Spring 2024 Growing Recap: Weather Mostly Cooperates

Photo: Julie Hullett

The spring growing season can be chaotic, but with proper planning it can also be a successful one. Fortunately, that seemed to be the case in 2024.

Greenhouse Grower’s 2024 Spring Recap Survey was conducted between June 1 and June 21. More than 56% of survey respondents were grower-retailers, nearly 30% were wholesale growers, and 14% produce young plants. The top regions represented in the survey were the Midwest (33%), Northeast (25%), and Southeast (14%).

When asked if spring 2024 was a success or failure for their business, more than 92% considered it a success. This includes weather, with the notes below ranking weather as a concern.

How would you rate the weather this spring in your region?

• Extremely cooperative: 22%
• Moderately cooperative: 44%
• Moderately uncooperative: 22%
• Extremely uncooperative: 12%

How did weather impact your spring sales in 2024? (sampling of responses)

• “Weekends were near perfect from mid-April through May.” (from the Southeast)
• “We had a very warm April, then May was wet and cool.” (from the Midwest)
• “The warmer weather definitely caused garden centers to want their plants earlier than anticipated, and plants weren’t completely ready in time.” (from the Midwest)
• “We finally had rain! We’ve been in a drought for three years so people were ready to plant. We had a wet spring which delayed planting for many people but didn’t see any long-term negative effects from this. They still came to purchase what they would have already bought if the weather wasn’t so wet.” (from the Midwest)
• “It got hot very quickly and stayed hot so shipping had to be delayed.” (from the Southeast)

Spring 2024 Challenges Beyond Weather