Behind the Scenes @ Marvins Gardens Part I

During the  years we have been in the greenhouse business, many of our interested friends have asked questions about the activities during the “off sale” season.  Some of the  questions are similar in nature and have a common theme. The  most frequent question relates to how and when do we really get busy?  Well, long story short…. its been busy for quite sometime already and it never seems to stop.

We have many projects, which include maintenance and building and repairs,  general clean-up activities which are ongoing, keep us busy in especially late summer, fall and early winter.  During this time we also review the successes and failures of the season, and start the planning and ordering for the next year spring sales.

I’ll leave those details for another time, and focus on current activities, which mostly interest gardeners, who are ready for a change in season, which would include warm weather, and getting into the garden.

THE BEGINNING:  (of the Calendar year)

This is what has been happening in the past few months.

All plants require seeding and planting at various times as the germination and rooting and growth process varies from species to species.  This is a really good thing!   It would be impossible to plant everything at the same time in order to be ready for sale in May.  For example begonias need to be seeded close to Christmas time in order to be ready for sales in May.  Other plants only need to be seeded a few weeks before they are ready for the sales bench.  Morning glory and cucumbers would be good samples of those plants.

Since December we have been seeding annuals and rooting plant cuttings.  This is always a dicey time of year for a couple of reasons. The cold weather and wind plays havoc with our greenhouses.  Secondly as we anticipate the shipments of cuttings from our suppliers, we are hopeful that they have been kept in warmth while in transit, in order to continue their growth in our facilities.

Shipments of seeds and plant cuttings and the accompanying customer plant tags come from all over the world.  Its always a challenge to make sure all the orders have come in correctly and that we haven’t ordered too many or too little or forgotten to order a popular plant variety.  This is a important aspect of the process and can be overwhelming. The volume of product grows at an alarming rate, sometimes before the weather and all the greenhouses are warm enough to create an ideal atmosphere for continued growth and proper spacing for the plants.   Its always a bit of a gamble and no two years are ever the same.  Organization is key, but the unexpected can always happen.

We depend on the wonderful abilities of our staff!  We have been very  fortunate to have the dedicated, knowledgeable and loyal staff who have returned to Marvins Gardens and has been willing to work with us each step of the way.

Thanks for dropping by… until next time…. planting baskets!