Green Thumb Effect It’S Springtime Again At Haase’S Greenhouse

Every June, the nine glassed houses at 34th and Thor bloom with wave upon wave of color.

Customers come away with boxes filled with plants to brighten their summer yards.

Haase’s Greenhouse is tucked in a quiet neighborhood in Lincoln Heights, a family operation with deep roots and a regular clientele.

Darrell and Colleen Haase run the business now. They represent the third generation of the Haase family to operate the complex on nearly an acre of land.

Darrell Haase’s father and grandfather bought the nursery in 1951 and ran it for decades.

The site has been used as a nursery since about 1910 and had several owners who struggled in the business before the Haase family bought it.

“I am proud that my father was successful,” said Darrell Haase.

The operation has survived by keeping pace with trends in the plant industry.

During the “foilage revolution” of 1970s, house plants were the rage, and the Haase’s grew ferns and other greenery.

Another time, the Haase’s only grew potted chrysanthemums when they were popular gift items.

Today, the Haases specialize in summer annuals such as geraniums, fuchsias, begonias and impatiens. They’ve virtually given up wholesale growing to concentrate on retail sales to their neighbors.

“Bedding plants are probably the most profitable,” Haase said.

During the offseason, they also raise poinsettias, African violets, potted hydrangeas and late winter bulb flowers.

But spring brings the most work. Darrell Haase said he spends 12 hours a day, seven days a week at the greenhouses during the planting season, which runs into early July.

His collection includes some 40 varieties of zonal geraniums with names like Joy, Veronica and Tango.

“A lot of these are proven garden performers so we stick with them,” said Colleen Haase, who grew up in the same neighborhood as the Haases and started dating Darrell when they were in high school.

The couple works with customers to help them choose the right plants for their flower beds and pots. Container gardening has become increasingly popular in recent years, and the Haases sell the kinds of plants that grow well on the patio.

“You couldn’t ask for better customers than somebody buying flowers,” Darrell Haase said. “They are always very good natured and happy.”

The main entrance is through a mortared basalt wall, part of an original greenhouse that predates the Haase family’s purchase.

The Haases use a sketch of the wall, its door and windows in their advertising.

Three years ago, the couple invested in a major makeover of the main greenhouses behind the rock-wall entrance. They replaced the old glass ceilings with fiberglass panels mounted to aluminum framework.

“The old structure had become almost unsafe,” Darrell Haase said.

He said he is looking forward to next year when many of the top plant breeders are expected to release new cultivars in honor of the year 2000.