Reha Greenhouses offers summer garden inspiration

By Cheryl Allen
Posted 4/12/23

“We are in danger of frost until about May 10,” Marianne Reha-VanRoekel says as we survey the plants for sale inside Reha Greenhouses in Wellman, but something about being inside that …

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Reha Greenhouses offers summer garden inspiration

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“We are in danger of frost until about May 10,” Marianne Reha-VanRoekel says as we survey the plants for sale inside Reha Greenhouses in Wellman, but something about being inside that warm, green-filled space raises spirits and encourages optimism.  

“A lot of people just come in to look here at the beginning of April,” she says.  Pansies and cole crops, such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and kale, are ready to be planted, but for the most part, Reha-VanRoekel advises, “Come out and enjoy the view and get your imagination going.  But really, you need to hold off for a little bit.”

There are so many beautiful, blooming plants inside the greenhouse space, it might be hard to resist filling your back seat or trunk bed with containers.  

The business, which Reha-VanRoekel’s dad opened in 1974 when she was just a second grader, grows vegetables and a few plants from seed.  Other plants they receive as hundreds of plugs from “all across the United States, from Colorado to New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,” Reha-VanRoekel says.  “We decide how we want to grow them, whether we want to put those plugs in pots or packs or baskets.”

“We grow the gamut,” she says.  “We have lots and lots of geraniums, lots of petunias.  But then we grow pentas and Angelonia.  We have about 15 different varieties of coleus.”

Pentas are tropical plants that bloom in clusters of tiny star-shaped flowers; Angelonia are fragrant, herbaceous plants from arid regions that erupt in tall spires of flowers.  Coleuses are plants in the mint family with beautifully colored leaves.  Inside the greenhouse, tables are filled with them.

“I think vegetable gardening is going to be big this year because produce is a little more expensive,” Reha-VanRoekel says.  “Why not grow it yourself and have it fresh?”

Whatever your preferences for vegetable gardening, Reha Greenhouses can supply your needs.  They carry about 15 varieties of tomatoes, 10 varieties of peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, squashes, and melons.  Heirloom varieties make up some of their tomato offerings; Brandywine, Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Amish Paste, and Amana Orange all grow well in our area and will be available for planting.

“Our personal preference, if you want good all-around tomatoes, [is] Big Beef,” Reha-VanRoekel says when asked if she has a favorite. 

“Actually – I’m saying this with a little pride – last year at the State Fair we got first place in the beef category of tomatoes,” she says.  “We’re very proud of that.”

Marianne and her husband Marty are new to participating in the State Fair, having only entered vegetables in the last two years from their personal garden.  They were not immediately successful, as Reha-VanRoekel tells a funny story about their onions being moved to the back of the table by a judge their first year, but with a few tips from an older, long-time gardener, they were able to raise their game.

Big Beef was their winner, and Reha-VanRoekel uses the “nice, meaty tomato” to make sauce, salsa, and stewed tomatoes as well as just slicing to eat fresh.

She also adores hot peppers, including poblano, ancho, Anaheim, and habaneros, and the greenhouse sells bell peppers and banana peppers as well.

One of her favorite peppers is Carmen, an Italian pepper that has a unique ‘bullhorn’ shape.  

“It turns red right away and is so sweet,” she says.  “If I was to cook with a pepper, I would choose the Carmen over anything else, because it’s so sweet.”

“When my youngest son, who is now 23, was a little tyke, he would just pick them off the plants and eat them, and he would say, ‘This is just like candy,’” she chuckles at the memory.

Reha Greenhouses are also known for their ferns; baskets of them hang over the tables inside the greenhouse.  

“We actually started those last August,” Reha-VanRoekel says.  “They’re all homegrown here, which we’re pretty proud of.  We do about 300 ferns.”

As the business heads into its 49th year, 22 of which Reha-VanRoekel has been a part, having left a career as an educator and been mentored by her now-retired dad, she’s excited about what they have accomplished.

“My husband and I feel that this is one of the best crops we’ve ever grown,” she says.  “It’s just a really good-looking crop.  Everything is growing well, has nice form and color.  It’s at the point right now where we want it to be.  We don’t want it to be too big.  We don’t want it to be too small.  We know that these that are sitting on the table are going to be flushed out and are going to look great by the end of April.”

“We’re not quite ready [for spring planting], but we’re getting there,” she says. “We’re inviting the public in to take a look around.”