MORRISON – For Roger Meiers, part of being a gardener is sharing advice to ensure others have success.

It’s at the heart of being a small, local business owner, too.

Meiers owns K&R Greenhouse. He and a friend – the “K” – bought the business, an established greenhouse, more than 20 years ago.

Meiers, 64, had wanted to own and operate a greenhouse since he was a teenager.

“My neighbor lady had a beautiful garden: Her rows were always nice and straight,” he recalls. “I got into 4-H ... and I had a vegetable garden that turned into a 5-acre project. I sold produce for 20 years in front of our house and at farmers markets – and I always worked in a greenhouse.”

K&R Greenhouse is open year-round. It’s known for his hanging baskets in the spring and its poinsettias and greenery in the winter. The greenhouse also offers a good selection of zone-appropriate vegetable plants and fruit trees, as well as a variety of annuals and perennials. It also has a gift shop.

K&R also supplies about 15 area churches with lilies, tulips, and daffodils for Easter and poinsettias for Christmas.

Meiers considers himself a vegetable gardener and prides himself on his knowledge and experience – which he is eager to pass on to novice gardeners.

“I love the new varieties, whether it be super-duper green peppers, or some of the new kinds of tomatoes,” he says. “How many people get excited about a new type of broccoli?

“All the gardeners who come in here – that’s what makes it fun. And right now, they’re all just really eager and waiting for the weather to change.”

Meiers says he learned from the “old-timers” and experienced gardeners around him, and he urges novice gardeners to do the same.

“Your neighbors, anyone with a nice garden, they would love to tell you how to do it,” he says. “So many people are new at it (gardening), and they all need a little help to have some success.

“When I was just starting out, I would have loved for someone to give me some information about soil and fertilizer and bugs,” he adds.

Meiers reminds gardeners that growing plants, whether vegetables or flowers, is weather-related, of course, and thus somewhat uncontrollable, but also depends on good soil, fertilization, and pest and disease management.

“The only way I can stay in business … is honesty and really caring about the customer having success,” he says. “If they buy a certain plant … I want to make sure they know how to care for it the right way.”

K&R GREENHOUSE

K&R Greenhouse, 15543 Bishop Road in Morrison, is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Call 815-772-4595 or find it on Facebook for more information.