Legacy of the Little Falls Greenhouse continues to grow with new owner | Morrison County Record

    It was advice the two brothers, David and Dennis, had learned from their dad, William Calvin “Cal” Bengtson, many years before.

    Nelson officially purchased the Little Falls Greenhouse, Jan. 4. By going undercover in a sense at first, it gave him a chance to really get to know his co-workers and their strengths and talents as well as a greater insight and hands-on experience into the business as a local greenhouse. However, it wasn’t always the easiest task as he is normally quite outgoing and talkative, much like an open book.

    “I had to be a much quieter while I was working here than normal,” he said.

    While a couple of employees suspected something was going on, Nelson and the Bengtson family were able to keep it all a secret. Whenever Nelson was asked questions by any of the employees, his responses were short, but truthful. For instance, he said, when they asked him where he came from and he replied that he had been doing the same thing in New York, he recalls one of them turning around and asking him inquisitively, “So… what are you doing here?”

    “I said, ‘A change of pace,’ because I was never going to lie to them about anything. But now that they know, I can volunteer more information now,” he said.

    Growing up in the eastern St. Paul suburbs, Nelson said he worked for bigger garden centers during his high school and college years. He also did some landscaping and other projects along those lines.

    Later on, he moved to Wyoming, where he worked as a fly fishing guide for various guest ranches. Once they discovered his niche for landscaping, he was asked to handle that aspect, as well, in between fly fishing trips. It was something he enjoyed tremendously.

    After spending more than 10 years in Wyoming, Nelson moved to the Catskills of New York, where he continued fly fishing guiding, but mainly managed a fly shop. His landscaping skills were also used in front of the store as well as for other people in town. Then, after about 10 years in New York, Nelson decided it was time for not only a change of career, but also a change of pace.

    Nelson said what made him settle on Little Falls was because of its population size and what the greenhouse has to offer the community. Tired of living in big cities and having had the experience of living in a town with about 640 people, Nelson said he wanted something in between.

    At first he had looked at another greenhouse for sale in a different city, but said he felt like the owners didn’t really care about what happened to their business. He had the complete opposite experience with the Bengtson family.

    “It’s a good fit. Talking with David and Dennis especially, it’s one of those that I didn’t get the impression that they were looking to just sell and blow out of town type of thing,” he said.

    That is also evident from the history of the Little Falls Greenhouse, Nelson said. It’s been a staple in the community for a long time.

    The Little Falls Greenhouse was established in 1948 by Clarence and Mildred Reinschmidt. After operating the business for 18 years, they sold it to David and Dennis’ parents, Cal and Betty Bengtson.

    When the Bengtson family moved from Minneapolis to Little Falls in November 1963, Dennis was 14 years old and David was 4. They quickly settled into the area and eventually became very involved in the community in their local church and in various organizations.

    David said that before they moved to Little Falls that his father had worked in the floral department of the department store, Donaldson’s and later had owned and operated his own floral shop in the lobby of the Nicollet Hotel.

    “‘My business is flowers,’ he said. Growing plants gave him a new challenge. He began reading books and questioning his many grower friends in Minneapolis,” David said.

    As Cal became more confident, besides selling his plants and flowers out of the floral shop, David said his father began selling to floral shops in northern Minnesota. As the business grew, he realized his need for more growing space and with it, more employees, as well.

    As their sons aged, Betty, Dennis and Dave became more involved in the business.

    While the Little Falls Greenhouse has flourished and expanded over the years, the business has also faced tough times. After a flood of the century in 1972 and later, a fire in 1977, David said it was their father’s determination and perseverance, along with the support of other grower friends and the Little Falls community that helped the family business move forward.

    Dennis said that while the greenhouse was protected with a natural dike of the road during the 1972 flood, it didn’t hinder groundwater from seeping up from the ground.

    “The houses weren’t affected at all, but we had a lot of stuff in the basement, like two boilers. That was our heating, so that had to be restored,” Dennis said.

    Although the fire in 1977 destroyed about 80% of the greenhouse, David said that a week later their father was able to rent a building out of which he could work to sell his plants and flowers.

    Despite the setback of disasters, Cal rebuilt larger and better, said the Bengtsons. Before long, the business was growing 12,000 poinsettia plants, 6,000 Easter lilies and many other seasonal blooming plants. Crops were rotated annually throughout the greenhouses and eventually, the Bengtsons opened the greenhouses to the public, David said.

