"Hello Mr. Shelley,
Was wide awake and came into the computer room to read your Journal. Been reading the comments people said about your nursery and want to add ours. Your guys came here and planted two trees. They were so professional! The trees are in the ground so perfect words can't express how pleased we are. I told my Husband I have never seen nursery stock in such good condition at the end of the season. If we got what was left over my eyes couldn't stand to see what is available in season. You are the eighth wonder of the world!"
Barbara K. King, Hunt Valley, Maryland
"John,
Just read your article in Thursday nite York paper and my husband and I couldn't agree more. We are not from York (been here 13 years though) and always wondered why they butchered their trees here. A friend owns 4 Seasons Landscaping in NJ and when he visited he was shocked too. Now we know the reason it is done and the bad things that it does to trees. Thanks for the enlightenment, hope others who need to read the article do so and learn! We'll stop by your center sometime soon."
Kathy and Bill Bender, York, PA.
"John,
Thanks for the advice on so many topics. How do you know so much about so many things? Where did you go to school for all this knowledge? I am just starting out in the business and need to know what you know. What's your secret?"
Bill Winters, Doylestown, PA.
"John,
Our sincere and heartfelt thanks for being the only garden center or nursery who could find a Poncirius for the elderly lady in out condominium complex. We'd tried hundreds of places; we know to come back to you the first time now. She's ecstatic over having it replaced after the construction crews accidentally bulldozed her prized specimen. We'll be up in two weeks to pick it up."
Kathy Hartley, Washington, DC
"Mr. Shelley,
I'm a life-long Liberal Democrat and, after reading your vicious dissertations against our socially conscious efforts, I will never come back here again. The Democrats have done more to this country than anyone will ever know. We're the saviors of the poor, and it's not true that FDR created socialism or communism with his New Deal legislation. I hope you go to Hell for your sins against Liberals!."
Anonymous
"John Shelley,
If I lived closer, I'd kill you and eat your brain. Then I'd rule the horticulture industry and you'd work for me. Just kidding!"
Phen Hua, Laos
"Hello John,
To find people in this industry who really care, and are honest to the
core is rare indeed! I found your web site this morning and was
refreshed :-). I'm young in the green industry - going on five years now
- I'm on the maintenance side. Fixing other peoples work seems like my
profession - but occasionally I'll run across someone like yourself -
who makes my life incredibly easy. Just want to say thanks and give you
a word of encouragement. Our website is new, and somewhat puney (sic) -
www.bahiainc.com. I'm Greg - have a good Friday."
Greg Ehrenberg, Norcross, GA
"Hello John,
Greetings from the UK! I visited your Website and must congratulate you on a spectacular job. We in the UK just haven't realised the possibilities of the InterNet as yet."
Neville Stein, London, England, UK
"Hi John,
I couldn't believe what a wonderful Web Page you have. Several people told me about it at a Flower Show, and I had to see for myself. I'll be driving to visit you from White Plains, NY in the spring with a rental truck. Fill it up!"
Maureen Groff, Cincinnati, Ohio
"I'm not leaving. Ever. Nowhere have I seen such unusual plant diversity and hard-to-find things."
Richard Schmidt, Princeton, NJ
"Let me congratulate you on a beautifully laid out garden center site. I almost
feel as if I'm not on The Web, but rather at a nursery."
Anna McGonnigle, Terra Haute, Indiana
"I just spent quite sometime browsing your site. Absolutely enchanting."
Rob & Alicia Atkins, Toronto, Canada
Dear Mr. John Shelley,
"Are you available for private consultations for estate garden restoration and management?"
Pierre I. DuPont IV
"I had no idea that a garden center or nursery like yours existed. I'm only a hundred miles or so away and will visit the center in April. The other places I've shopped can't compare with yours!"
Bill Potter, New Jersey
"I just found the end of the web's gardening "rainbow". Pure gold!"
Brandt Cummings, United Kingdom
"Your marketing and advertising is precise and clear; I am a "student" of Positioning and Marketing Warfare; but you have worked with the legendary Jack Trout and Al Ries, truly two of the great ones. God, I'm envious. Best of luck, John."
John Gant, Ad Agency VP, New York City
"My neighborhood garden centers and nurserys don't even compare to what you've got on The Web. I always thought it couldn't be done; but you've done it."
Alex Van Derhoffen, Ontario, Canada
"My wife went crazy when she saw your Pages. I'm just the labor; she's the designer and gardener. We'd love to link our extensive horticultural pages to yours, if that's OK with you?
BTW, are you available for lectures and seminars for our Garden Club?"
Jean-Paul Merceau, Paris, France
"Very elegant pages, John. We should have known that if anybody could do it, you could. Best of luck always. We'd like to have you back. Anytime!"
