MONROE - The Potting Shed was meant to be only a hobby. Its location is almost a retreat from the hustle of everyday life.
But word of mouth by friends and family had people asking where to find Sandy Spotts' greenhouses. The hobby became a business.
The Potting Shed is opening today as a business to the public for the first time this season.
It is on Buehler Road, about one mile east of County N.
Spotts and her daughter, Amy Lewis, were busy Tuesday getting ready for opening day.
"People calling us are already thinking about graduation parties," Spotts said.
One customer asked for red and white flowers, the colors of Monroe High School.
The Potting Shed is not a regular greenhouse for hardy gardeners looking for plants to tend all summer.
Their specialty runs more along the line of ready-to-display arrangements for the busy family.
"Mom loves to water," Lewis said. "But most people just don't have the time. We want your neighbors to see your arrangements and say, 'Wow, where'd you get those?'"
Customers can have the plants they pick out potted into an arrangement, or choose an arrangement ready to take home to put on porches or decks.
"Many flower greenhouses use only one plant in their arrangements," Lewis said. "We try to do two or three varieties in a basket. It's more interesting."
The result is like having a home decorator do the color coordination. Red geraniums surrounded with orange and yellow Calalilies is one of Lewis' favorites. Spotts likes purples and pinks, and pairs two shades of purple verbana with a white variety.
The Potting Shed's arrangements are available in iron stands. The teacart stand gives an elbow-height view from any deck chair, and the small chair stand holds a average-sized pot of flowers. The Potting Shed also has window boxes, trellises and benches.
Bushier petunia plants also have become a specialty.
"People are always looking for petunias that don't get leggy," Lewis said. "What they don't know is that there are two kinds."
Petunias grown from cutting will not get long and thin like the ones grown from seeds, Lewis said. All their petunias are cuttings.
"They will wrap around the pot and fill in better," Lewis explained.
"And you don't have to dead head them to keep them blooming," Spotts said. "You can, but you don't have to."
Their hanging bags have "super-super compact petunias," Lewis said. "Nobody else around here does this."
The bags also come planted with Ivy geraniums, calalilies and verbana. Lewis said they planted at least four of every arrangement, because people like to buy them in pairs.
Prepared as they are, and with a special soil mixture that retains water longer, there is little maintenance customers have to do at home.
Hanging bag plants can get as much as 4 feet long and are not spindly, Spotts said.
"I do tell them they can cut them back if they start to get too big," she said.
Spotts learned her trade from her sister, Karen Albring in Temperance, Mich. Albring has been in the greenhouse business for 25 years. Spotts worked with her for almost seven years in the 1980s.
"Mom always went back to Michigan to get her flowers," Lewis said.
Spotts said she just couldn't find what she wanted for her home in Wisconsin.
Now people will be coming to her.
The Potting Shed will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.
But word of mouth by friends and family had people asking where to find Sandy Spotts' greenhouses. The hobby became a business.
The Potting Shed is opening today as a business to the public for the first time this season.
It is on Buehler Road, about one mile east of County N.
Spotts and her daughter, Amy Lewis, were busy Tuesday getting ready for opening day.
"People calling us are already thinking about graduation parties," Spotts said.
One customer asked for red and white flowers, the colors of Monroe High School.
The Potting Shed is not a regular greenhouse for hardy gardeners looking for plants to tend all summer.
Their specialty runs more along the line of ready-to-display arrangements for the busy family.
"Mom loves to water," Lewis said. "But most people just don't have the time. We want your neighbors to see your arrangements and say, 'Wow, where'd you get those?'"
Customers can have the plants they pick out potted into an arrangement, or choose an arrangement ready to take home to put on porches or decks.
"Many flower greenhouses use only one plant in their arrangements," Lewis said. "We try to do two or three varieties in a basket. It's more interesting."
The result is like having a home decorator do the color coordination. Red geraniums surrounded with orange and yellow Calalilies is one of Lewis' favorites. Spotts likes purples and pinks, and pairs two shades of purple verbana with a white variety.
The Potting Shed's arrangements are available in iron stands. The teacart stand gives an elbow-height view from any deck chair, and the small chair stand holds a average-sized pot of flowers. The Potting Shed also has window boxes, trellises and benches.
Bushier petunia plants also have become a specialty.
"People are always looking for petunias that don't get leggy," Lewis said. "What they don't know is that there are two kinds."
Petunias grown from cutting will not get long and thin like the ones grown from seeds, Lewis said. All their petunias are cuttings.
"They will wrap around the pot and fill in better," Lewis explained.
"And you don't have to dead head them to keep them blooming," Spotts said. "You can, but you don't have to."
Their hanging bags have "super-super compact petunias," Lewis said. "Nobody else around here does this."
The bags also come planted with Ivy geraniums, calalilies and verbana. Lewis said they planted at least four of every arrangement, because people like to buy them in pairs.
Prepared as they are, and with a special soil mixture that retains water longer, there is little maintenance customers have to do at home.
Hanging bag plants can get as much as 4 feet long and are not spindly, Spotts said.
"I do tell them they can cut them back if they start to get too big," she said.
Spotts learned her trade from her sister, Karen Albring in Temperance, Mich. Albring has been in the greenhouse business for 25 years. Spotts worked with her for almost seven years in the 1980s.
"Mom always went back to Michigan to get her flowers," Lewis said.
Spotts said she just couldn't find what she wanted for her home in Wisconsin.
Now people will be coming to her.
The Potting Shed will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.