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![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4191205_web1_260430-St-Leon-00017.jpg\")
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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Nicolas Audette and Pascal Fournier-Audette, 3, pick out local and Ontario-grown tomatoes Thursday at Jardins St-L\u00e9on Gardens, which opened this week for the gardening season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had really nice springs for the past one or two years. We always remember only one year in the past, so we think this is unusual, but it is pretty normal to have this amount of cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
The weather will impact the flow of produce as well, he said \u2014 strawberries, for example, should be ready by early July, unlike last year, when they were ready to sell in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people had already planted a bunch of seeds in their garden by this time last year,\u201d he said. \u201cThis year, I would tell people to slow down a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
R\u00e9millard is part of the second generation of the family business. His parents started Jardins St-L\u00e9on Gardens in 1979, and R\u00e9millard, along with two siblings and a cousin, purchased it in 2016.<\/p>\n
He describes the work in all kinds of ways: fun, stressful, fulfilling, nerve-wracking. The weather can drastically impact the business day-to-day, and other factors, like wildfires and the tangible impacts of climate change, play a role, too.<\/p>\n
But, to R\u00e9millard, it\u2019s important work \u2014 and he\u2019s excited to see the community that waits for its doors to open every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re feeding people. It\u2019s a very noble profession, it\u2019s very easy for us to justify working this hard,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t do it, it\u2019s gonna be harder for people to support local farmers, so we might as well hustle and lock in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The unseasonable chill hadn\u2019t stopped shoppers Friday morning, who packed the garden centre at 419 St Mary\u2019s Rd.<\/p>\n
Some were buying plants to keep indoors until the weather grows warmer or keeping planters outdoors during the day and bringing them indoors at night, when temperatures are still hitting below 0 C.<\/p>\n
Jenna Alward was picking up basil plants to use on pizza Friday night, but the avid gardener said the recent weather meant she would be waiting before picking up seeds for her favourite vegetables.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna grab some herbs today, and then hold off on vegetables till a bit later in the season,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll definitely be back for tomatoes, but we just moved into a new home last fall, so we\u2019ve got to do a ton of gardening this year. We\u2019ll be back for many things, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kale, lettuce and other leafy greens were on customer Roger Hirooka\u2019s shopping list. He\u2019s excited to put the compost he\u2019s accumulated all winter to good use.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will see what the (weather) patterns will be for the next weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll probably keep them inside until it\u2019s safe, but that didn\u2019t affect my plans, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Jensen\u2019s Nursery in Oak Bluff, owner Susan Jensen said she\u2019s had to convince eager gardeners to hold off on planting outdoors. There\u2019s still some frost on the ground and some of the trees the business sell are still frozen inside their pots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are definitely behind what we were last year at this point,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd we suggest to customers: anything that\u2019s been growing inside a greenhouse shouldn\u2019t go outside yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It hasn\u2019t impacted business much, which she said was similar to last year, which was much more balmy. She said customers are coming by for specialty items that sell fast, like tropical plants, Boston ferns and canna flowers.<\/p>\n
Jensen\u2019s Nursery opened in 1966, and Jensen herself has been part of the family business for more than 35 years. This year\u2019s weather isn\u2019t anything new to her, but she hopes warmer days are ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nice, steady warming would be perfect,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The next seven days are forecast with temperatures ranging from 6 C to 17 C, according to Environment Canada, but the overnight forecast is for sub-0 C throughout the week.<\/p>\n
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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