MADISON, Wis. — Even though Wisconsin saw an abnormally warm start to February, there is still a potential for a frost as spring continues throughout the state.
Chris Hendrickson is the owner of K&A Greenhouse in Verona.
On Thursday, he and his team were preparing for gardening season with his location opening for the season on Friday.
“We are switching from a grow facility to a retail location and we basically have a week or less to do that,” said Hendrickson.
Hendrickson said this time of year can be very tricky for gardeners throughout the state.
“There will be a lot of folks that will be excited for spring, but it is Wisconsin, and we have been fooled numerous times before,” said Hendrickson. “You end up with a situation where, oh we can put this out and it's like no, this is a plant that will take a little while.”
This time of year Hendrickson said his team sells a lot of pansies, perennials as well as trees and shrubs.
“A lot of the annuals we have, especially the ones that come from tropical locations, people are going to have to wait on,” said Hendrickson.
For those looking to get an early start on gardening, Patrick Schmidt, manager at Paradigm Gardens in Madison said there are certain things you can do to protect your plants from frost.
“You don’t want to put plants outside right away,” said Schmidt. “You want to kind of ease them out there because most of these plants have been in nurseries so they are not used to sunlight.”
Paradigm Gardens sells supplies for both indoor and outdoor gardening.
He said when you first buy a plant it is important to put it in the shade for a few days and slowly get them used to being in the sun.
During the first month of spring, Schmidt said frost can be a major concern. He said it is important that growers pay close attention to the temperature changes and take extra care of their plants.
“You can use things like frost blankets, bringing plants inside if you can, especially potted plants,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt said you can also use a blanket from your home to keep plants warm. He wants to remind growers to use stakes to prop the blankets above plants.
“Even watering plants before cold can help keep them warmer,” said Schmidt. “If you water plants earlier in the day when it is warmer, that warm water will help keep them warm throughout the night.”
Hendrickson said newly planted plants are the ones you really need to worry about.
“A lot of the time if it is going to be 30 degrees, 31 degrees, a light frost, most of them, especially if they are coming up naturally, will be able to weather that just fine,” said Hendrickson.
He said if there are any particular questions you have, his team should be able to answer them in person.
“There are too many plants for us all to be experts in everything but between all of us here we definitely got you covered for sure,” said Hendrickson.