Nurseries expect sales to flower a bit later

A damp spring has cooled gardeners' purchases at area nurseries so far this year. Sales are expected to grow this weekend.

Instead of buying annuals and perennials in time for Mother's Day, customers are expected to use the Memorial Day weekend to buy and plant impatiens, geraniums and other colorful blooms.

Shoppers may want to hit the garden centers early or late in the day to avoid big crowds.

"We're anticipating a very busy weekend," said Lynn Hall, an employee at The Growing Place Nursery, which has locations in Naperville and Aurora.

"We'll be testing our parking lot," added Bill Koch, owner of Hawthorn Gardens in Hawthorn Woods.

He hopes the 58 spaces in the lot can handle the crowds.

Truckloads of flowers are arriving at greenhouses throughout the suburbs this week. A warm forecast with temperatures pushing 80 degrees, combined with the holiday weekend have some smaller greenhouse owners fearing they could run out of flowers before Monday.

The sluggish season so far has suppliers filling orders fast. Growers need to make up ground after a stagnant few weeks.

"Suppliers are bustling. One of my Michigan growers offered to make a delivery on Sunday, which is not usually done," Koch said.

Garden centers are also finding that shoppers who did make purchases earlier this spring need to replace some of what they already planted because of this spring's frequent winds and cold evening temperatures.

As a result, many retailers have gone to great lengths to preserve their infant plants.

"Every night we pull in our cold-sensitive plants. We're also covering impatiens, because we want the blooms to be perfect," Hall said.

Workers at The Growing Place load hundreds of flowers onto carts every night and roll them into the greenhouse to protect them from cool temperatures.

"It's labor-intensive," Hall said.

They also warn customers to keep coleuses, sweet potato vines and similar plants warm until the nighttime temperatures remain in the 50s.

Garden retailers say they're optimistic the late arrival of warm temperatures won't have a negative overall effect on sales. "Our spring selling season is about 10 weeks. It was just pushed back a little bit this year," said Koch, a resident of Prospect Heights.

"We're not alarmed yet," he added.

It will be nice when customers don't have to come flower shopping wearing their earmuffs and winter coats, Koch said with a laugh.

Some shoppers have opted to window-shop for plants until temperatures rise, said Christa Bormann, manager at Heinz Brothers Greenhouse Garden Center in St. Charles.

Shoppers are waiting to buy.

"Memorial Day is the Mother's Day of 2008," Bormann added.