EDWARDS GREENHOUSE

4106 Sand Creek St., Boise, 342-7548

www.edwardsgreenhouse.com

Garnette Edwards took over Edwards Greenhouse 30 years ago from her father, who received it from his father, the founder.

“You do it because you love it, working the same ground as your father and your grandfather,” she says. “In an environment where things don’t seem to last, we’ve worked really hard to get this to last.”

Now a fourth generation — Edwards’ daughter Erin Monnie — is transitioning into leadership to carry on the 82-year-old legacy. Edwards says she will continue to work but relinquish responsibilities as Monnie takes them on.

After weathering the recession, Edwards says, business exploded this season as customers returned to gardening.

A major change Edwards has seen in the past 30 years is the explosion in plant varieties.

Edwards’ perennial varieties numbered up to about 30 then, but now they range from 3,000 to 5,000, she says.

And “organic gardening was something that just a small facet of the public did, but now a sustainable, organic garden has become a way of life,” Edwards says.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Zamzows, multiple locations, www.zamzows.com

• Greenhurst Nursery & Garden Center, 3209 S. Happy Valley Road, Nampa, 466-5783, www.greenhurstnursery.net

• D&B Supply, multiple locations, mydbsupply.com

• 36th Street Garden Center, 3823 N. Garden Center Way (36th Street and Hill Road), 433-5108, www.36streetgarden center.com