With the sun overhead ushering in a mid-March melt, Ellen Henninger was thinking spring Tuesday.

Spring arrives today, at least officially, and while the Tyrone woman admitted it might be a while before she can get much use out of the portable deck umbrellas she was checking out for her pool, she was keeping her hopes up anyway.

“We got nice weather a little early last year, so it could happen again,” Henninger said Tuesday, while shopping at Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse of Altoona. “I’m sick of winter and I’m sick of snow.”

She’s apparently not alone.

Garden suppliers and nursery shop owners across the region said Tuesday that they are eager for the spring thaw.

“People are starting to think green. They are coming in for some supplies, potting soil, maybe some houseplants … but the peak season is still around the corner,” said Dave Gagermeier, who co-owns the Shadow Box Garden Center in Cambria Township with his wife, Laura.

“When the sun comes out and it gets nice, more people start coming in to shop, rather than just calling,” she said.

Container gardening, particularly plants and herbs, are big this year, the Gagermeiers said, noting that they are ready-made.

Some gardeners are passing up the typical red, white and blue garden colors for tropical ones like hot pink and lime this spring, as well, Laura Gagermeier said, pointing to a neon-colored lawn decoration.

Peak season for shops like theirs doesn’t come until late April or May, they said.

“You see people coming in and looking things over, but with the weather we’ve had, nice one day and cold the next, people are a little skittish,” said Bob Nankeville, a team leader at Lowe’s. “This is the good time to shop, though. It’s less hectic.”

Mirror Staff Writer David Hurst is at 946-7457.

source : www.altoonamirror.com