‘A really special weekend’: Saskatoon greenhouses prep for busy Mother’s Day weekend

Nikki Van Duyvendyk stands inside one of the Dutch Growers greenhouses in Saskatoon. (Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

As Mother’s Day rolls around, many greenhouses are preparing for one of the busiest weekends of the year.

“It’s a really special weekend. We have a lot of people that come in with their family and just sort of enjoy some time looking at all the plants. And then another reason why it’s special is usually Mother’s Day is kind of the kickoff to the planting season. So, we’ve had a long winter here in Saskatchewan, so for everybody here, it’s a very, very exciting time,” Nikki Van Duyvendyk, one of the owners of Dutch Growers in Saskatoon, said.

Dutch Growers was quite busy on Saturday, as many families stopped by to peruse the greenhouses and enjoy the warmer temperatures. Van Duyvendyk shared that a lot of work is done ahead of the big weekend to ensure things run smoothly.

“We have been prepping since January is when we start getting our planting greenhouse ready and starting to plant and then we have a lot of hiring to do because we get up to about 110 team members at this time of the year, which is really exciting. There is a lot to take care of, lots to water and especially to keep them in this premium quality. It does take a lot of hands-on work,” Van Duyvendyk said.

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The business owner added that while it can be a particularly busy week, the reaction of the customers when they have the chance to see all of the flora makes it all well worth it.

“We take it pretty seriously. We want to make sure we spend a lot of work prepping this week, getting the store ready, making everything look beautiful so that everyone can come in and have that magical experience when they come in and see all the flowers and see the hanging baskets. And they haven’t seen any colour all season,” Van Duyvendyk said.

Visiting a greenhouse is a common Mother’s Day tradition that Dutch Growers is very familiar with. While the weekend is a busy one, it’s also a favourite for Van Duyvendyk.

“For some people it’s nostalgic, it’s a tradition that they’ve always done with their mom. They’ve always come and strolled the aisles, picked up a Mother’s Day arrangement or basket. For others, it’s just maybe a planting hobby that mom likes to do,” Van Duyvendyk said.

While Mother’s Day is a major factor for this weekend being quite busy, it’s also a window for many out of town customers to get their plant shopping in before a very busy time of year.

“We have a lot of people that travel in from the farms and are coming in to pick up their plants before they’re busy with their crops to get their own garden started,” Van Duyvendyk said.

Van Duyvendyk shared that vegetable gardens are becoming more popular in recent years. adding that many customers come in this time of year with the hopes of starting or continuing a tradition of starting one.

“Once they see that they’ve grown it one year and how simple it was, and they had success, they’re excited and they want to want to do it again. Or they’ve seen their parents in the past do it, and so they want to start doing it too,” Van Duyvendyk said.

Van Duyvendyk added some tips for those who are starting their gardens soon, as the temperatures can still drop below five degrees at night, which is the recommended temperature to leave plants outside.

“Really watch your nighttime temperatures when you’re buying your plants. Right now, we want to harden them off. So you want to take them outside, put them in a shady location during the day, and then take them in at night. And then what that will do is they’re used to being in this controlled environment of a greenhouse, and that’ll get them hardened off and used to being outside until they have their first cold night, in Saskatoon,” Van Duyvendyk said.