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As an agricultural economist working in the horticultural industry, I am often asked about prices and quantities produced or about costs and benefits. Sometimes I get asked about current or deflated prices, about real or perceived value, or about the true value of products in the marketplace. Depending upon the questioner or the audience, the answers can take different forms.

Ask me about the cost of bringing a new seed variety to market, and I might talk about years of breeding and selection work, years of production trials and time to build up parental lines, time for preparing marketing plans, and then time for producing and marketing the seed crop. In total, this process can easily take seven to eight years. Seed production, itself, often involves off-shore facilities, hand pollination, careful screening to prevent cross-contamination, worries about insect or disease damage, and the strictest sanitation to guarantee clean seed stock. I am often amazed that there are many varieties still on the market that sell for a fraction of a cent per seed wholesale that might end up for a cent or two at the professional grower level or for a few pennies per seed at retail. It all seems like too great of a bargain at times.

If a question about costs is directed to me from a consumer, I often begin by asking what services are going to be included. It is one thing to buy a simple blooming plant at a retail garden center or mass marketer. If that plant is grown to a larger size or becomes a component in a mixed container, its value can change dramatically due to the extra time spent watering, fertilizing and caring for the plant, the extra greenhouse heat needed when the plant is started earlier to achieve that size, or for the value-added container in which it is grown.

It is quite another topic if a professional landscaper is installing the plant. And if the landscaper is expected to care for the plant all season long, then we're talking about an entirely different tier of costs. I have seen the same four-inch geranium which might sell for $3 to $5 at retail, depending on the market, sell for $7 to $10 installed, or for over $30 to $35 per plant if a season-long maintenance contract is involved. Such a contract might include the original planting and mulching, weekly dead-heading of spent blossoms, monthly fertilization, weekly watering if there is no rain or irrigation system, and removal at frost. Both the $3 dollar plant and the $35 plant with perpetual care might be considered bargains, depending upon the circumstances.

An entirely different discussion might ensue if the discussion of value was centered upon the "worth" of a plant. I was recently forced to consider the value of a floral planting from several different perspectives in the same conversation with a group of interested homeowners. Folks were contemplating adding a major floral presentation at the entrance to a subdivision. There was some contention over the costs of the project versus the worth to the homeowners. Some homeowners noted sales in the subdivision were slowing and suggested "beefing up" the entrance would not only make a statement about the subdivision to the "outside world" but was almost required considering what other subdivisions in the vicinity were doing. Other homeowners feared the additional costs in homeowner assessments and questioned the worth considering the entrance plantings would only be seen by passersby. In the end, a third perspective was offered by the landscaping service; the company owner wanted to donate the plants and care, as the planting would serve as a signature for his efforts in a way that regular lawn, tree, and shrub care could not.

As I considered the arguments, before the landscaper's offer was forwarded, I looked for a good measuring stick. Knowing everything I know about the societal benefits of green spaces about which many of these columns have been written, I wondered if the homeowner cost of the project should be compared to less than the cost of a gallon of gas per homeowner per month. Should the cost of the project be compared to less than a dime per day? What value could be used to communicate the true value of the project for these homeowners? At what price would the majority feel the cost was justified?

While I struggled to answer the questions to everyone's satisfaction, I knew it was a debate about real versus perceived values, about expenses versus investments, about costs versus benefits. When a person buys fresh cut flowers, he or she often perceives them very differently whether buying them in a supermarket and taking them home to a waiting vase or from a florist with combined artistic expression and expertise, perhaps, accompanied by a fancy container and some delivery services. The supermarket bunch of flowers may be equally appealing to some folks for some occasions as the fancy florist arrangement, but sometimes the preference is to include additional services. For instance, most probably would prefer dealing with a caring florist for wedding or funeral flowers or for celebrating that special occasion. Many even prefer choosing the florist's expertise on a regular basis. (Incidentally, research has shown that the best floral consumers can appreciate both venues for what they offer.)

In similar fashion, flowers at this subdivision entrance have a value that goes beyond the cost of the plants, whether or not it is always appreciated by each homeowner. If the planting helps to attract buyers thereby reducing home vacancies, it will have paid for itself in increased neighborhood security. If the planting draws a few more folks to tour the subdivision, and this extra traffic helps to deter crime, this provides another bonus. If the planting increases property values in an otherwise soft market, yet another extra might be tallied.

The planting's value increases exponentially if curb appeal is considered, for curb appeal begins at the subdivision entrance and goes to the front door of each home. The plants provide not only esthetics, but they declare to the world that this community has pride. Pride is just one of the attributes that has yet to be packaged and which has yet to be priced. Along with the residents' pride, a certain esteem could grow for this subdivision from the outside community. This, too, would be hard to value separately or adequately.

Our America in Bloom web site, www.americainbloom.org, has a resources tab that is loaded with studies demonstrating the benefits of flowers and plants, shrubs and trees, lawns and groundcovers. Also, please consider attending the AIB's Annual Symposium and Awards Program. Issues similar to this debate will abound.