A History of Minnesota Floriculture

Greenhouses proliferated at a rapid pace as many new firms opened for business in Minnesota. The start of the century was also an era of huge funeral flower displays. These were designs such as wreaths, pillows, crosses, lyres, Holy Bibles, armchairs, broken columns, broken wheels, gates, national emblems, locomotives, all kinds of large emblems, all constructed entirely out of flowers. The designs were built on wire frames available from factories. The frames were wrapped in moist sphagnum moss.

Flower deliveries were made by horse and wagon, or sleigh in the winter. Custom-made boxes, like on milk wagons, were mounted on the wagons and charcoal stoves were used for heat in cold winter weather. The boxes were transferred to the chassis of automotive trucks starting about 1910.

Until 1900, there were only two strictly retail Minneapolis florists: Miss H.B. Whitted, who started in business in 1894, and L.S. Swanson, who started his firm in 1898. By 1912, Miss Whitted added two more shops, including one in the Radisson Hotel building in Minneapolis. Typically, however, growers were their own retailers.

By 1900, there were two florists in Rochester, the Queen City Greenhouse and Rochester Greenhouses.

First Commission House

Brant and Noe of Chicago started the first Minnesota wholesale flower commission business in Minneapolis in 1900, with Cal Rice in charge. It was not profitable after one year, but Cal and his brother Arthur continued the business under the name Rice Brothers and were eventually successful. They expanded their product line by adding growers' supplies to their inventory. During the depression, they provided credit to many cash-short florists and developed many loyal, appreciative customers. This part of the business was run by John Rovik in later years and by his son John prior to closing in the early 1960s.

Large Greenhouse Ranges

Ferns, gloxinias and hydrangeas grown in a Holm and Olson greenhouse about 1900. (Photo courtesy Stanley Hampl, retired from Holm and Olson)

The Rice Brothers also built a greenhouse range in Brooklyn Center fairly early in the century. Lloyd Malmborg added a garden center while managing the range in the early 1950s. He purchased the business a few years later. During his first spring of ownership, a hail storm demolished a greenhouse and its carnation crop just a few days before Mother's Day, but his business survived. Malmborg added a retail flower shop in 1959 and a second growing range in Rogers in 1965. He sold the Brooklyn Center part of the business to George Lucht, an employee, in 1972.

In 1900, the Magnuson brothers erected the St. Anthony Floral Greenhouses in northeast Minneapolis. Enlarged over the years, the range was sold to O.H. Carlson in 1916, and then by him to Al Carlson in 1925. Hans Rosacker Company leased the greenhouses from 1935 to 1940. Then Fred and Carl Edmond purchased the establishment.

John Munson started Minneapolis Floral Company in 1900 at 36th Street and Calhoun Boulevard. The range became one of the largest cut flower growers in the country. Emil Olson (not related to O.J. Olson of Holm and Olson) purchased the firm in 1915 and moved the greenhouses to 940 Washington Avenue South in Hopkins, where they remain today. A retail shop was opened at 315 Hennepin Avenue and moved to 2420 Hennepin Avenue in 1936. A large retail business developed. Second generation Bert and Curt continued the business. Paul and Larry, third generation sons of Bert, now operate Minneapolis Floral, and have added flower sections in some supermarkets.

The Oscar Windmiller (1885) floral business in Mankato grew with daughter Pauline as the leader. A 50 x 350 foot greenhouse was erected in the early 1900s. In 1935, Bill and Opal Fratzke purchased the establishment and renamed it Hilltop Florists. In 1957, Marguerite and Ed Keane bought the business. Their daughter, Noel Keane Vantol, and her former husband Larry Vantol, now operate Hilltop Florists.

After emigrating from Denmark, Neil Neilsen worked five years for gardeners and florists in the Chicago area, and another five years for a leading St. Paul florist, before moving to Mankato. Neil purchased the Herman Lorentz greenhouses on the corner of State and Marshall Streets in Mankato in 1901. The range was enlarged to 50,000 square feet by 1921, and to 125,000 square feet by 1925. Other family members joined the firm. Plant and flower shipments were made to parts of Iowa, North and South Dakota and all of Minnesota. Neil died in 1941 and his children Holger, Ernest and Agnes carried on. Later after Holger died, Holger's son Gerald, Ernest's sons William and Paul and second generation Agnes operated the firm. This may have been the first greenhouse in Minnesota to be heated with gas. Their boiler room was spotless. The property was sold for development in 1968.

A Minneapolis Floral Company building and unidentified staff about 1905. (Photo courtesy of Paul Olson, Minneapolis Floral Company)

Hans Rosacker and a Mr. Sauer started the East Side Floral Company on Adams Street in northeast Minneapolis in 1901. The next year, Hans started his own business, the Hans Rosacker Company, with greenhouses built at Stinson Boulevard and 19th Avenue Northeast. Hans' sons Henry, Hans and Arthur continued and expanded the firm with numerous branches over the years. They purchased a Brooklyn Center greenhouse range in the 1930s. This range had what was probably the first overhead rail, plant-movement system in a Minnesota greenhouse. Henry managed the unit until the late 1940s, when the land became too valuable for greenhouses.

