82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 7,1990
Easy Care Posies: The Perfect Easter Gift
Yal Van Tassel
Berks Co. Correspondent
OLEY (Berks Co.) There is
no better way to cure a case of
rainy day blues than by visiting
Spayd’s Greenhouses and Floral
Shop. Long tables of pink and red
geraniums stretch in one direction
while benches of begonias and
impatients reach in another. Exo
tic hanging baskets of gold coin
and delicate pink begonias partial
ly obscure the grey sky. Other
greenhouses are bursting with
pink and purple azaleas and hya
cinths preparing to flower.
There’s nothing like taking
home a piece of paradise but a
summer schedule filled with farm
chores and fairs pushes flower
care into the background and often
results in wilted plants. It doesn’t
need to happen that way according
to greenhouse owner, Mary Spayd
of Fleetwood. “There are lots of
beautiful plants that require very
little care. Many of these plants
are really inexpensive.”
Spayd’s is a family operation
that began 15 years ago. “We
started with a hobby greenhouse. I
was growing starter plants for the
garden. Now we have the green
houses and we are full fledge flor
ists. We also do some
landscaping.”
Among the family helpers are
Mary’s daughter, Melissa. Missy,
a former FFA state president,
manages the flower shop while
going to school full time. “I work
40 to 60 hours a week here and go
to school,” she explained.
Brother Mike was also a mem
ber of the Oley Valley FFA and at
present is the chapter’s only
American Farmer. Missy is apply
ing for her degree this year.
Missy’s sister, Betsy, also
works in the greenhouses, often
doing transplanting. Russ, the
head of the Spayd clan, has a full
Mike Spayd was a member of the Oley Valley FFA and
earned his chapter’s only American Farmer Degree. These
days Mike is busy In the greenhouse raising plants like
these beautiful azaleas.
time job at Carpenter Technology
in Reading. He helps with mainte
nance greenhouse duties whenev
er necessary. Max is the youngest
Spayd.
Working together, Mary and
Missy picked out some lovely
examples of easy care plants that
would make great presents for
farm wives.
“For Easter, bulbs make a fine
gift. They don’t live long in the
house, approximately a week.
Pick hyacinths and lilies for smell
or take tulips. Most people let
these plants die back then they let
the bulbs sit in the pots until they
plant them in the fall,” Mary
explained.
While both Missy and Mary
like mums they don’t recommend
Easter as the best time to purchase
them. “You can buy mums at Eas
ter but they aren’t a hardy varie
ty,” Missy said.
“They’re designed to bloom in
November which is just too late
around here. When I think mums I
think fall. We plant 25,000 fall
mums,” Mary added.
Hardy varieties of azaleas are
another good choice for carefree
gardners. “Azaleas are very avail
able and they come in many colors
including white, pinks, red, and
several shades of purple.”
Whether choosing a gift or tak
ing something home to spruce up
the farmstead, buyers can hardly
go wrong with bedding plants.
“Most bedding plants aren’t
expensive many don’t even have
to be picked off,” Mary explained.
Most bedding plants can’t be
planted until mid-May in Berks
County but pansies are an
exception.
“Pansies can go out now. Often
they will survive the winter.”
Geraniums aren’t hard to care
for and they come in lots of colors.
Marigolds are great border plants
For much of the season the Spayds display their flowers and shrub In front of their
establishment on the Piicetown Road near Oley. The pansies In the picture are ready
to be planted.
and if you are on a budget they can
even be grown from seeds,” Mary
said.
“Nicottiana, flowering tobacco,
is another lovely plant,” she
added.
While you can’t smoke it, flow
ering tobacco has another
advantage.
“It’s great for attracting hum
ming birds,” Missy said.
Knowing the conditions of the
area is just as important for a flow
er bed as an alfalfa field. “Bego
nias are good in sun or shade
while impatients prefer the shade.
Vinca is great in hot, dry poor soil.
It looks a lot like an impatient and
comes in pink or white. It also
stays nice and low,” Mary said.
Perennials can satisfy a farm
wife’s need for flowers year after
year with virtually no work at all.
Mary Spayd and her daughter, Melissa, hold up two of the newest flowers available
at their greenhouse. The hanging baskets of gold coin and strawberry fields would
be perfect for hanging out with a farm sign.
“Make absolutely sure you put
these plants where you will want
them to come up again!” Mary
emphasized. M 4
Walking along the flats
young plants not yet ready for
sale, Missy and Mary point out
some smart choices for busy gar-
deners. “Daisies such as the shasta
and the Rudbeckia (black eyed
Susan) would look wonderful in
mass say along a fence. Yarrow is ,
beautiful fresh, or you can dry it. I
have hung flowers upside down
beside my dryer or you could put
them in your attic,” Mary said.
Old time favorites remain popu
lar. “We sell lots of poenies and
bleeding hearts,” Missy said
Clematis is a favorite of Mary’s
for growing on a trellis. “I had
some white Clematis left over so I
planted them next to a fence. They
had huge white flowers. They
must have been eight-inches
across. And they are beautiful, the
kind of flowers you would expect
to wear in your hair if you were in
Hawaii,” Mary said.
Hanging baskets are big sellers
around Mother’s day and they can
also be worry free. “Baskets with
geraniums are one of our most
popular items on Mother’s day.
Begonias trailing in a basket are
easy to be cared for and can be
hung on a porch as can impa
tients,” Mary said.
These searching for something
exotic can pick out a couple of
brand new, easy care plants. Hold
ing up a basket of bright yellow
flowers Mary explained that this
was the first year they had been
grown at Spayd’s. “They are
called gold coins although the
proper name is odontospermum
maritmum. They are comfortable
in hot dry sunny areas and will
even survive a light frost,” she
explained.
Another new show stopper this
year is called strawberry Helds,
oracalyphya pendula. The plant
with trailing vines which faintly
resemble a strawberry, has flow
ers that look like a plump, pink cat
tail. “These also like the hot, dry
conditions. We had a nursery
(Turn to Pago B 3)