Tag: hanging basket

Questions from the garden center

With many gardeners chomping at the bit to get their annual plants and vegetables into the ground, there is an endless supply of questions from those visiting local greenhouses, nurseries and box stores.

Some gardeners rely on “wait until Memorial Day,” while others use Mother’s Day as a signal to begin planting. Of course, if one is planting perennials, shrubs or trees, they can be planted as soon as the ground thaws (which it was a while ago). As I continue my part-time nursery sales associate job at a local farm and greenhouse, I continue to get lots of questions on when to plant as well as some of the more frequent questions included here.

Grab your garden trowel and let’s dig in!

Dear Doug – My kids got me the prettiest hanging basket this year for Mother’s Day as they do each year. Last year, however, most of the

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Thomsens Garden Center has new owners

by Dennis Dalman

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Thomsens Garden Center in Collegeville, northwest of St. Joseph, now has new owners – Steph and Ryan Roder, who live in Buffalo.

Arno Shermock, the owner-operator of Thomsens for the past 15 years, recently sold the business to the Roders. Shermock said he intends to keep working at the greenhouse through the growing season, along with its new owners. Thomsens, which started in the late 1970s, has come to be the largest greenhouse under glass in central Minnesota and attracts customers from a large area.

Bob and Bonnie Thomsen were the founders and owners-operators of the greenhouse for its first decade or so, until they sold the business to Shermock.

During an interview with the Newsleader, the Roders said they decided to buy Thomsens because it’s a perennially successful garden center, adding they plan to keep the same “great” employee team and will offer the center’s

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