Henry Rosacker was an elected member of the Minneapolis Park Board for many years.

The Rosacker company leased the St. Anthony Floral Greenhouses in Minneapolis from 1935 to 1940 and produced cut roses. From 1942 to 1948, the firm owned and operated the Brookside Bulb and Azalea Farm in Brookside, Oregon. Hans's son Dick was put in charge of production at the Stinson Boulevard greenhouses in 1949.

Dodd and Betzold established a greenhouse and retail shop in Brainerd in 1901.

A new St. Paul City Market opened at 10th and Jackson in 1902 and was enlarged in 1936. Half of the area was lost to freeway development by 1964 and much of the remainder was used for parking thereafter.

Vegetable Growers

As the commercial viability of horticultural enterprises grew, many primarily vegetable growers began shifting their product emphasis from vegetables to flowers. For example, Albert Linder, a native of Switzerland, built his greenhouses on Wheelock Parkway in St. Paul starting in 1901. He first grew celery and other vegetables for the market and gradually shifted to flowers and flowering plants over the years. His sons Peter and Walter added more greenhouses and sold at retail and wholesale.

August Cornelius started in the vegetable business in south Minneapolis in 1901. His son-in-law, Emil Wagner, continued the vegetable business on Penn Avenue South, a few blocks from Bachman's vegetable farm on Lyndale Avenue. Cornelius's brother James operated a greenhouse vegetable business next door. The Wagner firm slowly shifted to floral crops after World War II, though some lettuce was still grown in their greenhouses into the 1980s.

Peter Hermes started truck crop gardening in 1906 on Larpenteur Avenue in Falcon Heights, just north of the University's St. Paul Campus. He soon started building greenhouses and the range grew to about four acres, plus a retail flower shop at the greenhouses. They grew a wide range of cut flowers, greens and potted plants over the years and always specialized in cut roses. Sons Ewald, Vic, Bob and Al took over the business with Ewald as president, Vic in wholesale, Bob in the mechanical end, and Al in charge of the retail business. Several other family members also worked in the business. A commission house and supply business was added.

More Greenhouse Ranges Developed

Three-panel panoramic photo of Holm and Olson's retail flower shop in downtown St. Paul about 1900. An enlarged area in the second image (below) shows the store's large flower display cooler. The ice man would place large blocks of ice in the back of the cooler every morning to help keep the flowers fresh. When mechanical refrigeration was developed, it replaced the ice man. (photo courtesy Stanley Hampl, retired from Holm and Olson)

Lumbering and iron mining triggered economic development and population growth in northern Minnesota. The first florist on the east end of the Iron Range was the Virginia Greenhouse and Floral company established in Virginia in 1904. The founder, Alfred Johnson, was a native of Sweden. He built an 18 by 35 foot wood frame greenhouse just off Chestnut Street. In 1908, he erected the first large glass greenhouse north of Duluth, on Fifth Avenue, Virginia. A third greenhouse was built on Southern Drive in 1916. Alfred's son Harold managed the newest structure. A full scale flower shop was opened on Chestnut Street in 1930. Alfred's son Ralph and daughters Elsa, Ardy, Esther and Marie operated the shop. Alfred Johnson died in 1939. The Fifth Avenue greenhouse was moved to Southern Drive to complete a 30,000 square foot range.

On June 7, 1952, a wind and hail storm broke more than 10,000 panes of glass and destroyed the plants in the greenhouses of the Virginia Greenhouse and Floral company. A week after reglazing was completed, a second storm destroyed 500 square feet of the new glass. The range was eventually closed and taken down in 1975. Marie Ralston's youngest daughter became manager of the flower shop on Chestnut Street in 1975. A branch outlet was opened in the Thunderbird Mall in 1977. Alfred's granddaughter Mary Jo Ralston managed the mall shop, until it closed in 1992. Mary Jo now manages the Chestnut Street location currently known as the Virginia Floral Company.

Robert Stern erected a greenhouse in 1904 at 38th Avenue North and Girard Avenue in Minneapolis. More greenhouses and a retail shop were added later. Sons Eric, Sr. and Julius entered the business later. They were followed by Eric, Jr. and Julius' sons Robert and Richard. It was named Robert Stern Florists, Inc. New greenhouses replaced the old in 1963. The business was sold in 1992.

In 1905, Alonzo B. Franklin started his nursery in Minneapolis. Later the firm became well known for the hybridizing and introduction of new peony cultivars. The firm closed down about 1952.

