'Green Thumb' Season Ramps Up At City's Greenhouse

‘GREEN THUMB’ SEASON RAMPS UP

AT CITY’S GREENHOUSE THIS WEEK

RAPID CITY, SD—John Berglund’s thumbs are several weeks away from turning a full shade of green.  For now, his fingers are taking on the color and appearance of black dirt.

            And John couldn’t be happier.

            Berglund, the City’s greenhouse specialist, is busy this month as he and his crews are planting thousands of flower plugs at the City’s greenhouse.  The activity is a major event in the life cycle of the 27,000 flowers Berglund and his crews will be raising and planting in City parks and frontage areas each summer.

            “I’ve been looking forward to this week for some time,” said Berglund.  “I’ve been waiting for that FedEx truck to pull up with the flower plugs which gets a big part of the season started for us.”

            The FedEx truck pulled up this afternoon (Wednesday/April 21).

            Berglund says crews will be planting the flower plugs at the Greenhouse into this next week.  The plants will then be carefully nurtured along over the process of the next month.  Once the threat of overnight freezing temperatures has passed, Berglund and his crews will transport the flowers to Halley Park, Wilson Park and other areas for planting, probably towards the end of May. 

           “We are excited for this summer because last summer, we were hindered by COVID.  We didn’t have the seasonal help to maintain the areas so we didn’t plant as much,” Berglund said.  “We hope to offer up a lot of color this summer.”

            Berglund’s crew includes approximately 20 garden and landscape workers.