When it comes to your local store, the 108 Mile Supermarket has it all.
Alongside its well known pantry, deli and selection, the supermarket brings another aspect to their store in the spring: a garden centre.
The supermarket has had the garden centre for as long as 15 years when it started as a small tent in the front parking lot.
“The tent just seemed to keep getting bigger,” says Shelan Tessaro, the supermarket manager who runs the garden centre.
When the building was renovated the greenhouse was moved to the side of the building that allowed the operation to expand and carry more products.
Amid the garden area can be found trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, vegetables and herbs.
“It’s neat when you walk in and see nothing but green and flowers. People love it,” says Tessaro.
Tessaro supplies most of the centre from the Horse Lake Gardens, but occasionally brings in a small order of plants from Chilliwack, while the trees, shrubs and perennials come from the Bron and Sons Nursery in Grand Forks.
While Tessaro is quick to point out that neither herself, nor her four staff, are horticulturalists, she says their knowledge comes from their own experience gardening at the 108.
“I just love flowers and watching the flowers grow. I love being outside and the smell of dirt,” she says with a laugh.
She says growing plants can sometimes be tricky in the area, because while classified as a zone 3 for gardening, the region can often grow zone 4 or zone 5 plants as well.
“It comes from experience, from what we’ve tried to grow,” she says.
As for her favourite plant that can be found in the centre, Tessaro says she’s a fan of the ligularia.
Despite the exotic spelling, the ligularia is known more for its “humongous” foliage than its flowers, which is what Tessaro loves about it.
Alongside the ligularia, Tessaro says best sellers are the bright petunias, pansies and merigolds as well as the vegetables the store carries.
Alongside the large selection of plants, the 108 Mile Supermarket has an added benefit, one that contributes to it’s ongoing success as a store.
“You don’t have to go to town, that’s the nicest,” says Tessaro.
Lucky shoppers might also get a chance to stop and visit with Prince, the golden retriever who has made his mark on the market and the garden centre.
The garden centre opened the week before Mother’s Day and will be at the supermarket until supplies run out.