When snow is on the ground and the earth is too hard to pierce with a shovel, gardening is generally the last thing on a person’s mind.

But people who work in the nursery business have been thinking about the spring of 2005 for more than six months.

“We ordered for spring this past summer,” says Brian Boyce, nursery manager at Sunrise Garden Center, 15th and New York streets. “There is a nine-month period where primarily what we focus on is the following spring.”

The day-to-day operations of a nursery during winter are about maintenance and planning. Most nurseries cut back their staff November through January to only a handful of employees.

“In general, there is certainly a quiet time in January,” Boyce says. “It is a time for maintenance. A lot of nursery staff will take their vacations then because when everyone else is on a holiday in the summer, that is when we are at our busiest.”

Doug Davison, owner of Vinland Valley Nursery, 1600 N. 600 Road, agrees.

“We pare down to just my wife and I working here,” he says. “I make sure all the plants are properly watered and continue to monitor seedlings. Our primary goal is to make sure we are ready for the upcoming spring.”

At Howard Pine’s Garden Center and Green House, 1320 N. Third St., the staff is reduced from about 17 to eight, but everyone stays busy.

“They start planting seedlings about the first of December in the basement, and then we start transplanting in the middle of January out here in the potting room,” says Mary Jo Elston, who’s worked at Pine’s for 13 years. “These become the plants that people buy in the spring.”

Peter Aulia, right, transfers flats of seedlings onto carts for transport to other growing spots until spring arrives. Aulia and Anita Vail, left, worked Monday at Howard Pine's Garden Center and Green House, 1320 N. Third St.

Winter activity

Sunrise Garden Center maintains a large inventory of poinsettias, wreaths and fresh holiday trees through December, and stays busy selling holiday items from the gift shop. But the greenhouse is a popular spot all year round, Boyce says.

“Our greenhouse has a great trade with houseplants. A lot of people who are suffering from the winter blues will visit our greenhouse to take a mental lunch break,” he says. “It is warm and humid and overflowing with green plants and just a lovely way to escape the winter chill.”

While patrons are musing among the houseplants and looking at trinkets in the gift shop, the few employees are busy starting plants in back rooms.

“Around the first of February, we will start to grow a lot of spring crops like leeks, pansies, dianthus and stock,” Boyce says.

Cabbage seedlings in trays fill a holding area at Howard Pine's Garden Center and Green House. Cole crops are among the first to be planted when spring rolls around.

Adds Davison, “We grow trees from bare-root mostly, and our shrubs are a mixture of cutting and bare-root to start the plant. At Vinland Valley, we are really focusing on a lot of native plants and trees for this upcoming spring.”

Every season, a plant that is new to the public explodes in popularity. Last year, Endless Summer Hydrangeas flew off nursery shelves and were planted in yards across town. For spring 2005, Boyce predicts the Knockout Rose will continue to be immensely popular because a yellow color is being introduced (it used to just be available in light pink and hot pink).

Satisfying work

Boyce enjoys working in a nursery, even during the colder months when business slows and plants are settling into their winter schedules.

Mary Jo Elston, who's been working at Howard Pine's Garden Center and Green House for 13 years and knows the plant business as well as anyone, makes sure seedlings are watered daily.

“I enjoy the natural order of things, which is why I thrive at being a nursery employee,” he says. “I like the predictability of strawberries in June. … It is nice to have regularity in the process of nature and growth.”

Davison too relishes all seasons of the nursery business.

“I like being outside in nature. I also really enjoy the winter because business is not as demanding,” he says. “It is a nice time to walk through the greenhouses and have fun digging in the dirt and get prepared for the busy spring season just around the corner.”

Elston looks forward to getting back in the greenhouse after being away since late summer, when Pine’s closes for the season.

“I look forward to it,” she says. “I just get satisfaction out of planting a little plant. I have the best workers with me. This is my family.”