The sun is shining on the plant business
Vegetable gardening is making a comeback, flowering trees and shrubs are in vogue and orange is the "hot" flower color this spring growing season.
By all accounts, the 2006 growing season is expected to be a good one, with more varieties of plants and colors to please the garden enthusiast as well as the increasingly common investment-driven customer. While higher fuel prices have prompted some nurseries to raise prices on deliveries or mulch, growers say they are holding the line on most plants. And people staying closer to home this summer will likely help the plant business as people focus on beautifying their yards.At Bemis Farms Nursery in North Brookfield, where sales of trees, shrubs and perennials have been "going gangbusters" in the early stretch of warm weather, co-owner Ed Bemis points to changes in the plants themselves as significant. In recent years, he says, plant breeders have been developing more cold-tolerant plants that serve to extend the New England growing season. Previously, most annuals could not be planted before Memorial Day due to the threat of frost. Newer varieties grown from cuttings, not seed, Bemis says, can now be planted in April.
Breeders have also developed plants that bloom longer, some up to 10 weeks. Mary Russell, manager of N. Grafton-based Perreault Nurseries, says many of her customers are looking for a new variety of hydrangea called Endless Summer in the start of what she sees as a "great season."
Patricia Bigelow at Northboro-based Bigelow Nurseries also says the "expanded pallet" of plants is adding excitement to gardening. One of the biggest growers in the state, Bigelow has seen a lot of customer interest in the less ordinary plants, especially the summer-blooming shrubs. Native plants are also big, such as blueberries and winterberries and bushes that attract wildlife. And the growing popularity of container gardening, Bigelow and Bemis note, has added another dimension to business.
Howard Shear, owner of Echobrook Nursery in Worcester, says topiaries are selling briskly. He currently has a dozen different varieties, including a topiary lilac bush among new offerings.
Some growers also note that there is a new variety of customer digging in the backyard these days. While previously he sold mostly to people who enjoy interacting with plants, Bemis says, these days more people are pursuing home landscaping efforts "as an investment." Those buyers aren’t so much concerned about new and different plants, but want something that "will perform well" and add home value.
Russell says she is seeing more customers who are less knowledgeable about gardening among her largely women customer base. And Shear notes more upscale customers as more people have moved west from Boston and Metrowest to buy homes.
All the nurseries we spoke with say their business has grown rapidly in recent years and they expect it to be even better this year, provided the weather cooperates.
Micky Baca can be reached at mbaca@wbjournal.com
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