Love of perennials turns to growing business

By MaryHelen Swanson
The joy of perennial gardening is that the plants come up every year without a lot of tending and care. Because of the ease of growing perennials, this type of gardening is fast becoming the choice of the 21st century gardeners.

Just east of North Branch, Andrea Mabry, owner of Homestead Perennials, has a thriving greenhouse where some 4,500 perennials are sprouting forth getting ready for the 2002 planting season.

Itís easy to see that Mabry loves her work with perennials as she gazes fondly over the neat rows of young plants in her greenhouse, but sheíll be the first to admit she hasnít always been into gardening.

It was about 12 years ago that she really got the bug ñ the gardening bug. And soon it was perennials all the way.

One of the things she especially likes about raising them for sale is that you donít have to throw them away at the end of the season. The ìleftoversî from each summerís plantings can be set into the ground outside her greenhouse and wintered over to the next season. And thatís good because she just doesnít have the heart to toss them in the garbage.

More exciting than that, Mabry explains, is that the plants get bigger and better every year and you can divide them and get more and more wonderful, easy-to-care-for plants.

Getting started
Around 1991, Mabry was ready for a job change; sitting behind a desk just wasnít doing it for her. So she went back to waitressing and enrolled in school. ìI had no idea what I wanted to go to school for,î she said.

It was while paging through the school catalog that one course just jumped out at her ñ greenhouse technician.

Once decided upon, Mabry said, chuckling at the pun, ìthings literally grew from there.î
Looking back now, she believes it was all supposed to happen the way it did.

Studies in the year and a half greenhouse technician course included such classes as plant pathology and plant science, entomology, greenhouse structure, how to grow specialty crops such as Easter lilies and poinsettias, and much, much more.

Mabry took the course at what was then Northeast Metro Technical School, today itís called Century College.

She started working with perennials by fist propagating the plants she already had in her yard and selling them at the end of the driveway during the North Branch Citywide Garage Sales.

But she had a dream that pushed her to bigger and better things ñ to have her own greenhouse.
Mabry and her husband used skill and wit to build her greenhouse. Over the years, Mabry had worked for a landscape company for a year, at a greenhouse for another five years and did gardening for private parties for several years in the Roseville and North Oaks areas of the Twin Cities.

So, with all the knowledge she learned from hands-on experience in the greenhouse/ gardening business, and with her husbandís able assistance, they created her dream greenhouse.
Among the plants in her greenhouse are over 70 varieties of hostas, and over 150 varieties of flowering perennials and ornamental grasses.

The majority like to grow in sun to partial sun, but the hostas, and about 10 other varieties, enjoy the shade better.

Today, instead of relying on plants propagated from the perennials in her yard, she orders plants and bulbs to start in the spring. A little more than half of her crop comes from Holland, the rest comes from Michigan.

Perennials for the beginner
Most people enjoy flowers all summer, Mabry said, and they choose sun to partial sun varieties, but hostas are the easiest to grow if you have a shady spot. Their only special need might be some extra water during dry spells. She planted over 1,700 hostas this year.

The beginner might want to start with six to 12 different varieties, she went on. That way they will get to know how they grow and what colors each variety provides.

Hardy, first-garden varieties include the daylilies, peonies, veronicas, perennial geraniums (she really loves them because they are very easy to grow, very carefree and very dependable), black-eyed Susans and cone flowers.

And there are the ever-popular tiger lilies and poppies. The poppies, however, are really for show, she said, as they bloom for only a few days. The flowers are quite fragile, she added, but they make a nice addition to the perennial garden.
Different perennials might need different soils, although she finds that the looser, sandy soil at her North Branch home is good for most varieties, with a little more water in dry spells.

Basically, Mabry said, a normal, well drained, fertile soil should do fine. Adding additional fertilizer is usually not necessary, she went on, but could be done once a year. Iris, she said, enjoy a fertilizing in very early spring.

Perennials do not need to be covered in winter. As Mabry puts it, ìIf itís not hardy enough to make it, I donít want it in my garden.î

Perennial gardening is good for those with less than green thumbs and little knowledge about plants, but it does take some planning if you want a really pretty flower garden. Like most other plants, perennial varieties come in different heights, colors, and times when they bloom during the growing season. For this reason, you will want to pay close attention to the label or tag that comes with your perennial plants.

All of the necessary information should be on the tag including spacing, lighting, and sometimes even good complementary plants.

Unlike annuals, perennials can be planted all summer, right up until the ground freezes, Mabry said, although it is best to get them in a little ahead so they get well-rooted for the winter.
The end results? A garden full of color from spring to autumn. Perennials also make great cut flower arrangements, especially such varieties as peonies, cone flowers, black-eyed Susans and garden phlox. Today, many arrangements are also sporting beautiful tall lilies, both asiatic and orientals.

Forever learning
Mabry said she knew very little about gardening, much less perennials, when she started. But you are forever learning, she said, and the plants are forever moving.

ìThatís why they call it perennial gardening,î she mused.

With hands-on experience, education and some trial and error, she has become an expert on perennials. She is also a trained Chisago County Master Gardener and she has access to lots of information. She also has many books for reference.

ìPeople can virtually ask me any question,î she said, ìand if I donít have the answer, I can point them in the right direction.î

Mabry starts work in her greenhouse the first week in March, when the plants she ordered start arriving. This year it took her about two weeks to plant everything she had ordered. She had a little help, too.

Now that the young plants are well established, she comes out each day to check on things, like taking a peek at the root growth and keeping an eye out for pesky intruders. The greenhouse is kept at 50 degrees at night.

Sixty degrees is ideal for daytime, although it can be tricky keeping it constant, especially when the sun starts to warm things up, Mabry said. She said the cool weather this year was actually ideal, as the first two to three weeks are critical for root development.

In recapping the joys of perennials, Mabry reminds us that they donít take a lot of garden know-how, not a lot of tending and they cooperate nicely year after year by coming up all by themselves. For those who want a pretty flower garden, without all the fuss and work, a perennial garden might just be the thing.

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