It was May 1981, and the 25,000 square-foot Mt. Tom Greenhouse had not operated for 18 months. The new owners, Gregory and Nancy Schwartz, were tasked with restoring the 69-year-old greenhouse for its new intended use, rose production. The business was renamed Mt. Tom Roses and was one of four rose growers remaining in Western Massachusetts.
Gregory Schwartz learned rose growing while in high school and college, working in greenhouses. When he returned to Amherst, he worked at Montgomery Rose Company, one of the nation's largest rose producers with over 150,000 plants.
While working for a florist in Florence, Massachusetts, he heard that the Charkoudians were looking to sell Mt. Tom Greenhouses. Having agreed to a sales price, much work was necessary to prepare the greenhouses for growing. A new furnace was needed, the plumbing required updating, and the temperature needed to be kept at a constant 60 degrees.
Rose bushes needed constant maintenance with watering and fertilization every other day. It took five days to plant the initial 3,450 rose bushes. After planting, each plant's first stem had to be trimmed back for future growth. In March 1982, 6,000 plants were pinched back for the Mother's Day yield. The goal was to have about 10,000 plants in production.
By May 1882, about one quarter of the greenhouse was rehabilitated, and the owners hoped another quarter would be in service by the fall.
From planting, growing, weeding, irrigating, and delivery, the Schwartzes handled everything, with the two of them as the sole employees working seven days each week.
In 1988, the New England Rose Growers elected Gregory Schwartz as Treasurer and Secretary.
A decade later, the business was struggling. The business grew in the 1980s, and the company was producing 600,000 roses annually. By 1998, that number was cut in half. Competition from South American producers, especially Ecuadorian roses, proved a formidable obstacle to continued success.
In 2000, there were only 4 rose-growing operations left in New England, with only 2 in Massachusetts. It was around this time that Mt. Tom Roses ceased operating.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
Hampden County Registry of Deeds, Springfield, Massachusetts
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