AB Products is a unique kind of flower farm. As explained by co-owner Peter Schroder, not only does the property house 65, 000 square feet of commercial greenhouse space, growing hundreds of popular as well as unusual garden, cut flower and potted plant varieties for the wholesale market...

...But it also boasts a new retail garden center that would be the envy of any horticulturalist...

And that's because AB Products is the creative result of two horticulturalists, who also happen to be husband and wife. Peter and Anneke Schroder, both Dutch by birth, actually met in Canada and started their life together, 29 years ago, just south of Woodstock, Ontario (near London), just off the 403. Today, 3 of their 4 children also work in their ever-evolving business.

Anneke manages the wholesale greenhouse operation, while Peter's baby is the garden centre. "Peter has a strong need to teach so the garden center is perfect for him while I can grow pretty much anything but have developed a reputation for string plants," says Anneke Schroder. "I love the way the light filters through the trails."

In addition to a large variety of string plants including strawberries, AB Products grows Stephanotis (first shot in story) and Anthurium (below) as cut flowers for the wholesale market, along with specialty items like Velvet Elephant Ear.

The greenhouse also produces most of the products for the garden center, including over 200 perennials, all major annuals, hanging baskets and containers. Most of the shrubs and trees are outsourced.

"The garden center is only a year old but has already developed a reputation as the place to buy hanging and container plants," says Peter Schroder. "The simple fact is that if you want your container plants to flower and grow, you have to feed them. So for every plant sold, we give our customers the food that will help the plant thrive throughout the growing season," adds Peter.

That marketing strategy keeps customers coming back for more …of everything, not only the free fertilizer that Peter specially formulates to work with the water in the Woodstock area. They also get a lot of expert gardening tips – like using dish soap to manage insect infestations (it dissolves the waxy skin of insects without harming the plant or the soil).

Not surprisingly, AB Products does a lot of custom container work - either with AB Products line of outdoor ceramic pots or with containers the consumer brings in to have filled with "something fabulous".

Trees and shrubs throughout the garden center are planted in their grow pots in beds of pine mulch, all done with an eye to beauty but also to teach the consumer how to group different plant materials.

"We have customers that tell us that our garden center feels like a botanical garden," laughs Peter as he shows off his Ontario grown lemon, fig and pomegranate trees, because for horticulturalists like Peter and Anneke Schroder, that is the ultimate compliment. 

For more information, visit Peter or Anneke Schroder at AB Products Ltd. in Woodstock, Ontario. Take exit #6 off the 403 (just below the 401) then a short drive east on Rd 55, or contact them at abprod@oxford.net or 519-467-5530.