Jack Trout & Al Ries, Greenwich, CT
"We found you linked to Ohio State's, Penn State's, Virginia Tech's, Cornell's, Clemson's, Texas A&M's, South Dakota State's and Purdue's Dept of Horticulture Pages. Wow, what a fantastic site! My sister lives in Harrisburg and when I come to visit with my family, I'll be down to shop the many rarities you are well-reputed for having.
Your site has inspired me not to waste my money elsewhere. Thanks. See you in the spring, if it ever comes. Is Pickles the one-eyed cat still with you? The kids are looking forward to seeing him."
Marc & Beth Munson, Washington, DC
"Hey Shelley, you're hurting my business even more with a site like this. You almost put me out of business last year with the kind of advertising you did. I was top dog until you came along six years ago! All of the nurseries in this area admire your style but hate your guts for being so damned good. Go away from the area and hurt someone else."
You know who...
"I think you may well be the Internet Guru of Marketing. And of Horticulture. Your time will come when you will be the The Web's Plant Doctor. Or something like that."
Monika Deuter, Bonn, Germany
"I'm wondering why we've not heard of your operation before; we live in Gettysburg and have shopped all the major nurserys in the central Pennsylvania are. Frankly, they suck. The same old crap from place to place. Your garden center is like a breath of fresh air in a stale old room."
Betty and Ed Geisenger, Gettysburg, PA
"We heard about your garden center and nursery at the Philadelphia Flower Show from some of your customers. When we returned home, we found your Website: phenomenal! We're coming to shop for the Alpine Trough Gardens that we can't find anywhere else. See you in the spring!"
Ed & Mari Braun, New Jersey
"The story of how you found Pickles really touched us; we're cat lovers. Anyone who would save a poor kitten that someone else discarded is OK with us. We'll be up from Maryland as soon as things thaw out."
The Bartons, Annapolis, MD
"My girlfriends and I just found your website. Wow. What a place. We'd like to come up from DC and see you, especially, but the garden center too. Can we stay over at your place? Gulp..."
KB, JN, PL, WR, BT, LL, Washington, DC
"We own a large mail order nursery in the midwest and were wondering if you develop web pages? We'd like to retain you to create one for us. I'll FAX the specs on the business to you tomorrow so you can determine what would be best for our operation. Great website, John!"
R.A. Brunner, Des Moines, Iowa
"Damn nice job on your web page, John."
Jack Nicholson, Los Angeles, CA
"We enjoyed everything about your Page. Especially the advertising which reads like fact sheets and not the boring price-oriented ads that all the other garden centers run. Very refreshing information."
Joe and Marge Altos, San Francisco, CA
"I read your stuff about advertising, but I don't get it. How do you sell plants if you don't advertise price? How do people know what you have? Who is your market? Why waste your money on advertising if I can' t compare prices? Why aren't you like other garden centers? I like to buy on price alone and if you don't tell me your prices, I'll go to K-Mart and spend my cash!"
Kent Symthe, Harvard University
"Thanks for visiting our Website, John. Your comments were helpful in seeing some errors and graphic problems. It looks a lot better and we thank you for saving us from embarrassment."
Nancy Markins, NASA JPL, Houston
"We found you WebSite through Newsgroups/ rec.gardening and have had two days of fun visiting all of your Pages. Incredibly informative. Your ads read like factsheets. Please tell us why you decided to use the Web for your garden center & nursery; is it better than TV or newspapers? Or do you use it in combination with electronic and print advertising. Great site, John!"
Roger Swain, "The Victory Garden"
"I learned more from your advertising than I knew in the past 5 years of watching all the TV shows. Why don't you do a radio or TV program and help all of us beginners and so-called experts alike? Please."
Marc McCullen, Culver City, Iowa
"Great WebSite! I'll be back to shop and see Pickles after I finish the vegetable garden."
Toni Brown, Jacksonville, Fla.
"For over two years I've surfed the Web and have never found a hortiucultural center like yours. I'm a fan of the same rare stuff you are. My wife and I live in Ohio and we'll come for a visit this summer after the kids go to summer camp. We want to spend some real quality time at your place. Are there suitable lodgings nearby?"
Mitch & Naomi Bell, Cincinnati, OH
"I wish you had an order form on line and did mail order; now I'll just have to drive to Pennsylvania and enjoy the shopping trip."
Ken Backus, Evanston, ILL
"We really enjoyed visiting your garden center this spring. With the rental truck, we got everything we needed to landscape our home and make it the showplace we've always dreamed of. Many thanks to you for all your help and being available to guide and advise us in the selection and purchases."
Richard & Evelyn Somers, New York, NY
"Thanks for your help and wise counsel in solving our landscaping problems. The solution was so clear after you explained it, I can't understand why we didn't see it at first. We also took your recommendation for the tree and shrub problems that we've had for years, and there is a marked improvement since last fall. Thanks for your personal attention to us and our gardening problems."
Fred & Jean Thomas, New Jersey
Go back to John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery
Keep those cards and letters coming: I need something to read!
js@gdnctr.com