The partnership of “HILLSIDE GREENHOUSES” originated in 1972. Lorraine and Lucien Bosc were the original partners. Lorraine Bosc is a horticulturist, graduated from the University of Alberta. The intent was to establish a greenhouse enterprise to serve the district of Onoway, Alberta, and the surrounding communities, such as St. Albert, Stony Plain, and Spruce Grove. Following the retirement of Lorraine due to illness, her daughter Cathy (married name Cathy Massey), took over as partner in the early part of the nineties. The partners at this time are Cathy Massey and Lucien Bosc. Cathy is manager of the enterprise and a graduate of University of Alberta and holds a degree of B.Sc. in Botany as well as a “Master Gardener Certificate” which she obtained from Devonian Botanical Gardens. Lucien Bosc P.Eng., has a B.A. degree and a degree of B.Sc. C.E. Structural from University of Manitoba and is general overseer of construction and maintenance, with assistance in sales.

Our intent is to provide the best product on the market for the best price. In order to achieve this goal, we maintain the approach that our operation must remain small enough to be within the realm of a family business. Our philosophy is to price our product based on the value of the product rather than what the market can bear. This method has allowed us to provide our clients with the best prices for the value of the product. Maintaining our operation to a small family business has allowed us to keep total control of our expansion, and on our costs. By also using innovative methods, we prepare our own sterilized mix for plant medium, which are either grown from seed, or cuttings. Cuttings are obtained from professional greenhouses in mid-winter, and compliment the seedlings which are germinated from seeds obtained from professional seed houses. Based on this philosophy, we provide healthy plants in our standard container which holds the maximum number of plants possible for the type of plant grown. For example, we grow containers of 12 plants of marigolds, which we sell for the same price as most greenhouses sell for packs of 6 plants. Different types of plants require more or less space in the container, therefore, our plant in each container depends on the type of plant grown in the container. This number varies from 8 to 15 plants per container. The space required for each 001container is the same, thus the work involved in watering, caring for the container etc. is the same regardless of the plant in the container. The exception to this is the sale of “Proven Winners”, which are in essence basket stuffers. These comprise such plants as double geraniums, bacopa, wave petunias, supertunias, etc. These products are obtained from licensed wholesale greenhouses as plugs, which are then transferred into 100mm (4 inch) pots, and grown in our greenhouses to proper maturity for sale to the public. All plants are properly cared for, fertilized with each watering using dosatron equipment which injects low concentrations of formulated fertilizer adapted for each stages of growth of the plants.