Local greenhouses expect to see higher demand

Š Ebony Cox/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Columbine blooms in the perennials section at Larry's Bellevue Gardens.

The coronavirus pandemic has suddenly brought vegetable gardening back in vogue, although many lifelong gardeners would argue it never went out of style. As trips to the grocery store have become more anxiety-ridden and the food supply chain more susceptible to shortages, there's increased interest in having access to fresh produce in your own backyard.

Tim Fye, owner of Canterbury Greenhouse in Howard, has noticed an increase in calls not just for common vegetables but things like strawberries, grapevines, blueberries and raspberries. When Roots on 9th on Green Bay's west side posted on its Facebook page it had received a shipment of patio citrus trees, all 78 were gone in four hours, said owner Jamie Hemenway-Peotter. 

"It's crazy interest. It probably started about two weeks ago. The calls that we've been getting early were, 'Are you going to have the vegetable plants?' That's the biggest concern right now, vegetable plants," said Larry Rabas, owner of Larry's Bellevue Gardens in Bellevue. "So people are antsy. They're all worried they're not going to get their stuff, and they shouldn't be worried. Don't be worried. We've got a lot of stuff."

Š Ebony Cox/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Zonal geraniums provide a welcome pop of spring color at Larry's Bellevue Gardens.

Larry's, which opened in full on Friday, is a destination for gardeners from rural areas like Kewaunee and Luxemburg, where big vegetable gardens are a staple. It sells more than 3,000 pounds of seed potatoes and about 600 pounds of onion sets each season. It carries 40 different varieties of tomatoes and 30 varieties of peppers. 

While people are itching for something to do during the safer-at-home order, local growers remind novice gardeners that cool-season crops like cabbage, kale and lettuce can take 40-degree overnight temperatures but tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, cucumbers and a host of flowers most certainly cannot.

Wisconsin often still sees frost until mid-May, and after a particularly chilly April it will take time for the soil to warm. Rabas recommends waiting until at least May 20 for planting. 

"People are trying to buy tomato plants and peppers, and we basically just transplanted them," he said. "I have a second batch of tomatoes that are still in the little plug trays. We're not going to be transplanting those for another two weeks and those will be ready for Memorial Day weekend, when a lot of people should start planting, because tomatoes and peppers don't take the cold.

"Too many people that are going to try to do this are going to do it wrong."

Š Ebony Cox, Ebony Cox/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Curbside pickup signs offer instructions for shoppers earlier this season at Larry's Bellevue Gardens. The greenhouse opened Friday.

Pickup and delivery options added; limited customers allowed in greenhouses

Shopping for vegetable plants and flowers at Larry's and other independent greenhouses will look and feel different this spring amid the coronavirus outbreak. Most are offering some form of curbside pickup for orders placed in advance by phone, email or online and some are doing delivery. 

In Bloom Greenhouse, the former Parmentier's Greenhouse in Bellevue, has its entire inventory posted as an order form on its Facebook page, and Mayflower Greenhouse in Hobart added an online store to its website with a limited selection of plants listed and more to come.

Canterbury offers customers the option of reserving hanging baskets and other items and picking them up by Memorial Day weekend.

Larry's did a strategic overhaul outside its greenhouse to accommodate the pickup process, including a large tent as a holding area for orders, designated areas in the lot for pickup and one-way exits and entrances. It will be limiting the number of customers in its greenhouses to four people per 1,000 square feet. 

In Bloom widened the aisles in the close quarters of its greenhouses and will limit shoppers to 10 at at a time. It will move more plants outside for shopping as weather allows. 

With nine greenhouses, Canterbury is more spread out, but Fye will be watching to make sure none get crowded. He'll be wearing his mask and hopes customers will, too. Mayflower Greenhouse, which plans to open Wednesday with limited access to its greenhouses, is requiring all customers to wear masks. 

Mayflower production manager and head grower Janusz Kuzma knows people are eager to buy with Mother's Day coming up May 10 — traditionally one of the busiest weeks for greenhouses — but it comes at a time when coronavirus cases are still on the rise in Brown County.

"We don't want to risk anybody's health or our workers' health, so we're going to be staying on the safe side," he said.

More time at home will mean more 'beautifying of the yards'

Mayflower offers the option for customers to drop off containers to be planted on site. Roots on 9th offers a similar service and for Mother's Day will come to Mom's house and plant outside mixed containers for her. Staff asks for style and sun/shade preferences in advance and then loads up its trailer with soil and plants.

"We just thought that would be a nice thing to do, because it won't be as easy to just walk with Mom through the greenhouse this year and pick out something that she likes," Hemenway-Peotter said. "This way she gets to enjoy her planter all summer long, and it kind of takes the hassle out of it." 

It's those kind of services independent greenhouses hope will set them apart from national chains like Home Depot and Walmart that have the advantage of larger outdoor garden centers better equipped for high traffic.

"The big boxes will make it no matter what," Kuzma said. "The small businesses really need you."

Š Ebony Cox/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Larry's Bellevue Gardens, 2620 Continental Drive in Bellevue, is ready for the growing season. Like other local greenhouses, it will limit shoppers in its greenhouses and offer pickup orders due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Seasonal greenhouses depend on May for the majority of their business for the entire year. Ninety percent of Rabas' annual sales come in May, but with a later opening and less in-store traffic, he expects the season to stretch into mid-June.

He and others are encouraged by reports of increased sales from other parts of the country where the gardening season is already underway. 

"There will be more beautifying of the yards, because I don't think people are going to be going anywhere," Fye said. "They're going to be staying at home, and they're going to pretty up their yard so they can enjoy it."

Like many other local businesses, greenhouses are working with skeleton crews. Rabas and his wife, Vicki, have four sons to help them out, but even so, it won't be the well-oiled machine they're used to given the challenges of getting plants to people during a pandemic.

"We used to run people through this place pretty good. We could go through a lot of customers in an hour. It's going to be hard to do this year. It's going to be slowed down," said Rabas, who is asking for extra patience and understanding from customers.

"We're still going to be there to help, but we're going to stay as far away as possible. We're not going to be able to be as personal this year as we'd like to be. We're going to try to do everything we can. Let's put it that way."

Source and Photo Courtesy of Msn News

Source: Msn News