    “Hundreds of people from all around the area came for the open houses to view the sea of red poinsettias at Christmas time and to smell the beautiful spring flowers at Easter,” David said.

    In the 1970s, Cal launched a radio program called, “Pots and Plants, which aired 10 minutes before the Party Line. He always had a captive audience. Then, seven years later, he changed to writing a weekly article with the same name in the Morrison County Record for 26 years, David said.

    In October 1980, Dennis and David purchased the family business. Dennis had graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1976 with a degree in floriculture and soil science and David had completed a program at a private school in Chicago, Ill. with a certificate in greenhouse management and plant propagation.

    Dedicated to continuing the legacy of the Little Falls Greenhouse, the two brothers brought their knowledge together to grow and supply a superior product to the growing number of retail and wholesale customers. Eventually, their wives, Sheri and Missy, were welcomed into the business, as well. While working with family can be tough, they made it work and enjoyed the benefits of it.

    “It’s nice when you have the same holidays or time off. We were also offered the house across the street, so commuting was wonderful,” Sheri said.

    Although the brothers had taken over the business, Cal and Betty continued to support their sons and their wives with hands-on support, encouragement and sharing of wisdom — something they all appreciated greatly.

    As the business continued to grow, more expansion and improvements were made which doubled the size of the facility. The focus on growth also led Dennis and David to develop seasonal satellite garden centers they called, “Plants to Grow.” The first was set up in Brainerd and a few years later, another one was set up in St. Cloud and later, in Waite Park, they said.

    The number of people the Bengtson brothers employed varied over the years. During the peak business years, the demand of wholesale floral shops and greenhouses, their own floral shop garden center and the “Plants to Grow” stores led to employing about 48 employees, of which some were seasonal.

    In 2004 and 2005, the brothers made a few difficult changes in their business plan, but changes they knew would benefit the business in the long run. As wholesale had been limited to only a few shops, they closed their floral shop in 2005. A year later and after 21 years of offering the seasonal satellite stores, they decided to close the, “Plants to Grow,” stores. It allowed them to focus more on the seasonal Little Falls Garden Center, which continues to thrive in offering their best in plant product and customer service, they said.

    As they are all getting older, the Bengtsons figured it was time to sell the business.

    “The Bengtson family extends our gratitude and thanks to our devoted employees. We greatly appreciate your years of working side by side with you and for your dedication and outstanding service to our customers. We will miss working with you. You have been family to us. We also thank the Little Falls community and the many loyal customers from all around the area for their patronage and support of our business through the 58 years. It has been a pleasure supplying you with quality plants, flowers and service,” the Bengtsons said.

    All four are fully confident that Nelson will do a great job. Knowing his competency in the field first-hand and his eagerness to take the greenhouse to the next level, they wish him every success in the future.

    “We trust the community will extend Matt the same patronage and support you have shown us over the year,” the Bengtsons said.

    Besides being there to offer help or advice to Nelson, if needed, they are still thinking about what they want to do. Dennis and Sheri plan to continue to spend their winters at their home in Arizona, something they have been doing since 2005 or 2006, Sheri said.

    Since Dennis won a couple of tickets through the lottery to the Masters Tournament, he and their son, Jonathan, will be going to that in April. Both of them love to play golf too.

    David and Missy plan to travel more as most of their time has gone to managing the greenhouse. One destination that is on their list of places they want to travel to is to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.     

    While some people may have a recreational vehicle, David and Missy have a recreational boat that they enjoy spending time on, especially by the North Shore.

    The employees at the greenhouse were told about the owner change last week. Their reaction was very positive, the Bengtsons said. Since they already know Nelson and he knows them, it makes the transition a lot easier everyone, too.

    Nelson said he doesn’t really plan to make any changes to the greenhouse at this time. Customers can still expect professional and friendly customer service and a variety of excellent products.

    When Nelson isn’t working, he enjoys bird watching, fly fishing and exploring with his dog, Lefty, who keeps him guessing what his next trick will be. Lefty is a 13-year-old rescue dog that no one really knows what kind of breed mixture he is. One thing is for sure, Nelson said, he is extremely intelligent and has even figured out how to open doors with round door knobs.

    “He’s one of those where he’ll be dead asleep and you like leave the room for two seconds and then you come back and he’s like up on the counter, looking for a stick of butter. Then he’ll give you the look like, ‘Oops,’ lie down and pretend to be asleep again,” he said.

    Thrilled for the opportunity, Nelson said he is looking forward to continuing to serve the Little Falls community and beyond.