Spring is in full bloom all around us right now, both in nature and at local nurseries and greenhouses. Our last frost date is right around the corner, so there’s no shortage of annuals, edibles and flowering shrubs available at these places.
Steve Rierson stands in his first glass greenhouse at Tom’s Planthouse in Winston-Salem. Rierson, owner of Tom’s Planthouse, is retiring and closing the 60-year-old business started by his father, Tom. Tom’s Planthouse in Winston-Salem is no different, as greenhouses there are packed to the gills with flowering geraniums, begonias and a multitude of annuals.
But this year looks much different for Tom’s Planthouse owners Steve and Debra Rierson because this will be their last season of growing flowers for local plant lovers. After this spring season, the Riersons will be retiring and closing the doors of Tom’s, which has served the community for the last 42 years.
Steve’s father, Tom Rierson, started the business in 1980, after working at Keaton’s Greenhouse since the early ‘60s. On the far northeast side of Winston-Salem near Walkertown, the greenhouses and the property provided lots of room to grow plants and grow the business. “My dad started leasing the greenhouses in 1980,” Steve said. “He leased the greenhouses for a couple of years, and then bought them. He pretty much just grew geraniums at Keaton’s. When he came here, he started growing geraniums for the spring and poinsettias at Christmas. I came in 1986, and I’ve been here 36 years.”
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