Firefly petunias that light up the night sold out on their first day available at Ruhlig Farms and Gardens in Brownstown.
Owner of the large full-service garden center Rose Ruhlig said this was the first year of selling the plants that glow in the dark. After the business posted about their arrival on Facebook on Wednesday, May 28, the 30 pots the store obtained were sold out by the end of the day.
“People are always looking for something new,” Ruhlig said.
The glow comes from the petunias being bred with bioluminescent mushrooms, and it can take a while for the plant to soak up the energy needed to glow, Ruhlig said.
She said the firefly petunias, bought from Light Bio, were expensive, and the store will not have any more available for purchase this year. She said it might sell them again next year, depending on customer feedback.
“We were skeptical and that’s why we were so conservative,” Ruhlig said. “I am anxious to hear reviews from customers.”
‘Big and beautiful plants’
Though the store is out of firefly petunias, it’s the kind of place plant lovers could get lost in for hours. It sells a plethora of other plants and goods, including flowers, vegetables, trees, hanging baskets, yard ornaments and more.
Ruhlig said herbs and perennials tend to be popular, and the first impressions of plants are what can make them sell.
“Any given day, customers look for big and beautiful plants,” Ruhlig said. “It’s interesting to see what people are buying.”
Customer Debbie Clark said she has been shopping at Ruhlig’s for 10 years.
Clark said she chose her cart full of flowers, including geraniums and petunias, because of advice from Ruhlig’s employees on what will grow in the shade and with deer near her house.
Though she lives in Dearborn, she said she makes the drive because of the variety of plants available and the knowledge of Ruhlig’s employees.
Family business
Ruhlig and her husband have been in the plant business since 1973. They have a wholesale center, where they grow many of the store’s plants, where they live in Carleton and bought and built on the preexisting Brownstown greenhouses, 24508 Telegraph Road, in 2010.
Sharon Buckberry has been coming to the place for 20 years, before it was even Ruhlig’s. She said the store has grown over the years.
“There are so many different combination pots and unique mixtures all in one place. It’s hard to decide what to buy,” Buckberry said.
Buckberry said there are plenty of plant stores closer to her home in New Boston, which neighbors Brownstown, but she chooses to keep coming to Ruhlig Farms and Gardens for its vegetables, tropical plants and more. The prices are sometimes higher than other places, but the variety, quality and health of the plants make it worthwhile, she said.
The place is a family business, as Ruhlig’s four kids and her grandkids who are old enough are involved in the store, Ruhlig said.
Ruhlig Farms and Gardens’ newest addition is an indoor home goods store run by Ruhlig’s daughter-in-law, who studied interior design at Michigan State University, Ruhlig said. The home goods section of the store sells trinkets, towels, decor, clothes and more.
With people preparing their gardens for the spring and summer, May is the store’s biggest month. Despite some cool weather this year, it was a good month for the store, Ruhlig said. Saturdays and Sundays are the farm’s biggest days and often the parking lot, which can fit more than 100 cars, is full, Ruhlig said.
The store is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The home goods section of the store is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Firefly petunias that glow in the dark sell out at metro Detroit garden store in 1 day
Reporting by Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
