Growing greenhouses on Princess Anne Road

VIRGINIA BEACH

For years the growing greenhouses behind Atlantic Garden Center on General Booth Boulevard in Virginia Beach were a familiar part of the landscape.

There, everything from pansies to poinsettias and hanging baskets to bedding plants was grown to supply both the General Booth store and Atlantic Garden Center on Great Neck Road.

When owner Jim Crowell sold the property at the corner of General Booth and Nimmo Parkway several years ago, the greenhouses and garden center were relocated.

Now the growing greenhouses are down on Princess Anne Road, and the garden center, renamed Strawbridge Garden Center, is on London Bridge Road.

I remember how I used to love to wander through the General Booth store and the greenhouses, especially during the holidays. Rows upon rows of poinsettias in myriad varieties, sizes and colors were lined up on the benches, and hanging baskets of the colorful Christmas flowers hung above.

It was a heady feeling to stand among such a huge assortment of plants and color.

You couldn’t leave without a boost to your holiday spirit. And standing among all those plants made me aware of the huge numbers of pots and baskets filled with greens and flowers that it took to supply plant-loving people day in and day out.

John Halonski was the head grower then and he still is now, but his work in progress is not easily accessible to the public these days.

The greenhouses on Princess Anne Road are no longer on land adjacent to either store, but they’re still growing hundreds of thousands of plants every year to keep us in flowers.

When I went to visit the other day, you could see all the possibilities in the making. Little chrysanthemums and asters were growing big, getting ready for their graduation to the garden center aisles. The staff was making preparations to grow pansies, snapdragons and ornamental cabbages for fall.

You don’t have to look far to find proof of Halonski’s green thumb in the two garden centers. Now you can see it in the colorful ornamental peppers that are being sold at both. This year for the first time Halonski grew the colorful peppers in yellows, oranges, reds, purples and more that can brighten a flower bed or kitchen counter. You’ll also find his handiwork in the hardy hibiscus bushes with names that describe their luscious colors, such as Pink Swirl and Rose and Blush.

Most of the greenhouse plants begin as either seedlings or cuttings started by wholesale producers located across the United States. The plugs, maybe more or less an inch square and an inch deep, arrive in plastic trays holding anywhere from 30 to 500 plants.

The staff of the greenhouses transplants the plugs to larger pots and fertilizes and waters them. The plants grow rapidly and are ready for sale within a couple of months. For example, the hibiscus that came in late this spring are now for sale at both garden centers.

“The hibiscus come in as little 2-inch cuttings,” Halonksi said, “and grow to 36 inches from May to July.”

Right now, the greenhouses have rows of young chrysanthemums, which will be ready for sale this fall. That day the staff was transplanting tiny asters to bigger pots also for fall. Snapdragons and ornamental cabbages come next.

And soon it will be pansy time. Halonski orders an average 300,000 pansy plugs.

“We’ll be in pansy city soon!” said Mike Beilat, who works at the greenhouses.

Then it’s on to the holidays and beyond.

“We’ll have poinsettias till Christmas,” Halonski said.

In February and March, Halonski starts an assortment of hard-to-find annuals, herbs and vegetables, all from seed.

“Then we gear up for geraniums, hanging baskets, all sorts of colorful annuals and that kind of neat stuff.”

Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net