Mother’s Day weekend is here, and for some us the cold and wet weather may put a damper on plans to celebrate mom. Especially if that means buying mom some flowers for the garden.
At in Traverse City, General Manager Robin Smillie says, “Things are great. We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be this time of year. Aside from the weather – is just a tad on the chilly side.”
Even though a lot of us are ready for warmer weather, this isn’t all that unusual. In fact, at nurseries and garden centers, the experts say this weather is pretty typical for early May. Jeanine Rubert at (in Traverse City and Kewadin) says, “Last year the week before Mother’s Day was almost identical to this. In fact we had snow on the Friday before Mother’s Day.”
But with the warmer weather in recent weeks – many of us are ready to “think spring.” Rubert says, “Mother’s Day is the signal to all of us. I think the nice weather that we had a little earlier in the month and in April got us all thinking it was time to plant.”
And Mother’s Day tends to get everyone – including these businesses – ready to bloom. “This is not the busiest weekend. This is just the start and it grows from there,” Rubert says.
Just because you’re doing your shopping on Mother’s Day weekend, doesn’t mean you have to your planting. Experts say look at the big picture – and wait a few weeks before putting your purchases in the ground. Smillie says, “Mother’s Day is a great time to start buying everything. Because the supply is so abundant. But it’s really time to plant more around Memorial Day.”
Rubert adds, “In general we want to make sure our nighttime temperatures are at least 40 or above for most of this stuff to be happy.” So – It’s okay to buy flowers now – but leave them outside during the day and bring them in at night. Smillie says, “We always have at least one day where it snows a little bit. We always say it snows at least once in May. And we’re well prepared for that.”
“Even if you have a few days in the forecast that say it’s going to be nice, and maybe the temperatures are in the 40s at night, we still have a danger of frost until the end of the month.” Smillie says if you do plant early – be prepared to cover your plants using paper or a cloth sheet, but don’t use plastic. “We absolutely do get questions about the weather and how cool it is. We want to watch our nighttime temperatures. These beautiful plants have been grown in the greenhouse and they’re not ready for these 30 and 25 degree nights. If it’s really going to be above 40-45 you’re okay. Once we get below, into the 40’s and 30’s we want to bring things in to protect them from the really cold weather.”
And Rubert and Smillie both target Memorial Day, because frost is possible until – and even past – that date. Smillie says, “Our frost-free date is June 6. We can get frost up until then. Even when we start planting around Memorial Day, we still want to watch our temperatures. And if we’re going to get a late frost, we’re still going to protect then as well.”
Smillie adds that waiting until Memorial Day shouldn’t be a problem for what you buy for mom right now. “There isn’t any reason your plants can’t survive in their pots for quite a while. We just want you to make sure they’re getting good sunshine during the day, and if the temperatures are going to get cold at night, protect them or bring them in.”
And Rubert says, “Because of the specialness of Mother’s Day that’s when people choose to get the baskets and usually by the middle of May we’ve got nice enough weather during the day we can enjoy some things outside, but still keep an eye on that forecast. Bring them in at night. Even though I get frustrated as heck that we have 30 degree temperatures coming tonight, I know it’s not going to last forever.”
Unlike our love for Mom.
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