Lloyd Veit and with his wife Mary set-up Fernlea Flowers back in 1933.
From the two greenhouses of vegetable in 1933 Fernlea branched into growing Chrysanthemums…later to discover there was no market for them.
Never undaunted, a tiny flower shop was opened. In those days when sales reached $10 a day they were prosperous! Business flourished and a branch store was opened in Alymer in 1945… in '47 another in Tillsonburg.
All was going well at Fernlea in the growing area and retail shops and then in 1948 disaster struck and fire broke out at 1:30 a.m. causing severe damage and knocking out the two story boiler room.
Friends, neighbors rallied around to help wherever possible and in 16 days a new cement boiler was in operation.
This set-back hit Fernlea hard, but the Veit's were not discouraged. In March 1953 a new display area and a design room were opened.
How did they fight their way back? The store hours were 8a.m. to 9p.m. A sign hung over the front door "Always Open" and with the exception of Christmas Day this was a fact of life for them.
By 1956 stores were opened in St. Thomas and Ingersoll followed by Simcoe in 1962.
In the early 70's Fernlea commenced growing tropicals. With the great demand for this item they expanded once again and set up a growing area in Stuart, Florida.
In 1974 this little "giant" in our Industry passed away but not before being awarded the highest honor in the Canadian Floral Industry – the Cecil Delworth Award… the award is made for outstanding leadership and devotion to the Industry.
Lloyd's great work did not end on his passing, for his son Gary, daughter Virginia and son-in-law Joe Howe have taken up the challenge and are carrying on his great work.
Recently Fernlea celebrated 40 years in the flower business with 10,000 people joining them for the occasion, to view the 20 acres of Greenhouses in Delhi. Further Greenhouses in Leamington are cover another three acres of land where they grow Bedding Plants, Tropicals and Poinsettias.
From a small beginning of two greenhouses this family is now supplying product to all the largest floral outlets in Ontario and Quebec, as well as their seven retail stores.
Fernlea Blooms On
By Chris Thomas
Spring has finally arrived and with the warmer weather comes the "flowers that bloom in May."
But at Fernlea Flowers Limited just west of Delhi, the flowers bloom year-round.
With 20 acres of growing area under glass and plastic, Fernlea Flowers is Canada's largest greenhouse operation.
The scope of their operation is mind-boggling, both in terms of its physical size and production output. Company president Joe Howe and supervisory staff use motor scooters to travel from greenhouse to greenhouse where over 2,000 varieties of plants and flowers are grown.
Fernlea Flowers aim their production at the holiday season markets throughout the year. For instance, they annually grow 500,00 poinsettias, 160,000 Easter lilies, thousands of shamrocks, 450,000 garden chrysanthemums and a staggering 1.3 million geraniums They also produce 200,000 flats of bedding plants for the spring garden season and 100,000 hanging baskets. Having acquired a 25-acre nursery in Florida six years ago, they have a year-round supply of a wide variety of tropical plants.
Such a volume of diverse plants and flowers being grown throughout the year requires impeccable production coordination.
Virginia Howe, company vice-president, said they computerized their operation eight years ago and many of their facilities are completely automated.
"The technology is changing dramatically," she said. "It's necessary to keep up with the automation of the industry."
Fernlea has been in the forefront of that technology and all their seeding is done by the innovative and efficient plug system. Many of their greenhouse beds are watered automatically and some are artificially lighted so there is growth even at night.
Mother Nature has very little to do at Fernlea.
"We can slow down growth if it's sunny, or speed it up if it's cloudy," said Candy Hemsley of their production staff.
All their soil is specially prepared with nine different components in the mix. There's a special team to mix chemicals and fertilizers.
"We have to keep good control of diseases and pests," said Hemsley.
For all the technology that's used, a great deal of manual labor is required. Last year at peak seasons, Fernlea employed 375 people. Their normal staff totals 175 in the greenhouses and seven retail outlets in Simcoe, Delhi, Aylmer, Tillsonburg, Ingersoll, St. Thomas and their head office.
"Labor in not a problem," said Virginia. "Our peak seasons work in well with other local industry."
As well, the downturn in tobacco has resulted in a big source of labor.
Fernlea's flowers can be found all over North America. In addition to their local retail outlets, they ship flowers across Canada and about 10 years ago they cracked the American market. Today, about 20 per cent of their production is exported.
Virginia said they are making a concerted effort to increase their exports and they regularly attend trade shows in the United States with their product.
"We always think of expansion," she said. "It's a very competitive business."
Fernlea's roots go back almost 50 years ago when the company's founder, Lloyd Veit, began market gardening and then branched out into growing chrysanthemums. He then established a retail business and began to expand the greenhouse ranges.
Veit traveled as far as Europe seeking ways to improve his business and one successfully borrowed idea was a new type of greenhouse. Fernlea became the first in Canada to construct the VanWingerden greenhouse which now constitutes their major type of greenhouse.
Just recently, Fernlea established a new division "Gro-Pro."
This division will provide partially grown product for other greenhouse ranges in Canada and the United States, as well as provide wholesale supplies.
Fernlea continues to be a blooming industry.