April is upon us, the month when the simple act of sticking a plant in a pot or garden bed creates such a powerful and tangible connection to spring.
Steve Hershfeld probably doesn’t think about this, but over the past four decades he has made that moment happen for countless people — millions, possibly — in the Mid-Atlantic region. At the start of another growing season, Hershfeld and some 40 employees are feverishly putting the finishing touches on tens of thousands of perennials, herbs, vegetable transplants and annuals that are beginning to supply a garden center near you.
Even seasoned gardeners don’t ponder much where these little treasures come from; the focus instead is on how these plants will work this season in their gardens. But for Hershfeld and his colleagues at Hillcrest Nursery, the generation of spring plants has consumed their working lives as far back as last August.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Washington Post
