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As the weather warms up and peak gardening season approaches, area plant sellers are hard at work getting stores open and ready to welcome customers.

Hill’s Gardens in Albert Lea opened this week, and general manager Tony Hill said he and the other employees have been working overtime to make sure they have the best season possible. 

Hill said the business began in 1903 when his great-grandfather raised produce and sold it to markets in the area.

The family has had a roadside stand to sell plants since the 1950s. Hill said he is the fourth generation to own the business. His mother, Judy Hill, is also currently a part-owner.

“We’re standing on shoulders of giants,” Hill said, speaking about his parents and grandparents. “Our success only happens because of what they’ve done and the sacrifices they made.”

Hill’s Gardens will host its annual spring open house event next Saturday and Sunday. It is a family-friendly occasion that reminds people to get out and begin their yearly plant shopping. There will be complimentary refreshments as well as the Bummy’s BBQ food truck. The Carpenter Coffee Co. truck will be there Saturday morning. Additionally, a sales representative from Bailey’s Nursery — one of Hill’s Gardens’ partner businesses — will come on Saturday to answer questions and feature new products.

Hill’s Gardens is best known for selling home-grown annuals, hanging baskets, herbs and vegetables.

“In addition to that, we bring in perennial shrubs and trees from reputable nurseries so we have a full lineup of plants and shrubs and trees for customers to shop from,” Hill said. The store also has a variety of gardening and lawn supplies and outdoor decorations.

Depending on the weather, the gardens typically open for the season in mid-April and continue until around Christmas time. When the growing season is over, Hill said, the store sells seasonally-appropriate decorative plants like evergreen baskets. 

The weeks and days leading up to opening are usually very chaotic, Hill said. Many of the plants are grown about 100 yards away from the store and must be moved into the building. They also have to unload orders of plants that come from other nurseries, inspect all the plants and process them for selling.

“It’s no small task, and you’ve got to do it in such a short timeframe because people are chomping at the bit,” Hill said. If the weather is warm and the sun is out, he said, people expect them to be open.

Hill said there is a three-week window, usually from around Mother’s Day to Memorial Day, which can make or break their season. 

Weather is also a big contributing factor. People do not garden as much if the summer is hot and dry or overly wet, he said. 

“We’ve been very, very fortunate here in Albert Lea, the last several years, for dodging some bullets, so to speak, with the severe weather,” Hill said. “We’re praying that continues because negative weather, bad weather, impacts our sales.”

Hill said one of his favorite parts of the job is seeing longtime return customers. He especially enjoys when buses or vans from area senior living communities come, as he remembers some of the people shopping at Hill’s Gardens with their families when they were younger.

“It’s just neat to see that they’re still coming out here,” he said.

This year, Hill said plants that are hardy and durable have grown in popularity. In particular, Lantana plants, he said, are very drought tolerant in addition to being attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds. He also said dipladenia and mandevilla — tropical plants with petunia-shaped petals — are very slow to wilt and are popular to use at cemeteries because they stay healthy so long.

Hill’s Gardens is 2512 W. Main Street. Its regular business hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. More information can be found on the Hill’s Gardens Facebook page or on hillsgardens.com.