A Song for Spring

A Song for Spring

by Danny Summers

Anticipation

No, that's not the song I was thinking about for the title of this article, but that's a great way to begin and one of Karen and my favorites... by Carly Simon.

But anticipation is certainly a great way to describe your Center's current position. So much work in planning that began last year, selecting plants and products, ordering and making improvements to your Center to give your Guests a "WOW" experience when they walk through your gates or doors the first time this spring. And you have also been receiving all those orders in and placing them in their very best positions along with all the things you have to do... updating your POS System and signage to go along with them.

The idea for this blog message began by thinking about how spring begins and progresses as each week comes... and goes. See each Guest walk in, interact with your team, experience the atmosphere of your Center, soak up all the wonderful sights and sounds of nature right there and, of course, fills their carts and cars with wonderful additions for their homes and gardens.

The hustle and bustle of your Center in the busiest weeks of spring is like a "Green Friday" (aka our term for Black Friday) only ours is really "Green Weeks"!

This got me to thinking about the very best song to depict spring at your Center and I have a suggestion for you. Let me set the stage by introducing you to the song. It's not new, but it has a great story...

The following description can be found on History.com for This Day in History. It was February 12, 1924.

"George Gershwin had always hoped to transcend the category of popular music, but the piece he used to accomplish that feat was put together very hastily. Just five weeks prior to the “Experiment in Modern Music” concert, Gershwin had not committed to writing a piece for it, when his brother Ira read a report in the New York Tribune stating that George was “at work on a jazz concerto” for the program. Thus painted into a corner, George Gershwin pieced this together as best he could in the time available, leaving his own piano part to be improvised during the world premiere.

It was at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. Billed as an educational event, the “Experiment In Modern Music” concert was organized by Paul Whiteman, the immensely popular leader of the Palais Royal Orchestra, to demonstrate that the relatively new form of music called jazz deserved to be regarded as a serious and sophisticated art form. The program featured didactic segments intended to make this case—segments with titles like “Contrast: Legitimate Scoring vs. Jazzing.” After 24 such so-called stem-winders, the house was growing restless.

Then a young man named George Gershwin, then known only as a composer of Broadway songs, seated himself at the piano to accompany the orchestra in the performance of a brand new piece of his own composition, called Rhapsody In Blue.

This song would come to be regarded as one of the most important American musical works of the 20th century. It would also open the door for a whole generation of “serious” composers and writers—from Copland to Brecht—to draw on jazz elements in their own important works."

I searched for the right video performance for you to enjoy and think this is it. It was performed on February 11, 2017, just before spring! It features the Orchestre National de Lyon (Lyon, France) with Leonard Slatkin, conducting. And the amazing piano soloist is Khatia Buniatishvili, born in Batumi, Georgia. Khatia Buniatishvili began studying piano under her mother at the age of three. She gave her first concert with Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra when she was 6 and appeared internationally at age 10. You can read more about Khatia READ MORE ABOUT KHATIA.

Take some time to sit back and relax for 17+ glorious minutes to enjoy and get fully charged for a wonderful Spring Season. Rhapsody in Blue will paint a beautiful picture in your mind of your Center in spring! And just like the Spring Season, it begins softly and builds to huge crescendoes in your weekends and softer lulls in between as weekdays. This performance also is parallel to your team... it has star performers and a wonderful orchestra with each member playing  vital part in the whole performance. As you enjoy this performance, think about your team as they perform your Rhapsody in GREEN...

So, what do you think?

Doesn't this incredible song depict your Center in the height of Spring? I think it also reflects all the glorious blooms that spring brings to the garden. The bees, birds, and all other wildlife and, of course, all of us enjoying the sights and sounds and aromas of spring in The Garden!

Here's to a Glorious Spring at Your Center!

 

Sharing is at the heart of The Group and your ideas are very important. If you have any trouble logging into The Group WebSystem, please let me know. Are you and your staff all subscribed to our eLists such as GroupEs, Retail-Grower, Retail-Landscape, Owners-Only, and a number of others such as Tropicals? Need help subscribing? Let me know so I can show you how you can sign up.
Thanks for sharing!

Danny Summers
[email protected]
Tel: 678-909-7770
Cell: 678-761-7145

REMEMBER: Your interaction (by phone and email) with Group Service Providers such as Tim Quebedeaux, Steve Bailey, Sid Raisch, John Kennedy, Jean Seawright, and of course Danny Summers are included in your retainer!

 

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