A customer's comment about my fern display made me rethink everything

Been selling potted ferns at the farmers market in Austin for two years. Last Saturday this older lady walked by, looked at my table, and said "you've got too many hanging baskets, people want ground plants." I brushed it off at first. Then I counted my stock, 32 hanging baskets and only 8 pots. Switched the setup this week to mostly upright ferns and sold twice as many. Has anyone else gotten one random piece of advice that totally flipped their sales approach?

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bennett.harper1mo ago

Not to nitpick, but you said she told you people want ground plants, and then you switched to "mostly upright ferns" but those aren't the same thing in my mind. Ground plants are low, spreading things like Boston ferns that stay close to the soil, while upright ferns are more like tree ferns or those tall Kimberly queens. I get what you did, and it worked great, but maybe she meant people want stuff that sits on a porch railing or fills a shaded bed, not just any fern that isn't hanging. I've seen the same thing happen with succulents, where one comment about "too many trays" made me realize folks wanted single potted plants they could gift. Still, two years of steady sales and one chatty lady changing your whole setup, that's wild, and I love that you counted your stock to check.

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west.casey1mo ago

Heard a master gardener say the same thing about fern buyers, people just want easy porch plants.

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