Instant spring at Twin Acres as the local greenhouse opens for the season

Twin Acres Greenhouse just opened for its third year. Area gardeners were ready to walk through the pink greenhouse door the very moment the sign flipped to open. Owner Vanessa Long said she is excited to be open for the season and is happy to see so many people eager to walk through the aisles, dreaming of flower-filled baskets and beds.

The most significant change for the local greenhouse this year is a massive jump in space. The “pink door” greenhouse gives a few thousand extra square feet. “We now have 65 different types of hanging baskets, with different sizes and a massive variety within the greenhouse. You can do a lot more fun things with this much space. I have fun shopping for it,” smiled Long.

When she first opened Twin Acres, named after her adorable twins, Long had a vision of what she wanted it to become. The growth over the last couple of years has gotten her closer to her goals of becoming a full-time greenhouse and having a U-pick operation. “It is still being researched and dreamed about, but there are lots of plans in the works.”

She said she is going down to central Alberta this summer once the greenhouse closes for the season. “I will be checking out some greenhouses doing some neat berry productions. Things you would grow in the lower mainland that you can’t grow here, we can grow in a greenhouse here—even raspberries. There’s a new program coming out of Eastern Canada. They are in the soil, but you are fertilizing with hydroponics, and they are in a greenhouse, not outdoors.”

With over 3000 perennials in the blue greenhouse, Long said they could lower their prices because they are growing them on-site rather than buying them from someone else. “We can set our prices a lot easier and do a lot more variety that way too. The only thing we will bring in will be the hardwood products like trees and shrubs and some of the vines.”

For the U-pick dream, Long said they would be doing some testing. “We have to do some soil sampling to see if we are going to have a U-pick in the ground or if we are going to put it into greenhouses. It wouldn’t technically be a U-pick then, but it would expand us.” Long said she could feel the momentum. “There are lots of really busy things happening at the moment.”

For gardeners planning their yards, Long said one of the big trends this year is to try something different. “For us, in the greenhouse, we are trying some different things because we know shortages are coming. There’s likely a dracaena or spike shortage coming next year. If people buy them this year, you should overwinter them because you may not get them next year.”

Spikes are a common addition to flower baskets as they give height to the finished product. To work around the potential shortage next year, Long said she is trying out different grasses that provide a similar effect as the spikes. Blue Mohawk grass is one grass they’ve used this year. Long said they’ve never had a spike shortage before but are having fun finding new items to use instead.

For colours, Long said two are standing out this year as hot commodities. “Oranges and purples are big this year. Many new plants that have come out this year that seem to be trending and are selling out the fastest have purples and oranges.”

Long said Martha Washington Geraniums are an excellent option for new gardeners or those who tend to sacrifice plants accidentally. “Geraniums are like your best friend. They are really easy to maintain with very little deadheading. They can handle the heat. They can suntan with you on the deck and will love it. They aren’t going to wilt and shrivel. If you forget to water them one day, you’re ok! But, if you forget to water your petunias, they won’t be happy.”

She added that low maintenance is another theme. “A lot of our hanging baskets are geared towards low maintenance because that’s my stage of life,” she chuckled. “Our signature baskets this year are also low maintenance. There are ivy geraniums in them, a trailing geranium; you don’t have to do anything to it. We took the petunias out because they are high maintenance.” As the business namesake, Long’s twins are the signature baskets’ primary focus, which features pink and blue hues.

People growing their food is also a trend sticking around. Long said that people started dabbling in it through the pandemic and that last year, with skyrocketing prices for vegetables like lettuce and tomatoes, people started getting more serious with it. Long said her other greenhouse has 400 tomato plants thriving in it. “They are already six feet tall, and they have ripening tomatoes. We hope to have ripe tomatoes off the vine by mid-May.”

Long said she’s also been playing around with peppers and has four kinds. “I’ve never grown peppers to this extent in a greenhouse. It’s a special variety that will grow up to twenty feet tall. Also, the vine of the tomato plants will be up 25 feet long, if not 30 feet, especially with the ones that are already six feet.”

Though planting in gardens and flower beds is still a little ways away, Long said it’d be here soon enough. “We don’t have snow like we did last year at this time, but it was warmer. Every time my furnaces turn on, it’s graphed, and you can compare it year after year. Last year we were not as cold at night as we are right now. The days warm up more, but we are colder at night than last year.” She invites everyone to walk through the pink greenhouse door for an instant mood boost while they wait for the frost to disappear.