Ready for Spring

According to the calendar, spring won’t begin until March 20th. But if you ask us, spring began on the day that our first wave of employees returned to work after being laid off for the winter, the day that the snow finally melted down enough that we could open the doors on the cold frames, the day we began pruning the shrub liners that will be potted over the next several weeks, and the day we potted the first perennial of March. After the chaotic and, at times, tumultuous, season we had last year, I think many of us were looking forward to the reprieve of winter. But winters are long here. Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went; some of us were able to spend the holidays with our families and others found different ways to celebrate. While January usually brings with it a season of trade shows, we had to make the best of virtual events this year. And February gave us record-breaking cold temperatures. But one reassuring inevitability is that spring will arrive, sooner or later, whether we are ready or not.

We know this won’t be an easy year, but, then again, we face a different set of obstacles each season. So far, we have seen that labor and supply shortages will probably have a significant influence over 2021. We are still coping with Covid restrictions, and we have known for months that plant shortages will create challenges throughout our industry.

But we also know that we’re resilient and we will find ways to make the most of all the opportunities we are presented with. We are faced with plant shortages because of overwhelming demand in the market, and that’s a good problem to have. We are more motivated than ever to meet the challenge of supplying as many plants as possible by potting into every open space and digging every available tree in our nurseries. We are, of course, motivated by the promise of warm weather, the sight of plants breaking dormancy, and the excitement and downright craziness that come with spring. But our biggest motivator is, as always, each other. Each year, our crews and staff take on each new challenge and find new ways to adapt and to inspire one another. We couldn’t be more proud of our team and our customers, and it’s those relationships that we know will get us through whatever obstacles that 2021 has to throw at us.