Sometimes a small business and its owner seem to be made for each other. Such is the case for Anne Vale, founder of Vale's Greenhouse. Raised in Shropshire, England, she came to Canada in 1961 to stay for good, after she fell in love with Canada, having visited a friend on a ranch south of Longview the year before. There is something of the pioneering sprit about Anne, who is an independent-minded person that wanted her own business. She began to operate a small greenhouse in 1976 and in her first year, grew 2000 bedding plants, which sold out in 10 days. It was then that Anne knew that she was in business. Over the next few years the business grew and Anne established herself as an excellent plants woman. She created the show garden around a growing business and learned the fine art of gardening in Alberta's tough climate.
In 1990 Katrina Diebel, Anne's goddaughter came to work with Anne. Having grown up on the family farm just south of Black Diamond, Katrina had plenty of experience in a farming type business. With a business to grow, Katrina created a successful landscape business. Everyday she set off for a long day of working in other people's gardens. As Katrina's family grew in numbers, landscaping took many summer hours away from the greenhouse. It was then she stopped doing landscaping and spent all summer at the greenhouse propagating and growing plants for the next season. She has become a wiz at creating spectacular planters, and growing rare treasures for the garden.
In 2004, Anne retired from the Greenhouse, leaving it in the good hands of Katrina and her staff. Anne keeps very busy in her own garden, and has helped in the rewriting of the best seller, Gardening Under The Arch. She also spends many hours supporting Katrina's children at all their sports functions.
Katrina has now taken over a busy growing business serving many happy customers from all over Southern Alberta, and is now carving her own name in the gardening world with enthusiasm and hard work that keep Vale's Greenhouse in top shape. With quality plants being produced on site, there is always a full greenhouse. Katrina's reputation for growing the hard to find plants and having the new introductions is spreading. There is always a plan for something new to be built or remodelled at the ever-changing business.
Katrina welcomes new customers to come and discover her business and let the staff at Vales Greenhouse introduce them to the fascinating world of gardening. "We enjoy seeing the same customers every year and watching them grow with their skills, as much as they enjoy seeing my business grow."