MEMBER PROFILE 



Candia Gardens 

 "We're Known for Our Geraniums" 



In the 1950s, it was "The Pansy Farm" — old-timers 

 recall working summers in the production fields. 

 "Over the years," Beth Mortensen muses, "they 

 must have employed hundreds. Everyone seems to 

 have a story...." 



Then a new owner built three greenhouses and a 

 roadside shop and set up a garden center — but this 

 went out of business as well. 



So Beth and Wayne Mortensen are relative new- 

 comers — they moved here in December of 1990. 



Beth and Wayne were married and Wayne had al- 

 ready worked in the industry eight years ("good expe- 

 rience — I got to learn the nuts-and-bolts") before he 

 went to Penn State for a bachelor's in horticulture 

 and a master's in plant nutrition. Beth had already 

 earned a degree in marketing from Central Connecti- 

 cut. 



After college, Wayne moved around; both he and 

 Beth were at A.N. Pierson, a rose grower in Crom- 

 well, Connecticut, when he decided that 

 "if I had to get up and fix the 

 • ' burner at midnight, I'd rather 



"if . do it for myself." 



They knew 



i^*^ » New Hampshire 



through vis- 



^1 





its to Beth's aunt in New London and had already be- 

 gun looking — Brookfield, Littleton.... 



The Candia property needed work — the place had 

 been vacant awhile. After a first look, the Mortensens 

 returned to Connecticut. ..but the price and location 

 seemed right. 



At first, they worked to revive the garden center, 

 filling the 20'x30' wooden structure at the edge of the 

 road with hardgoods, bagged media, seeds, and bulbs, 

 along with material from their greenhouses. 



In two of the houses were raised, soil-filled beds 

 used for cut flower production. So it seemed natural 

 to grow cut flowers — Asiatic lilies, iris, freesia. They 

 planted in two-week cycles. 



They went through the yellow pages and visited ev- 

 ery florist listed, offering them samples of their crops 

 to give them a chance to see what would sell. A route 

 developed — they visited customers three times a week, 

 but it didn't seem to be the right road: it was time- 

 consuming; imports were beginning to enter the mar- 

 ket; there were few set orders and sales fluctuated, of- 

 ten without relationship to production. 



The wholesale route continued, but with bedding 

 plants and pot-grown crops. 



ALTHOUGH THEY'VE DECREASED the seasons 

 they're open, they've increased the size of the range. 

 Two of the original houses are still in use — and eight 

 others have been added. These eight are double-poly 

 hoop-style houses from Ed Person. Most have roll-up 

 sides. The first, a 28'x96', was put up in 1992. 



Last year, the original glass house was re- 

 moved and a 30'xl04' double-poly retail 

 house was put up. Directly behind it, a 

 12'x96' cold frame is used for pansies 

 in early spring. 



The ten houses are par- 

 allel to each other, their 

 ends facing the drive- 

 way sloping gently 

 upward from the 

 road. 



The Plantsman 



