Grower News

Standing in a sea of 10,000 lily plants, cousins Mike Schaefer, Mary Ann Kutnick and Brett Schaefer af Schaefer Greenhouses in Montgomery hope they can still sell some of the plants that few churches and individuals are buying due to the coronavirus outbreak.(David Sharos / The Beacon-News) Inside her warm greenhouses tucked away in Montgomery, Mary Ann Kutnick, 69, co-owner of Schaefer Greenhouses, has been busy with her staff nursing beautiful lilies the past three months in anticipation of Easter. But this year, scores of churches that would normally buy the lilies to adorn their altars, or the individuals who would bring them home or give as gifts, aren’t coming to the greenhouses due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We’re planning on running a sale and putting the lilies on discount, and I even have an email campaign going out,” Kutnick said recently as she looked over rows and rows of plants. “We have the First Christian Church of Aurora coming in to get some for their Easter service that they are going to stream (online), but their order is only for 14 plants. Normally by now, at least a third of them are gone.” An order for 14 plants won’t make a dent in the 10,000 lily plants staff say are growing on the premises from bulbs that were planted late last year. “The bulbs have to be stored cold for six weeks and as soon as the poinsettias go out, the lilies come in,” said Mike Schaefer, 63, of Aurora who is Kutnick’s cousin and works as the production manager and grower. “You can’t cancel orders and we ordered these bulbs last April and they came in during October and here we are – all dressed up and nowhere to go.” Schaefer said the order for this year “was actually cut back a little” as the greenhouse is planning to offer “more vegetables and annuals” but the customer base for the annual lily sale isn’t there. “The churches and flower shops are closed and we’re going to try and liquidate the lilies as best we can,” he said. […]

Source: www.chicagotribune.com