OUR HISTORY

The winter of 1976-1977 was unusually cold, but in spite of the hostile weather a hopeful vision took shape, grew, and slowly became reality. Lawrence & Mavis Longfellow, with the help of their son Scott, constructed 12 large greenhouses and a sales building on a meadow in Manchester. Barely ready for spring sales that first year, they managed mostly without labor saving equipment. As grower and general manager, Scott brought the benefits of his University of Maine education to complement his parents’ years of experience. Mechanization gradually eased some of the laborious production. More greenhouses were added, as well as an employee lounge and conference room. The space between facing greenhouses was covered over, creating a “mall”, for more enjoyable shopping.

In 1987 Lawrence and Mavis retired. Scott and his wife Sandy, the new owners, brought fresh ideas to the business. Expansion of the facilities continued with the addition of more growing space, a display building, and new lines of merchandise. Envisioning an even more aesthetic presentation of their products, they erected three connected modern structures in 1995. This provided a much larger salesroom and foliage plant display area, leaving the former sales building available for offices, workshops, and community service.
From the 12 original greenhouses and labor-intensive production, Longfellow’s has grown to a much larger, state-of-the-art, 25-greenhouse facility. The largest Greenhouse in the state and a source of pride in the area, it is still dynamically evolving today.
The dedication and cooperation of Lawrence, Mavis, Scott, Sandy, and other family members, and of their loyal and capable staff, have brought beauty and pleasure to people from all over the state and beyond. The years of commitment and hard work have been a labor of love, and we are grateful to our customers who have made it all possible.

–By Mavis Longfellow

Service – Dedicated

We are devoted to helping you have a pleasant and productive gardening experience. Our trained staff of professionals will help you with any cultural questions ranging from planting and aftercare to problems and resolutions.