Garden centers gearing up for spring season

Mar. 19—Corky's Garden Path is busy growing fuchsias, geraniums and other colorful flowers for spring, even as a storm dumped 3.2 inches of snow here last week.

Despite the late blast of winter weather, the Scott Twp. store and other garden centers in the area are thinking spring. In addition to its homegrown plants, the nursery recently received a delivery of hydrangeas, but other supplies remain on hold.

"Pennsylvania is quite unpredictable," said Trevor Kashuba, Corky's co-owner. "March has been horrendous, but the extended forecast for early April looks like it might be starting to warm up a little bit. Whenever the weather allows, we'll be ready."

George Burger, owner of George Burger & Sons Inc. in Wright Twp., estimates his business is about 70% prepared for spring. He was scheduled to receive a shipment of trees and shrubs last week.

Some plants like hellebores, coneflowers and multiple types of grasses are grown on site while others are outsourced from Sweet Magnolia Landscaping and Greenhouse in Danville, Burger said. He expects the shop to be fully stocked by May 1.

Burger's selling season got off to an early start last month before the weather started to shift.

"We were already selling trees when it was nice and mild in February, then it got colder and snowy and it kind of tapered off," he said. "It definitely alters everything — including people's moods. They have spring on their minds and that creates a lot of pent-up energy."

As people's thoughts turn to warmer weather, Burger anticipates a variety of vegetables — including broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes — to be in demand.

"All indications are pointing to a strong season, but possibly not a banner season," Burger said. "The green world is weather driven; we need warmer weather and sunshine to get things going."

Kashuba is optimistic for a strong spring, noting that garden centers received a big boost in business during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A lot of younger people got into gardening during the COVID years, so hopefully that continues," he said.

Kashuba expects hanging baskets and vegetables to be among the best sellers this spring.

"Especially with the price of groceries, we've increased our production of vegetables by about 5% to 10%," he said. "We've been ramping up a little bit over the past several years. With the sunny days, stuff is starting to pick up and grow."

Trudi Kopec, garden center manager at Edward's Garden Center in Forty Fort, also remains confident about the season ahead, but said success will depend on the weather.

"We've had a particularly mild winter, so people are seeing bulbs popping up," she said. "Last year, we had a pretty hot summer and then a pretty wet spring."

So far, the majority of sales centered on mulch, soil and other bulk products, but Kopec predicts more customers will head into the shop in the coming weeks when more plants and shrubs arrive by early to mid-April.

"They're filling in their yards and coming in for vegetables to start their garden," she said. "They're wanting to get a head start on the spring."

Contact the writer: rtomkavage@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9131; @rtomkavage on Twitter.