All in the family at Sumka Brothers Greenhouses

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/03/2021 (2014 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Generations of gardeners have flocked to Sumka Brothers Greenhouses in Transcona each year, and generations of the Sumka family have helped them create amazing gardens.

When George Sumka and his brother Paul started the business in 1977, the family sold vegetable seedlings and flowers at the Nairn Avenue markets. After another Sumka brother, Peter, joined the team, the business became a pop-up shop selling bedding plants in various places around Transcona.

Fast-forward to the early 1990s, and the business moved to the location it’s still in today at 328 Peguis St.. at the corner of Peguis Street and Transcona Boulevard. Over the years and at the various locations, five generations of the Sumka family have helped with the business. Today, three generations work together to run the garden centre.

The family is currently busy preparing for the greenhouses to open in the last week of April, and Maryann Sumka, George’s daughter, said the business will also be offering online ordering and curbside pickup in the first few weeks of May (weather and product dependant).

“This time of year is crazy in the growing houses,” she said. “It’s the culmination of over a year of planning, ordering, organizing, and anticipating to deliver perfect plants at the perfect time to our eager customers.”

She noted that 90 per cent of plants purchased in the garden centre are painstakingly homegrown, started by the family from a tiny seed or an unrooted leaf cutting months before the doors open.

For the 2021 season, the garden centre will be offering some new edible container gardening options, such as hanging pepper baskets and beet boxes, as well as new varieties of herbs, vegetables, and flowers. They’ll also be expanding their selection of plants that attract pollinators.

Like last year, the garden centre will be set up and operating with customer safety in mind, as per pandemic regulations. 

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the garden centre’s staff, and the support of the community, the greenhouse was able to supply local gardeners with a welcome distraction from the global health crisis in 2020, and will do so again this year.

“We have always been blessed with an extraordinary fan base of loyal customers,” said Maryann. “We take enormous pride in our work and in the top-quality plants we sell.”

Keep an eye on sumkabrothers.com for online ordering options and plant offerings for the 2021 season.

Melody Rogan is a community correspondent for Radisson. You can email her at preeneditorial@gmail.com

Melody Rogan

Melody Rogan was a community correspondent for Radisson.

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