seeds will be visiting each of these greenhouses in April, and it is always a very special experience.

Two of the most spectacular presentations are from the Pan American Seed Company in Santa Paula and Goldsmith Seeds in Gilroy, California. Pan Am is the trend setter in the industry as they explore and educate other seed companies on all aspects of marketing flowers to the consumer. Many of their plant introductions have won the coveted All American Selections award. Their displays of flowering annuals are stunning.

Goldsmith probably has the most dramatic presentation, with over an acre of breath-taking, colorful flowers in bloom that radiate throughout the greenhouse… It’s a jaw-dropper! Goldsmith has been a prolific plant breeding company over the years, with many of their introductions gracing the gardens of America today.

Unfortunately, these product presentations are not open to the public, so we will do our best to take all sorts of photos and pass them on to you when we return.

Rake hay while the sun shines…

And so it is with seed companies too. Most seed companies are very seasonal, depending on only a few months in the year to make their profits. For the Harris Seeds Company, sales begin to trickle in during the fall months, but not nearly enough to make our company profitable.

The sales season really spikes right after the Christmas holidays. Orders from home gardeners and professional growers start to pour in at that time. The order pattern stays peaked right through April and then it will slow down. By the time May arrives, home garden orders have virtually disappeared but we do a fair amount of professional grower business that month. Starting in June, we begin to lose money, and right on through the fall. Most of our overhead expenses remain, and during this time, we have virtually no revenue.

During the summer months, we are very busy in the marketing department. Catalog production begins in May and continues right through the fall, with our home garden catalog being the last one to get published in December.

Summer and early fall months are also filled with flower and vegetable trial evaluations. Countless hours of observations are made on potential new flower and vegetable varieties. It has always been our practice to first observe flower and vegetable varieties in the greenhouse and in the field before we consider them for inclusion in our product line. If they do not perform and live up to our expectations, they do not make it into our catalogs. Participating in the variety selection process is probably the most interesting and rewarding part of the seed business for me.