The brilliant Jerry Twomey Plant breeder, art collector, entrepreneur
Uncle Jerry, a man for all seasons.
range of vegetable and flower seed and seed-starting accessories; a variety of flowering bulbs; many types of fruit and fruit trees from apples to strawber- ries; a full range of shrubs, roses and the most extensive selection of hedging and windbreaks, as well as the previ- ously mentioned health products and vitamins. This wide selection of products has
been maintained by a solid supplier rela- tionship, says Kevin Twomey, proudly. “Many of our suppliers have been with us for over 30 years. Our seed supply has been the same eight to 10 compa- nies from the United States and Europe for the past 30 years. Our nursery stock has been supplied by the same five or six nurseries from Manitoba, Saskatch- ewan and the northern U.S. for the past 30 years. And our perennials have come from Walters Gardens, one of the largest perennial growers in the mid- west U.S. for the past 30 years.” Kevin says that T&T Seeds has cultivated this solid relationship with all its suppliers to guarantee consistent quality and reli- ability of supply. He feels it is impor- tant to maintain these relationships. T&T Seeds has been solidly built
by the Twomey family over the past 72 years and the company will always strive for that old-fashioned, country store attitude — that is that people matter, whether they are a customer or not! T&T Seeds prides itself in provid- ing good products at reasonable prices, and best of all, says Kevin, “We have the quickest service in Canada.” x
localgardener.net J
erry Twomey, one of the found- ers of T&T Seeds, was an amaz- ing, unique individual with a
tremendous sense of humour and an unquenchable curiosity. Jerry received his bachelor of
science degree in agriculture from the University of Manitoba, majoring in genetics, with a master's degree from the University of Minnesota to follow. At the age of 24 he produced a vigor- ous, pure white gladiola with a scarlet blotch. He named it after his grand- mother, Margaret Beaton, and the flower won "World's Most Beautiful Glad" at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, garnering him a $10,000 cash prize during the height of the of the Depression! At the age of 26, McFayden Seed
Company put Jerry in charge of the seed company while he was work- ing with the federal Department of Agriculture producing vegetable seed. He spent the next 20 years research- ing the leaf feeding of trace minerals, plant hormones and enzyme build- ing blocks, to name a few. He sold large quantities of leaf-feeding dust in the United States and Canada for grains, potatoes, corn and so on. Jerry had research scholarships at eight or 10 U.S. and Canadian universities and agriculture colleges, and patents worldwide. He was instrumental in work with
2-4D as a weed control. He arranged a supply agreement with Dow Chemi- cal and was the first to bring 2-4D to western Canada. He played a major role in the development of dwarf wheat strains in Russia and Asia. In
Rosa 'All That Jazz'.
1946, Jerry and his brother Paddy started a mail order seed company, T&T Seeds, on Lombard Street in Winnipeg. In addition, Jerry was part of a group of eight individuals who started up Terra Chemicals, rais- ing $54 million on Wall Street. Terra Chemicals is now believed to be the second largest fertilizer company in the U.S. On a personal note, Jerry was a
collector of Inuit art. He amassed one of the largest collections in the world. It is now housed in the Winnipeg Art Gallery. In his later years he was awarded two All American Awards two years consecutively for ‘Sheer Elegance’ and ‘All That Jazz’ roses; an achievement unheard of by amateur rose breeders until then. He also won a European award for his rose, ‘Audrey Hepburn’. Not only was Jerry intrigued by
plant genetics, he was drawn to the ancestry of people. He was curious about the different "hybrid vigour" of individuals. An outgoing, personable man, Jerry
travelled the world and made friends and acquaintances instantly. He parlayed his ability to connect with people into a gift for storytelling. Jerry loved to "hold court"; whether with family or friends, and to embellish his many tales or exploits, all the while with his unique sense of humour. Jerry was full of a love of life right up
to the end. His passion never waned, even when his body had declined at the end. Born in 1915, he passed away April 2008 from complications relat- ed to a stroke. x
Fall 2016 • 65
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80