Gardening season sees pause after warm week in Regina

WATCH: After a week of sunny conditions, many gardeners will have to adapt to temperatures falling below double digits. Damian Smith reports.

Regina residents who have already planted some of their gardens may have to prepare for potential damages as temperatures fluctuate.

Over the past week, the Queen City saw sunny conditions upwards of 32 C with temperatures now falling below double digits.

“The gardeners have to be a little bit careful,” Carson Van Duyvendyk, the greenhouse manager at Dutch Growers Home and Garden said. “If they went and they planted all their stuff already, they’ve got to be careful here because with a lot of rain, a little tiny plant can be a lot to manage, so there’s some caution there.”

Most people around the store who CTV spoke with understand that showers are still common for Regina around this time of year. Many people have bought their products but haven’t fully started their gardening just yet.

Dutch Growers say they saw their peak this past weekend on Mother’s Day, with many shoppers looking to get a head start on their outdoor projects. It also happened to be over 30 C this weekend.

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“We actually brought in an extra truck just for that weekend because we knew that it was going to be chaos,” Van Duyvendyk said. “Whenever there’s good weather, it’s crazy busy here and whenever the weather is rainy, it’s a little bit slower. So, for this weekend, I’ve actually dropped my order a little bit just because we’re not anticipating as big of a crowd with the cloudy kind of rain or weather.”

If gardeners do have crops that have been planted, they may need to keep an eye on them especially Saturday night, where there is potential for freezing rain overnight.

“I definitely would not plant anything before the May long weekend,” Natalie Hasell, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist for Environment Canada said. “I wouldn’t be comfortable planting anything until June 6 or so.”

Temperatures shouldn’t be increasing into the high 20 C’s to low 30 C’s anytime soon. This week’s forecast will see 8 C and cloudy on Friday.

This weekend should be sunny, however, with consecutive days of 13 C. Starting on Monday, the rain is expected to make its way back continuing throughout the week.