Michael Fiore - Garden Center

Allow me to reintroduce myself….

The bar is so low for landscape maintenance companies right now. So low.

It’s that time of year where I’m constantly thinking I’m forgetting about something and dropping the ball somewhere, because I probably definitely am.

@k_shlagel Ouch. Sorry man.

@Michaelfiore Main heater was waiting on a new pilot assembly. Had a temp heater in for past few nights. It ran much harder with cold snap. Don’t know how but that’s the source.

Well…. That sucks. Thank God no one was hurt. Plastic and plants can be replaced.

@TornadoNate Amen

Grass lawns get a bad rap with a certain crowd. In the midwest, it is just what happens. Plant some grass seed, mow it regularly. Now, you can get all fussy and perfectionistic about it, and you should not do that, but a basic grass lawn is very low maintenance and nice.

@KevinEspiritu Sometimes you gotta flex on the team.

I simply decided to make short form content again and we are 15x the views week over week. Literally 10s of millions more Return of the King

@imchilee Yes, it’s called a Patty Melt and it’s delicious.

@Michaelfiore Add burger to grilled cheese LOL

IF THERE’S NO MEAT THEN IT’S GIRL DINNER. Easy options to make this a REAL dinner: -Buy a rotisserie chicken and put shredded chicken on the sandwich. -Burger patty. Maybe 2 even -Bacon. Lots of bacon

@moniqueo59 Of course! Our statements are not mutually exclusive.

@Michaelfiore Hang on girl dinner can have meat.... Girl dinner is easy snack foods which can include -- cured meats, pate, rotisserie chicken, those steak slices from Costco that are already cooked....

@PGEgan @TennisonEddie Needs some shrubbery 😁

Nearly every weekend this year, I did a minor improvement to our cabin. Excited and proud of the progress. Next year we conquer the interior.

@TheMuppetPastor @TRHLofficial Skeletor has a nursery?

@TRHLofficial If it’s good topsoil? Yes. I need that for my garden and nursery.

Men is this true.

@RoryTyer Ruby is adorable. ☺️

Easter Sunday looked a little different this year. I haven’t posted much about Ruby here. A quick update & (late) Easter reflection: Ruby is now just over 3mo old & has been hospitalized her entire life so far. She’s had two procedures to keep her alive. She’s finally been gaining weight and reliably keeping milk down, which is a huge deal. She’s slowly being weaned off IV sedatives and handling that like a champ. My wife & I have spent maybe 1.5 weeks together total since she was born. We’ve been trading off time in Charleston & Greenville. My team at the nursery has had very little of me (& what they’ve gotten hasn’t always been the best version of me). My coaching clients have had to deal with the occasional last minute reschedule because Ruby’s suddenly had a bad few hours & I’m needed at her bedside. I had what I’m pretty sure is the first panic attack I’ve ever had last week in my kitchen after my two oldest got lice & as I was leaving to get them my third tripped & cut herself & needed stitches. Had to call a relative to take the other two while I went to urgent care w/ 3. It worked out but for about ten minutes I couldn’t leave my kitchen. To say it’s been exhausting is an understatement. — By comparison to many other childhood difficulties, Ruby really hasn’t suffered that very much, and truth be told our family has been extremely well taken care of. We have an incredible network of friends and family members. But Ruby’s condition is an example of “gratuitous suffering.” This is pain that has no obvious reason, and the harder you think about it, you still can’t find any. Our world is full of this kind of suffering, most of it much, much worse than what we’ve been through. We all live our lives in the valley of the shadow of death. Most of us build elaborate systems to avoid facing this. The majority of the world doesn’t have that luxury. Going through all of this with Ruby, including a couple times there was a very real chance she’d die, has been a visceral reminder of this that strips away false feelings of security I wasn’t even fully aware I’d build up. —— What does this have to do with Easter? If Jesus really did rise from the dead, it becomes possible to believe in Him, and in the way the Bible says the world actually works at its deepest levels. Though it appears that the world is full of suffering that has no purpose- which would imply that there is no God who imbues the world with discernible purpose- that appearance isn’t true. There is purpose and hope even when you can’t see or feel either. I don’t have to know “why” my fourth daughter was born with a congenital heart condition, or why one of the babies a few rooms down from us died last week. I don’t have to act like that makes sense or is OK or has some kind of deeper meaning that I’m supposed to find by blithely quoting out of context Bible verses. I can grieve and hurt and even rage at God- which I have done, believe me- while *knowing* that this kind of pain does not have the final word, because Jesus rose from the dead, validating His message, identity, and promises. —— This Easter I have felt closer to death than I have in a while. I’ve felt deeply afraid that my daughter‘s heart will give out because it has just been working so, so hard. I have worried that my wife and three kids will get in a catastrophic car wreck when they drive to or from Charleston while I’m not with them. On a lighter but still serious note, I worry about something that has already gone wrong in my business and is quietly compounding because the leaders I’m trusting right now have not yet caught it. In the face of all of this, I still find hope. It is hope anchored in something that really happened, something that defines the world even if my experience of the world doesn’t emotionally or psychologically match that reality. I am glad for the resurrection. Onwards and upwards-

@PantsToTravel Right??

@Michaelfiore Heck yeah I would! Just imagine I could buy a coffee, wander over… 🤪

We made a new “Book Nook” in the store. Mostly because a few of my friends are launching plant books this year. Would you sit and read here?

@mattressguysbro I wanna be popular.

@Michaelfiore Spots like these are very popular in Europe

@joecamel90 I told him if it won’t start I get to keep it, but unfortunately I got it started.

@Michaelfiore Those have the main ground on the bottom below where the battery sits inside and it gets corroded. Might be it.

Got to jump off this sweet ‘69 Stingray today.

@SamTX10 They came in 2 vehicles, but neither had jumper cables.

@Michaelfiore Where in the Sam-hell would they put their plants in that beautiful ‘vette!

@nahuelhilal Yes

@Michaelfiore If you want one I’ll bring mine

This is the most adorable thing you’ll see today, I promise.

@gertieok He broke it off, not a clean cut. Don’t need a thief on staff either.

@Michaelfiore If the cut was done right, hire him He knows his shit

A guy prop-lifted (broke off a cutting from one of our more expensive plants) this weekend. Do I put him on blast on socials or make a generic post like: “we had a prop-lifting incident this weekend, remember that taking cuttings without permission is considered theft. If you ever need help with how to propagate something we are glad to assist!” I think keep it classy and educational vs a witch hunt. Which would you do?