Let there be flowers!
May 18, 2026
Hello Friend!
Here in Michigan you have to be both clever and brave to buy your summer annuals and veggie plants. If you purchase too early, you'll suffer the inevitable nail biting as our weather guys predict those last few overnight frost attacks. Yep, we've all had to run out to cover our newly bought pots of impatients and tomato plants. By this time of year, however, we're all pretty desperate to see flowers and get into our gardens again, so it can be really hard to wait...
But this week was THE week! Local gardeners were giddy with the forecast of summer temps and warm rain. Woo hoo! And so, I made my yearly trek to Block's Nursery. This is where the brave part comes in.
Years ago a good friend recommended Block's Nursery to me. The selection is always amazing (46 greenhouses!) and the prices are great. When I lived in the city it was only a half hour drive, but now it takes me almost an hour to get there, which honestly is still worth it. I typically save more than enough to justify the extra travel cost, even with today's crazy gas prices. And their baskets are SO beautiful.
The problem is, everyone else feels the same way. Folks come from far away to shop, and the crowds can be terrible. This year I started out with such a good plan. I headed out on a Wednesday, not too close to the weekend rush, and I chose a day that was overcast and breezy. I hit the parking lot a half hour after the doors opened, feeling confident that I'd timed it perfectly. Wrong. The place was packed, and finding a parking spot was already a challenge. Good grief.
Even at that early hour there were hundreds of us trying to maneuver our ginormous pull carts through narrow rows filled with potted flowers and baskets.
And every few minutes you'd be stuck waiting for the person in front of you to move because they'd abandoned their cart to investigate something fabulous waaaay down the aisle. Have you ever tried to push one of those carts in reverse to change direction? Funniest home videos, I promise. Sigh.
In the end, I'm always happy I made the trip. Although I agree with the friend who originally recommended the nursery - they really need to hand out "I Survived Block's" t-shirts as you're leaving. Ha! Now if we can just keep the temps above freezing. :-)
