CHECK OUT DEB ON GREAT GARDENING!!! https://www.wdse.org/shows/gardening/video
|
|
|
Gardener's Mecca in Minnesota: An illustration of the Why
http://travelgardeneat.com/2015/05/22/gardeners-mecca-in-minnesota-an-illustration-of-the-why/
Gardener’s Mecca in Minnesota: An Illustration of the “Why” ON 05/22/2015 BY KAT AT TRAVELGARDENEATIN GARDEN, TRAVEL
PLEASE GO TO ABOVE LINK TO ENJOY ALL OF KAT'S PICTURES, THEY ARE AWESOME!!! THANKS KAT
Along a lonely stretch of highway, near the small town of Zim, Minnesota, one can find a little piece of heaven for gardeners.
Byrns Greenhouse is unassuming from the road, but as you pull in the driveway (or park along the shoulder of the highway on the typically busy weekends) and make your way toward the greenhouse buildings, you quickly discover why Byrns has such a following among northeastern Minnesotans.
After winning a gift certificate at a local gardening class in 1996, I have made the hour-long drive to Byrns almost every May for 20 years. It is my “go to” source for hanging baskets and annuals, as well as shrubs and perennials. But, it is also more than that.
This year, I squeezed in my annual visit while returning home after several days away at a leadership development training session for work. The greenhouse happened to be just a slight detour, and I was craving some decompression time on a glorious summer-like afternoon.
One of the last discussions my training cohort enjoyed earlier in the day was Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” regarding principles of successful leaders and businesses. While I had intended to disconnect from work and unwind among the flowers and greenery, I found myself reflecting on Sinek’s TED talk and why I trekked miles away to a greenhouse to buy items available at numerous locations closer to home.
The fundamental concept of Sinek’s talk is “The Golden Circle” --People don’t buy what you do, they buy Why you do it. I could buy petunias and hanging begonias anywhere, but I want to buy them from Byrns. Certainly, the reasonable prices are attractive — but so are Wal-Mart’s. They have a large variety of overflowing hanging baskets — but so do numerous other area garden centers. In fact, other retailers have wider aisles with smooth concrete that allows large newer carts to glide effortlessly across the floor… while at Byrns the old double-decker metal shopping carts can often have a mind of their own as you wrestle them across the various terrains of the greenhouse outbuildings.
Much has stayed the same over 20 years — the colorful, bountiful hanging baskets and reasonably priced 6-packs of flowers are constants … and so are those crotchety shopping carts. The complimentary freshly-baked cookies and flavored herbal waters (soooo refreshing on a hot day while browsing!) are recent additions. Old and new combine effortlessly, reinforcing the charm of the greenhouse. I helped myself to a cup of mint-infused water and another customer came up to the counter and asked whether there was a cost to the herbal waters or cookies. The woman behind the counter responded with a smile, saying, “No cost — it’s all part of the Byrns experience!”
The “Byrns experience” … as I heard her say that, Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” came to mind. Byrns Greenhouse operates from theWhy not the What, and that is what cultivates the sense of loyalty in customers like me. The greenhouse has been operating as a family business for over 40 years. During these last 20 years of their operation, I have watched the fourth generation grow up just as my own boys have grown. I have watched multiple generations of family work side-by-side, teaching each other, passing knowledge down. Pride and joy both are evident.
As I mulled over which of the intriguing head planters to purchase, the enthusiasm of one of the owner’s sons about these interesting new items was infectious. Would I have bought a 2-foot tall ceramic planter head for the garden at Home Depot? Not likely, despite my interest in them; there are many interesting features one can find for the garden. Later, his mother, one of the third generation and my contemporary, graciously scavenged for one of the few remaining lemongrass plants as we shared ideas for the irreplaceable taste of fresh herbs in teas and foods. We reminded each other of how the years have flown and our boys had grown from toddlers disappearing in the foliage-filled aisles to young men carrying massive succulent-filled ceramic heads to the back of my car! I wanted to support theWhy of their business.
Shopping at Byrns is a personal experience, where you are treated like an old friend returning for a visit.
