Gardening season on the Kenai Peninsula is in full swing. For local plant nurseries and greenhouses, that means it's all hands on deck.
The season started earlier than normal for many gardeners because of this year’s mild winter. Rusty Swan, co-owner of the RustyRavin Plant Ranch near Kenai, says that’s led to the most successful May his greenhouse has seen in its 14 seasons in operation.
“If the weather's nice, people want to get out," Swan said. "People want to go in the yard. People go outside and work in their flower gardens. They're just ready to work in the yards and get everything set up for the summer.”
Swan says last season, business didn’t pick up until June. For spring and summer-only greenhouses, like the RustyRavin Plant Ranch, that meant less business during Alaska’s already short growing season.
“By the end of June, most everybody has their gardens in, all their flowers are planted, their flower gardens are planted," Swan said. "By then, everybody's pretty much set to go, and everybody's already got their stuff in place, so they don't need us anymore.”
But peninsula greenhouses aren’t the only ones who’ve seen an early uptick in business this year. Garden supply stores have seen similar trends.
Carl Sanche is the owner of Panama Reds Gardening Supply, just outside of Kenai. He says this spring, he’s up about 50% in business from the last few springs and summers.
"It's been non-stop," Sanche said. "Things are looking good for this year. People are optimistic after three years of rainy summers.”
Sanche, who’s shop is open year-round, says he noticed an increase in sales by April, which is sooner than normal. And he says that’s good for business, because the spring and summer months account for most of his sales.
He says the recent spell in pleasant weather has also helped.
“When it’s sunny, people shop," Sanche said. "You can’t stop them. When it gets sunny, they just got to go out and plant things, kind of like hoarding cats.”
Jackson Gardens is a seasonal plant nursery between Soldotna and Kasilof. They sell vegetables, herbs and flowers customers can pick on sight.
Most of their business starts coming in mid-June, and much of their blooms aren’t ready to harvest until July. Although that’s still expected this season, owner Bobbie Jackson says this May has also been one of their most successful Mays in recent years.
“Just because that's such an early spring, our leaves came out two weeks before normal,” Jackson said.
Jackson says the month of May also saw a half-off sale at the nursery, which she says was a success.
Other peninsula nurseries, like year-round Trinity Greenhouse in Soldotna, have also seen earlier customer upticks than in recent years because of this year’s mild winter. And like Panama Reds Gardening Supply, that’s good for business because they see most of their customers in the summer.
