Business Spotlight: Spring is here and gardens are blooming

There are a few telltale signs of spring in Tosa — that first rusty blush of a robin's breast, the first brave buds in the treetops and, for nearly 30 years, the first tent poles of the temporary greenhouse at Fruit of the Bloom.

"I have all these customers, once they see me starting to set up the greenhouse, they'll stop and say, 'I saw you setting up, and I knew spring was here.' It just has this really happy, hopeful impact on people," said Geri Nolan, who runs the greenhouse with her business partner Bill Bradshaw and nearly a dozen amateur and master gardeners.

After debuting at the Madison Farmer's Market in 1988, Nolan and Bradshaw quickly set up shop in Wauwatosa. And, for years, Fruit of the Bloom was a fixture in the parking lot at Metcalfe's grocery at 67th and State streets.

But when a developer announced plans for an Applebee's, Nolan found a new home outside the Wauwatosa School District's administrative office, known as the Fisher Building.

"It turned out to be the push that I needed," Nolan said.

Not only does the rent support the school district — a fact that pleases Nolan, a former special education teacher — but it's also given Fruit of the Bloom room to expand from a selection of hanging baskets and plats of perennials to nearly 40 varieties of tomatoes, almost as many kinds of peppers and a growing selection of container, garden-friendly fruits and vegetables.

Most of that stock comes from local growers, a network of about eight friends, who keep Nolan and company in steady supply of everything from impatiens and petunias to sweet bell peppers trucked in daily from Beaver Dam, Mequon, Oak Creek and points in between.

It's a haul for Bradshaw, who handpicks plants and produce from each grower and delivers up to four truckloads a day to the garden center, where Nolan and company work from nearly sunup to sundown in often unpredictable weather.

"I do have my employees keep three seasons of clothing in their cars. I have winter boots. I have rain boots. I have sandals, tennis shoes, rain pants, a good rain coat, a tank top and shorts, mittens. You just never know! There have been Mother's Days we've had a heater inside because it was in the mid-40s."

But, Nolan said, "I love it! I love getting my hands in the dirt. For two months, I can't get the dirt out of the cracks of my hands. I have no fingernails left. But I enjoy it."

JUST THE FACTS

BUSINESS: Fruit of the Bloom Garden Center, 12121 W. North Ave.

WEB:www.thefruitofthebloom.com

PHONE: (414) 459-1029

OWNERS:Geri Nolan and Bill Bradshaw

INCORPORATED: 1988

TYPE OF BUSINESS:garden center (seasonal, open late April/early May to July 22)

PEARLS OF WISDOM: "I hire gardeners, people who love what they do. They're local Tosa, Milwaukee, Brookfield homeowners, for the most part, so they know which plants work in our area, they know which plants don't and they love gardening."