Petunia and pansy lovers can expect to pay five to 10 percent more for a basket of annuals this spring.
Higher prices for natural gas, electricity, fertilizer and plastic are driving up the cost of gardening this season.
Ann Moss, of the Balzac Garden Centre north of Calgary, said shoppers will pay $2.10 for a basket of six petunias and $2.49 for four-inch potted vegetables like tomatoes and herbs. Average prices last year were $1.69 for six petunias and $1.99 for potted vegetables.
“We had a $30,000-a-month gas bill as opposed to a $15,000 gas bill,” she said.
Read Also
Canada must address potential veterinary drug shortages
If critical products are unavailable when needed, it could result in unnecessary human and animal deaths in the worst-case scenario.
At Eagle Lake Nurseries near Strathmore, Alta., staff expect prices to increase by five percent.
Wade Hartwell said prices will also go up by five percent at his Golden Acres Garden Centres, but added the increase would have been 20 percent without the Alberta government’s natural gas rebate last winter.
The real price crunch could come next year. There is no promise of further gas rebates and greenhouse operators expect the price of plastic pots, growing medium and fertilizer to continue increasing.
“The profit margin will be less. There’s no doubt about it,” Hartwell said. “Most guys are saying that they are going to eat it this year.”
Golden Acres has two outlets in Calgary and buys about half of its annuals from other suppliers. Trucking has become pricier and harder to find because of the rising cost of fuel.
Similar circumstances
Central Alberta Florists, which has a wholesale and retail outlet, also expects the price of flowers and vegetables to increase.
It is the fifth largest bedding plant producer in Western Canada, growing more than 150,000 flats of plants a year. It ships to other garden centres and chain stores in the British Columbia interior, Northwest Territories, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Owner Harold Good said some hard decisions would have to be made if his company had to pay the full cost of natural gas at $11 per gigajoule.
“It’s higher prices or cut back on production.”
Good is not sure if the average consumer will notice a minor increase in bedding plants, although large buyers like towns and cities should feel it.
Greenhouses outside of Alberta were hit especially hard.
Houweling Greenhouses, the largest facility in Western Canada, saw natural gas prices increase by 200 percent this winter.
Located near of Vancouver, Houweling is a wholesale supplier to garden centres and chain stores across Western Canada and northwestern United States. High costs forced the company to raise plant prices by 10 percent, said marketing manager Al Prystupa.
Some of its boilers were switched to heating oil or wood waste during the winter.
“It’s that or go bankrupt,” Prystupa said.