Carl Lindskoog and Glen Goodlund opened Lindskoog-Goodlund Florist on Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis in 1905. Carl had been employed previously by the L.S. Donaldson and the Minneapolis Floral Company greenhouse firms. Goodlund left the partnership some years later to open his own shop, and the firm's name was shortened to Lindskoog Florist to reflect the change. Later, Carl's son continued the business. Both Lindskoog's were active in floral industry activities.

Charles Nedved established a retail shop at 900 Palmer in St. Paul in 1905. A greenhouse range was added thereafter, and Charles's son Emil continued the business, which was moved to West Seventh Street. Emil's son-in-law, Arnie Roth, joined the business and managed it after Emil passed away. The greenhouses closed about 1967. Currently, Arnie's widow Lue and their son Steve operate two retail shops located in St. Paul and Eagan.

In 1908, Ralph Latham opened a flower shop in downtown Minneapolis. He was the son of Allanson Latham who was the executive secretary of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society for almost 30 years (1891-1920). The widely grown Latham raspberry introduced by the University was named for Allanson. Ralph's grandson Kenneth also operated the florist business for several years before it was sold to Neut Beugen in the early 1940s. Neut moved the business to a downtown Minneapolis skyway location. Don Lindskoog, who operated Lindskoog Florist with his dad Carl, became the owner in 1979. His son Richard now owns the shop and credits the skyway with providing high traffic in the shop area. It is currently called Lindskoog-Latham Flowers.

In 1909, Moore's Greenhouses opened in Detroit Lakes, selling plants and cut flowers.

Park Development and Theodore Wirth

A relationship developed between park board personnel and the florists. In 1906, Theodore Wirth became the superintendent of Parks in Minneapolis. He later became known as the 'father' of the Minneapolis park system. Born in Switzerland and educated in Europe, Wirth came to the United States in 1888, at the age of 25. After working in various positions in New Jersey and Connecticut, he moved west to Minnesota. He was a dynamic, progressive, energetic leader who loved flowers and was quite active in florists' activities on a local and national basis.

The first two Minneapolis Park Board greenhouses were erected in 1907. Prior to 1906, the Park Board had purchased their bedding plants. In 1906, wooden hotbed frames were used, along with space in the neighboring Minneapolis Floral Company greenhouses, owned by John Munson, a friend of the parks system. Two more Park Board greenhouses were built in 1909 and a third pair was added in 1912. An annual greenhouse chrysanthemum show was initiated in the fall of 1908 at the Lyndale Farmstead greenhouses, and it continued until 1978. The 1.5-acre outdoor rose garden was established and 4,000 roses were planted in 1907.

Minnesota State Florists' Association

With Wirth's leadership, the Twin Cities Florists' and Gardeners' Club was founded in 1907 and one year later it became the Minnesota State Florists' Association. He served as the first president of the association from 1908 to 1911. It became the North Central Florists' Association in 1969.

University Development

Three School of Agriculture horticulture students working in the greenhouse in 1900. Left to right, Clara Wickstrom, Alma Elson and Elizabeth Biery. (Photo courtesy School of Agriculture archives and Gerald McKay)

In 1902, LeRoy Cady was hired as Professor Samuel Green's assistant, and as an associate professor in ornamental horticulture at the University of Minnesota. Cady was quite active in florist circles and served as president of the Minnesota State Florists' Association in 1917-1918. The College of Forestry was carved out of the Division of Horticulture and Forestry in 1909. Green became the Dean of Forestry as well as chief of the Division of Horticulture.

The American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) was founded in 1903. It has become the recognized professional horticultural organization for individuals engaged in horticultural research, teaching, agricultural extension, and for a portion of the commercial horticulture industry. It became a very active society with an international membership.

An early president of ASHS was Professor William H. Alderman who served in 1920. He was chief of the Division of Horticulture, University of Minnesota, from 1919 to 1953. Other presidents from Minnesota included Larry C. Corbett of Northrup King (1914), M.J. Dorsey of the Division of Horticulture (1924), C.J. Weiser of the Division of Horticulture (1981) and Roy A. Larson (1989) a floriculturist then affiliated with North Carolina State University, Raleigh, but a Cloquet native. Larson earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in floriculture at the University of Minnesota before moving on to Cornell University for his doctorate.

Continuing development of the University's Division of Horticulture included the awarding of its first graduate degree in horticulture in 1907. The program was well advanced compared to what was available at most other institutions. For instance, floricultural research was only initiated at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in 1908. The first floricultural research publication in the American Society for Horticultural Science Proceedings only appeared in 1910.

College Park was just one block from the University's St. Paul Campus. It remained undeveloped and an eyesore as viewed from Professor Green's home. Therefore, he donated trees and shrubs to be planted there in 1908. The St. Paul Board of Park Commissioners planted them at a labor cost of $88.79.

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