None of us knew what was in store as Spring 2020 arrived.  Growers and wholesalers planted their usual crops of hundreds of thousands (millions, actually) of all ‘the usual suspects’ – geraniums, hanging baskets, tomato plants etc.  Then , in March, COVID hit and the world basically froze. Lucky for us, nurseries and garden centres were deemed ‘an essential service’ and were allowed to remain open. People need to grow food, it was decided. And so, with the now familiar ‘social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer etc’ , we plodded along.  The public was trapped at home.  Gardening was a way to fill time and not go crazy. People who had never bought a packet of seeds in their lives were dropping by daily and planning their ‘Victory Garden’. Our sales went through the roof . We were constantly ‘out’ of everything, as the demand was national and the growers were running out of product. It was all of North America, not just Vancouver.  We relied on old relationships with favourite suppliers to get plants. Garden centres were calling each other asking to ‘borrow’ some flats of tomatoes.  It was a panic. We hired anybody who walked by. (I like to give anybody a chance. I have struck gold this way many times). Our staff went from 8 to 28 in days. It was difficult for cars to get down our road, as there were so many people around.  I closed off one-half of our parking spaces in an effort to limit numbers on site. It worked well. Everyone was in a great mood and said repeatedly how happy they were to have a beautiful place to go. We set-up an outdoor cashier, so people could pay in the fresh air and avoid lining up.  This will become permanent.
   The biggest change , I think, is the number of young people dropping by.  They are very serious about houseplants. Through the internet, and sites like ETSY, they are seeking the newest  and rarest . They are like I was 50 years ago ! Going to ‘a club’ is out of the picture now, they already have all the electronics that used to matter, and a Canada Goose jacket means nothing now. The COVID pandemic has had an amazing side effect – a new generation of gardeners is emerging that I am certain would have stayed dormant forever.