A rooster crowed periodically as I browsed the creative planters. The whistle of a train could be heard as it approached on the rural railroad tracks parallel to the greenhouse. The senses were fully engaged by the end of my visit, beyond the visual beauty and fragrance of the greenery around me. A detour to Byrns while driving home from a week away for work was as good as … no, even better than … a stop at a spa.
Why travel afar to pick up the petunias? Because I am buying family, I am buying small business, I am buying local. I am buying lovingly cultivated plants and creatively crafted planters.
Byrns Greenhouse is not your ordinary greenhouse. Plan on a couple of hours for your visit, and make sure the back of your vehicle is cleared out and ready to accommodate both the planned and unplanned purchases you are certain to leave with at the end of your experience.
Ciao! ~ Kat For more information on and driving directions to Byrns Greenhouse: http://www.byrnsgreenhouse.com/
Byrns Family Farm of the year
St Louis County Honor 2012
Byrns Family Farm of the year
St. Louis County
Byrns Erickson Families
The Byrns’ family farm, located near Zim, Minnesota was purchased in 1956 by
Francis and Margaret Byrns. The farms’ first crops were potatoes, carrots, and
cauliflower. It also had some blue grass sod. In 1977 the first greenhouses
were built. Francis and Margaret’s son Bob and his wife Pat along with Bob’s
sister Louise joined the operation. Deb Byrns Erickson also joined the
operation in 1996 and became owner in 2003. The operation is now 43,000 square feet of greenhouse and related retail buildings. Deb’s operation produces
bedding plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, and soil mixes. The operation
features plant varieties that are suitable for some of the coldest parts of
northern Minnesota. The Byrns reputation for quality and value is renown in
northern Minnesota with customers driving 175 miles from as far as Grand Marais
and the Twin Cities to purchase their products. Deb’s husband and sons are
actively involved in the business, making it a 4th generation farm enterprise.
Deb Byrns Erickson is an active St. Louis County Master Gardener. The entire
family has made good use of Extension’s applied research to bring the people of
St. Louis County plants and products that perform well in this area.
DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE
DATE: Friday, May 4, 2007
SECTION: HOME AND GARDEN
MAGIC FORMULA: SPECTACULAR CONTAINERS ARE A NO-BRAINER IF YOU KEEP THREE SIMPLE CONCEPTS IN MIND
By Margaret A. Haapoja/For the Duluth News Tribune
Thrill, spill and fill. That's a formula for planting eye-catching combinations in containers. Select a tall, colorful or exotic plant for the thrill. Add a
vine or trailing plant to spill over the side and then fill with other compatible plants. Deb Erickson, owner of Byrns' Greenhouse in Zim, recently learned about the formula at Ball Seed's Centennial Celebration at the company's headquarters in West Chicago, Ill. Perfect candidates for the thrill are tall plants such as spikes, ornamental grasses, papyrus, large coleus and elephant ear. Erickson sometimes underplants them with shade-lovers like
impatiens and tuberous begonias.
"You don't want too many diva in a pot because they will fight," Erickson says of the thrill plants. Plants that spill over the edges of the container might be lysimachia, bacopa, Whispers' petunia, Vinca minor Illumination,' lamium, sweet potato vine and licorice plant. For the fill, Erickson selects plants depending on whether the container is going to reside in the sun or the shade. Petunias, impatiens, osteospermum, fuchsias and standard coleus fit the bill.
LIVING EXPERIMENTS
Erickson encourages gardeners to experiment with container gardens. Think of combining complementary colors, different leaf shapes and various textures, she said. Erickson begins with a light potting mix that contains peat, vermiculite, perlite, wood mulch, a wetting agent for moisture retention and a time-release fertilizer. Instead of adding moisture crystals, Erickson prefers to line her containers with an inexpensive disposable diaper to retain moisture. "The crystals can leave air pockets when they dry out if you miss a few waterings," she says, "and later you can tear the diaper off if you're reusing or composting the soil." Erickson recommends using odd numbers of any plant for the best effect. She likes to combine cool colors such as purple or blue or warm colors such as orange and red in one container. Erickson also tries to combine plants that require the same amount of water. She once mistakenly paired scaevola with double-pink petunias in a hanging basket, a bad combination because both are heavy drinkers. "The 12- to 14-inch hanging baskets need to be watered every day," she recalled.
