By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

In January 2021, Jana Dalke, owner and manager of Serenity Gardens greenhouse at 1320 190th Rd., received an email from one of her suppliers: “Perennials are selling out already for 2022. Get your order in now.”

That was even before the 2021 season had arrived. Perennials now on sale at the greenhouse were ordered in January 2021. Since then, it’s been a battle getting some supplies.

It’s especially difficult to get shrubs and trees, Dalke said. They were ordered in May, and only half have been confirmed to be shipped.

“There’s short supply and high demand,” Dalke said, “so wholesalers are splitting them up among their customers to make sure everyone gets something.”

She has a good supply of perennials, but prices will be higher. Flats and packs of bedding plants are expected to arrive the first two weeks in April.

The greenhouse has been open since March 1. Customers have been trickling in to buy seeds and gifts and to prepare gardens for spring planting.

People are buying cold-hardy flowers such as snapdragons, pansies, and dianthus.

The biggest problem is not having enough pots for group plantings. Dalke’s supplier accidentally overlooked her pot order, so she had to go to another supplier. She ordered 500 hanging planters. No gallon pots were available.

Despite supply problems, Dalke is optimistic about the future of the business.

A second greenhouse is being built. It will be used mainly for wintering shrubs and perennials. An extreme cold spell in 2021 killed a bunch of shrubs she had on hand, and she wants to keep that from happening again.

“This year is almost as stressful as 2020,” she said. “We were crazy busy in 2020. We couldn’t keep plants in stock.”

She’s hoping demand will be there again and she will to be able to fill customers’ needs.