05/31/2026
Tracy the Owner here – On this last day of May, I want to send a huge, genuine, heartfelt thank you to our customers, FB followers, and most importantly our staff for what this month has been. We knew going in that May is the biggest month in PA for greenhouses and florists, and we knew what we had committed to. But, like a lot of things, the dream, the plan, and the reality are a whole different animal, aren’t they??
We have managed Maymart, Mother’s Day, Proms, Mom’s and Margaritas in Knox, Indiana May Mart, a full greenhouse of annuals plus the usual amazing plants, planting cemetery plots, returning winterized plants, 101 Dalmations at the Barrow, opening the produce stand, returning to curb market and the everyday aspect of our business – floral for all occasions.
We could not have predicted that one of our best employees would need to give us their two-week notice for personal reasons, or that our greenhouse guru would need to have knee surgery.
We sold plants in the snow for Maymart (biggest sales day at this event ever), did 181 pre-orders for Mother’s Day and prom, 65 of which were boutonnieres, corsages and handheld bouquets (all of which require extra time, a hot glue gun, and endless patience). We made 90 deliveries over the Mother’s Day weekend, while our little flower cart at the Barrow sold out three times and had to be refilled twice. This does not include the walk-ins in the store that our florists instantly created an arrangement for.
Our staff, with the help of King of Spades Landscaping broke backs loading and unloading vans, setting up tents and tables, and hauling endless crates of product.
We planted flowers for 75 customers at 11 different cemeteries over 8 days in the rain, for a total of 175 headstones that we sometimes had to search for.
We hired 5 people to run the produce stands, worked with VTDC for our summer student program, and cleaned and started up our produce stand, which incidentally sold more in the first 8 days than we did all last year during the first month. But that required four produce pickups instead of one. Lovely issue to have. Talking about money is sometimes seen as gauche, but transparency dictates that we mention that we sold $1000 worth of produce at Saturdays Franklin curb market in 5 hours.
We’ve had our share of issues, from the keyboard warriors to the construction that prevents us from even getting to work. But. But. The Pollen Nation staff smashed it this month…. just killed it, both in labor and endless kindness.
I don’t think business owners say it enough. It is my business, and I am in charge. But the business is only as good as the service we provide, which is a direct result of the amazing people I hire. I am blessed to have an exceptionl crew, and they worked this month until they were exhausted.
Oh, the picture in the comments? We picked up our second van on Friday, because one van couldn’t handle all of our business anymore. We prayed for this last May, made it a reality this May.
We encourage daydreams, making your corner of the world a little bit better of a place, making your space green, giving flowers, eating the veggies and fruit, loving on your co-workers and customers and moving into this next month with anticipation and gratitude. Thank you all.
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