To personalize her containers, Erickson often adds small statues, croquet balls, rocks or other accents. She also top-dresses them with pea gravel, colored aggregate or wood mulch. "It helps the soil retain moisture, and it looks much more finished," she says, pointing to a gnome in a container. "This one looks like he's standing in his own garden." Another option is to fill with sweet alyssum, violas or dianthus. "By the heat of summer they're gone, which is great because your other plants need that room," Erickson says. "And I love the alyssum because it gives you fragrance, and it gives another dimension to the pot."
Gardeners with limited space who want a low-maintenance container can try a cactus and succulent garden. For pots at the edge of a pond, use plants that don't mind wet feet. Among these are the new Baby Tut' papyrus, elephant ears, fiber optic grass, lysimachia, cannas, curly mint, Juncus effusus Spiralis' (corkscrew rush),sweet potato vine and Tahitian bridal veil.
Margaret A. Haapoja is a freelance writer and Master Gardener who lives south of Calumet
[email protected]
SECTION: HOME AND GARDEN
MAGIC FORMULA: SPECTACULAR CONTAINERS ARE A NO-BRAINER IF YOU KEEP THREE SIMPLE CONCEPTS IN MIND
By Margaret A. Haapoja/For the Duluth News Tribune
Thrill, spill and fill. That's a formula for planting eye-catching combinations in containers. Select a tall, colorful or exotic plant for the thrill. Add a
vine or trailing plant to spill over the side and then fill with other compatible plants. Deb Erickson, owner of Byrns' Greenhouse in Zim, recently learned about the formula at Ball Seed's Centennial Celebration at the company's headquarters in West Chicago, Ill. Perfect candidates for the thrill are tall plants such as spikes, ornamental grasses, papyrus, large coleus and elephant ear. Erickson sometimes underplants them with shade-lovers like
impatiens and tuberous begonias.
"You don't want too many diva in a pot because they will fight," Erickson says of the thrill plants. Plants that spill over the edges of the container might be lysimachia, bacopa, Whispers' petunia, Vinca minor Illumination,' lamium, sweet potato vine and licorice plant. For the fill, Erickson selects plants depending on whether the container is going to reside in the sun or the shade. Petunias, impatiens, osteospermum, fuchsias and standard coleus fit the bill.
LIVING EXPERIMENTS
Erickson encourages gardeners to experiment with container gardens. Think of combining complementary colors, different leaf shapes and various textures, she said. Erickson begins with a light potting mix that contains peat, vermiculite, perlite, wood mulch, a wetting agent for moisture retention and a time-release fertilizer. Instead of adding moisture crystals, Erickson prefers to line her containers with an inexpensive disposable diaper to retain moisture. "The crystals can leave air pockets when they dry out if you miss a few waterings," she says, "and later you can tear the diaper off if you're reusing or composting the soil." Erickson recommends using odd numbers of any plant for the best effect. She likes to combine cool colors such as purple or blue or warm colors such as orange and red in one container. Erickson also tries to combine plants that require the same amount of water. She once mistakenly paired scaevola with double-pink petunias in a hanging basket, a bad combination because both are heavy drinkers. "The 12- to 14-inch hanging baskets need to be watered every day," she recalled.
To personalize her containers, Erickson often adds small statues, croquet balls, rocks or other accents. She also top-dresses them with pea gravel, colored aggregate or wood mulch. "It helps the soil retain moisture, and it looks much more finished," she says, pointing to a gnome in a container. "This one looks like he's standing in his own garden." Another option is to fill with sweet alyssum, violas or dianthus. "By the heat of summer they're gone, which is great because your other plants need that room," Erickson says. "And I love the alyssum because it gives you fragrance, and it gives another dimension to the pot."
Gardeners with limited space who want a low-maintenance container can try a cactus and succulent garden. For pots at the edge of a pond, use plants that don't mind wet feet. Among these are the new Baby Tut' papyrus, elephant ears, fiber optic grass, lysimachia, cannas, curly mint, Juncus effusus Spiralis' (corkscrew rush),sweet potato vine and Tahitian bridal veil.
Margaret A. Haapoja is a freelance writer and Master Gardener who lives south of Calumet
[email protected]