A Family Affair

One day, Lois and Ted were working on the farm, and a couple of men stopped by and asked if they could buy some of their beautiful cucumbers. They inadvertently fell into the market garden business. Eventually, the farm evolved into a successful greenhouse and garden centre. Hole’s Greenhouses and Gardens was one of the largest retail greenhouses in Western Canada. Lois and Ted’s sons Bill and Jim, along with Bill’s wife Valerie, worked hard to continue the legacy of Lois and Ted when they took over the business in 1979.

In 2011, the Hole’s opened the Enjoy Centre, a brand-new multi-business shopping experience. In 2019, the Hole’s decided to step away from the business for new adventures.

Lois Hole wrote fifteen books about horticulture, five co-written with her son Jim. Many of these books have a home on the shelves of St. Albert residents. 

Credits: Hole’s Greenhouse and Gardens aerial photograph, August 1996 (Musée Héritage Museum); Bedding Plants: Practical Advice and the Science Behind it by Jim and Lois Hole (Musée Héritage Museum); Lois Hole’s Favorite Bulbs by Lois Hole (Musée Héritage Museum); Herbs & Edible Flowers: Gardening for the Kitchen by Lois Hole (Musée Héritage Museum); Hole’s Greenhouses and Gardens staff photograph 1991. Lois bottom row second from the left. Lois is seated between her son Jim and husband Ted (Musée Héritage Museum); Planting Seeds of Knowledge (Musée Héritage Museum); Spring 2004 edition of Jim and Lois Hole’s gardening magazine (Musée Héritage Museum).