Despite cold temperatures persisting into April, the owners of two area garden centers expressed optimism about the spring season ahead.
Low temperatures of 19 and 13, reported at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on the first two days of March, led Ed Kopec to delay opening Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort by more than a week.
“We’ve always opened on March 1,” said Kopec, president of Edward’s. “This year, we didn’t open until March 9 because we knew it was just too cold … and we knew we wouldn’t be doing much business. The real enemy this time of year is frost. We had a pretty heavy frost (Wednesday) morning. Any plants we’ve brought in — shrubbery that has new, fresh growth on it — you have to either keep them in the greenhouses or cover them with frost cloth to protect them.”
While it’s too early to start many springtime garden tasks, Kopec sees customers eager to start projects in their yards.
“I think people have cabin fever; I know I did,” he said. “They’re starting to add compost to their gardens and they’re putting down pre-emergent crabgrass control on their lawn. I believe the spring is going to be real strong as soon as the weather breaks.”
Garden monuments for sale at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A group of flowers available at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A water fountain for sale at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A close-up of flowers for sale at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Robert Care Jr. transports flowers at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A tree farm with trees for sale at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Garden monuments for sale at Edward’s Garden Center in Forty Fort. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Kopec typically uses the date Easter falls on the calendar as a barometer for anticipated sales trends.
“I’ve been in this business for 50 years and I’ve found that our season always breaks after Easter,” he said. “If Easter is early, it seems we get more traffic early, and if it’s late, we get traffic a little bit later on in the month.”
The longtime business owner also anticipates strong demand for vegetable plants again this year.
“During COVID, a lot of people got back into planting gardens in their yard, especially younger people, which is nice because we see them coming in and continuing that trend,” Kopec said.
As the temperatures continue to rise, Kopec noted more inventory will be available for purchase.
“Usually around the third week of April, we start bringing in annual flowers like geraniums and begonias, and it’s still a little bit early,” he said. “We could get frost up until mid-May. People want to get flowers in their garden early, but we always educate them if they’re going to plant early they’ve got to keep an eye on them and an eye on the weather.”
After enduring challenges throughout last spring and summer, Kopec remains hopeful for more favorable weather in 2026.
“With the garden center, we kind of depend on weekends, and last year, in the spring, we had 11 weekends in a row where it rained,” he said. “Then, the summer got very hot. The whole industry — from the box stores to the independent garden store centers — was really down last year. We’re very weather dependent. If we have good weather, we’ll do very well.”
Jerry Longo, owner of Jerry’s for All Seasons in Dunmore, has noticed crowds of customers looking to make early purchases as the weather slowly begins to heat up.
“It seems like people have spring fever,” he said. “On the nice days we get, we’re slammed with people buying pansies and cold crop veggies, and getting some ideas for their landscapes for the upcoming season. Our busiest weekend of the year is Mother’s Day weekend — that’s kind of our spring kickoff, but we’re busy from April 15 right through the Fourth of July.”
Longo credits catchy videos on TikTok for inspiring weekend warriors to create their own oasis in the backyard.
“It seems like a lot more people are into the DIY projects,” he said. “Instead of having a landscaper, everyone is trying to do their own household maintenance, and we pride ourselves on being a homeowners’ garden center. We have some smaller stuff that’s more manageable for a lot of people who want to put it in the back of their SUV or a small pickup truck.”
Like Kopec, Longo also sees customers at Jerry’s embracing the vegetable garden trend.
“Everybody is into the organics now,” he said. “We have hundreds of different varieties of tomato and pepper plants, and herbs — and it’s all organic.”
After a bitterly cold winter, early-season sales have been strong and Longo expects that to continue as customers look forward to brighter days.
“They said it was one of the coldest winters in the last 50 years, or whatever it was, and there are still cold nights and days well into April,” he said. “I think this weekend and this coming week is hopefully the turning point. Our outdoor furniture sales have been way up this year, our Easter sales were up, and a lot of our house plants are up as well. I think a lot of people are itching for that breath of fresh air and to get outside. All indications are that it’s going to be a good spring and hopefully we’ll carry the momentum right through.”
Longo also admitted the weather put a damper on some projects last year, but stressed businesses must adapt to meteorological changes.
“The spring was kind of wet in May, which makes it difficult for people to plant their gardens and for us to keep everything in prime condition … but it’s the weather and there is really not much we can control with it,” he said. “We just have to roll with the punches and do the best we can.”
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