March 20th is the first day of my favorite gardening season of all, Spring! As gardeners we may be more aware of all the changes coming to the world of gardening as the Earth emerges from a winter cover of white. Though some snow may fall in March, we know it will melt and the days will warm.
At Pahl’s we fire up the heaters in the greenhouses and smell that beautiful earthy fragrance of potting soil. We look ahead to Moss Basket Days which start us out. This year we will invite you all to join us on March 1st, 4th, and 8th to get your hands dirty and plant baskets and pots with us.
Our custom potting mix has arrived and we are ready to go. The greenhouse head grower, Lance, brings out his big book and the planting begins. The planting crew has been busy since mid-February and is methodically filling up the growing range with all kinds of pots and baskets.
In March we plant 4,000 baskets of different kinds per week! As we plant, we do so in a very specific scheduled order. Each variety is planted on a certain date so it will be growing and ready to sell in the beginning of May. Some plants grow at a slower pace, thus they are the first to be planted. New Guinea Impatiens are the first plants to go into hanging baskets. Our geranium patio pots are also early on the schedule.
Perennials are planted all through the month too. When you come in for those, we will have them ready and waiting. Our perennials are planted from plugs that come to us from Oklahoma, Denver, Michigan, San Diego, and as far east as New Hampshire.
During March, we also seed our herbs and vegetables. We plant the crops that we start from seed for our farm fields, as well as the vegetable plants we will sell to the public for their home gardens. This includes peppers, cabbages, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, watermelon, eggplant, and broccoli, just to name a few.
When our greenhouses are in full production we will be growing over one million plants. We always invite you to stop in and see our progress. Every week gets a little more colorful here at Pahl’s.
In our annual house we also have chores to do. This year we will be moving things around a bit. We will be bringing the fairy garden plants up to the front of the main greenhouse. The planting desk will be moved down next to the tropicals and herbs. We are preparing the planting station for a busy custom planting season. If you have a container or pot that you would like planted up, please come in and we would love to assist you. We will begin custom planting for our customers in mid- April.
As we get closer to the days when you will be digging in your gardens let us help you with all of your gardening needs. Until then, just know that March will bring a change to our seasons and all the fun will begin again soon.
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