The line of customers at TLC Greenhouse continued to grow Thursday afternoon. With social distancing guidelines that required them to stay at least 6 feet apart, they roamed through the aisles with carts full of green garden plants, pretty purple flowers and delicate white blooms of ground cover.
TLC was just one of four greenhouses Terri Carey of Garnett visited on her quest to fill her parents’ shopping list.
Both in their 70s, her parents have always had a large garden, but the pandemic has kept them from getting it started.
So her father sent Carey shopping, armed with specific instructions.
At TLC, she found eggplant and Juliet tomatoes, along with rosemary and oregano.
“I came all the way around from Garnett to Le Roy to LaHarpe, picking up just about everything,” Carey said.
She wasn’t the only traveler from afar.
Lori Paddock and her daughter, Megan, drove from Mound City to find colorful perennials. Lori Paddock, who previously lived in Moran, wasn’t surprised to see the greenhouse so busy.
“People are at home and they have more time to take care of a garden and flowers,” she said. “And maybe they’ve been stuck there for a while and now it’s time to get out and do summer.”
Becky Hastings of Kincaid came in search of “purples and reds.” Though she plants flowers every year, she said this year she has felt a special need because of the pandemic’s restrictions.
“It’s nice to get outside and watch things grow. Pretty up the place and get a little color in this difficult time,” she said. “You can get out in nature, get fresh air and escape from the television and the news.”
TLC owner Savannah Flory estimated business has been about double what it would normally be at this time of year. Vegetables, especially, are selling at about three times the normal rate and some varieties are selling out.
It’s also been difficult to purchase items from vendors. TLC grows some of its items from seeds, and purchases some from wholesale greenhouses.
“There seems to be a trend, not just with us but across the board,” Flory said. “I think everybody is wanting to stay home and plant a garden.”
THE SUDDEN popularity of gardening and horticulture doesn’t surprise Krista Harding, an extension agent with the Southwind Extension District.
