Sign of Spring: Maple Grove Greenhouse Opens for the Season
For the first time in three months, Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery in Maple Grove is open for business.
“People are just happy to see color,” said Donna Atallian, a plant expert at Lynde. “Yeah, they’re just happy to see color and to see us open.”
Opening day at the gardening center always brings a boost of joy after the dreary days of winter.
“We’re anxious for some spring,” said Kathleen Smithson, a customer. “We’re anxious to get out in our gardens, and I love the house plants here.”
Smithson made the hour-long drive to Lynde from Cokato just to get a taste of spring among this cornucopia of colors.
Customers came in to shop on opening day for Lynde Greenhouse & Nursery in Maple Grove.
“It’s good for me, you know. Physically, spiritually, everything,” Smithson said of gardening.
It’s still a little early for people to get their hands dirty, but for the true garden enthusiasts, it doesn’t hurt get a jump on the season.
“We’ve already been fooled, and I’m sure it’s gonna turn cold again,” said Jackie White, a customer. “But that’s all right. I’m gonna be ready when it turns warm.”
It’s a business that means a lot to longtime customers.
“[Lynde) brings a lot of happiness to a lot of people,” said Smithson.
In October of 2022, happiness was hard to come by after arsonists destroyed the warehouse, loading dock and storage area. But staff members say they’ve now fully rebuilt after that tragedy.
“We can now recover from that, basically,” said Atallian. “You know, it’s like a death in the family in a way. You go past it and you just go on and you realize that, ‘okay this is the new way we’re gonna be doing it,’ and this is, it’s good.”
Optimism abounds. Now, the big thing that gardeners need is consistently warmer weather.
“I’m impatient to get out in my garden, so this is the way to start,” said Smithson about shopping on opening day.
