Piano music and the earthy aroma of plants drifted out of the open doors of Ledgewood Gardens’ nursery greenhouse on March 8, quickly dissipating in the cold winter air. In the snowy woods of Orrington, the family-run operation was busy preparing for spring, when customers would visit with plant lists in hand.
“Today is geranium day,” Karen Ramsey, who started the business more than 30 years ago, said.
A couple thousand tiny geranium plugs had arrived at the greenhouse the day before. They needed to be pruned, then potted and set in the sun to grow. Helping her with the task, her 80-year-old mother Jean Rosenberg stood at a work table pinching leaves off the plants with swift decisiveness that only comes with years of practice.
All around Maine, Ramsey said, greenhouses are busy — and they’ve been busy for months, planting seeds and potting plugs throughout winter to get a jump on the region’s short growing season.
“The hardest part is the timing,” she said. “You know, are my Mother’s Day baskets going to be big enough? Am I going to have blooming pansies when we open?”