AUXVASSE, Mo. - After the relentless brown of winter, many people are ready for a little green in their lives. Enter: the Callaway Fields Spring Preview event.
"People want to have lots of color, especially after a long winter," said John Graham, owner of Callaway Fields. "Though this hasn't been that long of a winter."
This weekend, folks can come out to the Auxvasse-area greenhouse and pick up petunias, potted geraniums, hanging baskets and more. What makes the event unique, Graham said, is that the store will keep and tend the plants until buyers are ready to bring them home.
"Anything a gallon size or bigger, we'll hold," he said. "We just ask that you pick them up by Mother's Day (May 14)."
Graham opened Callaway Fields 12 years ago, he said. While at studying at University of Missouri, he realized his original course of study in agribusiness management wasn't for him and switched to horticulture.
"I've always had an interest in plants," he said.
That's a passion he shares with his employees. Josh Rathert has worked for Callaway Fields for 10 years.
"I don't think I could do an indoor warehouse," Rathert said. "I have to be outside."
He was busy planting succulent cuttings, which will eventually grow into plants of their own.
"There's always something new, a new variety coming out," Rathert said.
Currently, he said, the store stocks over 150 varieties of succulents, from Crassulas with E.T.-finger-shaped leaves to drooping Kalanchoe to cactus-like Euphorbia - and that number could easily grow. The greenhouse also has air plants and plenty of both annuals and perennials.
"We start a lot of it ourselves," Graham said. "A lot of species are patented so we can't start them, and we get those as plugs (small rooted cuttings)."
The trees, he said, are one of the few things they don't grow themselves due to lack of space.
This season, he anticipates succulents to be popular.
"Succulents are really hot," Graham said, especially among the younger set. "Those and air plants are the two things you can keep in the dorm by the window and water once a month."
Callaway Fields also offers classes, like its popular "living wreath" class (the next is March 12 and is already full). Check their Facebook page to learn about future events: bit.ly/2lndAkC.
"Just because you have one plant die on you, don't be afraid to try something different," Graham added.