Greenhouse industry finds ways to thrive

In Manitoba today, more and more women are driving change and new opportunities in the local greenhouse industry.

In an era where every big box store has a greenhouse and even Amazon has launched its own plant store, how are these women reimagining the family greenhouse business and shaping it for tomorrow?

Nicole Bent, co-owner of Shelmerdine Garden Centre in Headingley, grew up in the greenhouse business and recalls that by the age of seven, her dad paid her 70 cents an hour to sweep floors.

Labour challenges, Bent says, are one of the biggest issues facing the greenhouse industry today. At the same time, she says, society is witnessing a massive upward trend in people’s interest in plants and growing their own food. "We are living in fast-paced and uncertain times," Bent says. "Plants teach us to slow down while feeding our bodies, minds and souls."

In the 1990s, Karen Sabados was selling plants out of a small 2.4-by-3.6-metre glass greenhouse in Lundar. Today, she co-owns Sabados Greenhouse, a thriving 1,486-square-metre greenhouse in Manitoba’s Interlake region.

Sabados is committed to an eco-friendly way of doing business. She battles pest insects with biological control strategies and reduces her infrastructure costs with solar hot-water panels and solar photovoltaic panels.

Sabados says in the future, even mom-and-pop greenhouses will rely on technology. She utilizes a single-head robot that picks up one plant liner at a time and has installed an automatic punch-and-grow transplanter. Her daughter Emily has joined the family business.

When Marilyn Crowe was a teenager growing up in Dauphin, she worked part-time at Birss Greenhouse. She became a registered nurse, started a family and in 1986 launched Secord-Crowe Greenhouses. Crowe gave up nursing in order to manage her 3,251-square-metre greenhouse full time.

Crowe feels the greenhouse industry is going in the wrong direction by embracing the clothing and fashion business. Nor is she considering online plant sales. There is always a hot pot of coffee, though, ready for her customers. Daughters Erin and Brett have now joined her in running the business. "If we take a holiday, what do we do? We tour greenhouses," Crowe says.

Lori van der Meer became involved in the greenhouse business through marriage. A family business since 1963, Van Der Meer Garden Centre in Île-des-Chênes was started by her in-laws. Her mother-in-law Anita taught her to seed and transplant. In 1994, van der Meer and her husband became owners and today their five daughters work part- or full-time in the business, but it is her son, Caleb, who has been instrumental in launching van der Meer’s new online store.

Diane Whitley is a fourth-generation grower who assisted her parents in their greenhouse business. In 2014, together with two of her sons, Colin and Tyler, she opened Red Valley Plant Market, 3091 St. Mary’s Road. The business includes full yard-design and landscape services.

When an established greenhouse business in Winkler closed its doors after 33 years, Lucy Janzen and her mom, Eva Wiebe, seized the opportunity to realize their dream. New Leaf Garden Center is now in its fourth year of business. Janzen and Wiebe attend gift and garden shows each year, grow their presence on social media and specialize in custom planters.

Dorinda Penner says that today’s consumer wants more than just a pretty petunia. Penner is co-owner of Sunshine Nursery and Greenhouse in Steinbach, which includes a popular bistro, gift shop and fashion boutique. Penner expects rising hydro rates to significantly impact the greenhouse industry.

Erna Wiebe, Penner’s friend and competitor, is co-owner of Oakridge Garden Centre on the west side of Steinbach. Purchased in January 2000, Wiebe serves as both head grower and manager. In order to provide year-round employment for her staff, she added a retail store and café in 2006 and has more plans to develop an indoor and outdoor shopping experience.

Monique Rampton’s parents bought Morden Nurseries and Garden Centre in 1964. Rampton took over the business in 1997, although her mom, Els Tessier, still stops in every day. Rampton’s daughter, Leah Olson, is a landscape architect and joined the business last year. Rampton says that one of the biggest challenges facing the industry is the arrival of Emerald Ash Borer.

Charlene Bosch’s in-laws used to sell bedding plants on a small lot 50 years ago. When she married into the Bosch family in 1975, her extended family decided they would build a greenhouse together on their shared homestead at 4270 Portage Avenue. They named it K Bosch & Sons Greenhouses.

"We work together every day and live next door to each other," Bosch says. Her mother-in-law, Ruth, now in her 80s, still helps out in the greenhouse.

Elizabeth Swirsky, co-owner of Lower Fort Garry Garden Centre, became involved in the greenhouse business by accident. She and her husband purchased a bare piece of land on which they started growing trees and, when they realized they had too many, advertised them for sale. Soon, they added a poly greenhouse.

Thirty-five years later, their greenhouse operation has grown to include a café and ice cream shop. Visitors can also enjoy a cold beer or glass of wine. Swirsky’s daughter, Dawn, has joined the business and is planning pop-up markets for the summer.

Alternative Choice Garden Centre opened in Brandon in 2013. Karin Griffin, co-owner, saw it as a natural adjunct to her landscaping business which started 20 years ago. She offers a custom container program with direct delivery to customers’ doors. Today, her daughter, Emma, works at the greenhouse as an administrator.

Prior to becoming co-owner of St. Mary’s Nursery, 2901 St. Mary’s Road, Carla Hrycyna worked for 10 years in the child-life department of the pediatric ward at St. Boniface Hospital. In 1995, she began working at St. Mary’s as a general labourer laying out product on greenhouse benches.

With a dynamic and creative vision, Hrycyna also manages a landscape company and retail gift shop. She is driven to define new opportunities for her business and employees and to respond to the changing marketplace.

"It is a commitment that comes with hard work," says Hrycyna, who wants her customers to experience not only the diversity her greenhouse offers but also the escape it provides from the rush of everyday life.

After graduating with a degree in plant science from the University of Manitoba, Sue MacLeod worked at the forestry nursery in Hadashville. In 1992, one year after her first daughter was born, she and her husband decided to build a hobby greenhouse. Today, their business, Glenlea Greenhouses, consists of 22 greenhouses.

MacLeod’s daughters, Heather and Arielle, both graduates of the University of Manitoba agriculture program, manage the retail store and are developing Glenlea’s e-commerce website for fundraising.

Sue Jensen Stubbe and Tammy Jensen are sisters whose dad started Jensen’s Nursery and Garden Centre, 2550 McGillivray Blvd., in 1966. At one point, their business included a landscaping service but interfered with the increased demands of raising their young families. Recently, their longtime employee, Susan MacPherson, joined their partnership.

Stubbe says that climate change will continue to have a significant impact on the greenhouse industry. There is the challenge of overwintering nursery stock as well as extreme temperatures and drought. She also says that the burgeoning interest in succulents is taking the industry by storm. As for attracting a workforce, Stubbe says, "We need to stand tall and talk about our industry. Its hard work but the rewards are wonderful and very grounding."

Gerry Sadler and her daughter, Crystal Page, own Sadler’s Creekside Greenhouse in Souris. In 1980, Sadler started her business out of the back of a 1960 Brookwood Chevy station wagon which, today, has grown into a greenhouse with more than 2,000 square metres of plant production and retail space. Page now manages the business with her husband while her mom and dad continue to be actively involved.

Jeanne Elliot DuBois worked for a medical device company and was on assignment in Europe when her husband bought Ron Paul Garden Centre, 2641 St. Mary’s Road. Today she is vice-president of growth and development. While online ordering is available on their website, she says, nothing replaces face-to-face interaction with the customer.

Nicole Bent says that for the industry as a whole, the best years are ahead.

colleenizacharias@gmail.com

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