A family business with strong prairie roots Aubin Nurseries


Trees with straight trunks are not easy to grow in Manitoba, so Aubin sends them on a two-year vaca- tion to Vineland in Ontario to get their best start.


nursery stock to prairie garden centres and beyond under the tag name Pres- tige Select Plants. It was largely their readiness to inno-


Gerry Aubin among some field perennials..


four generations of the Aubin family in Carman is a plant-growing operation that has made an indelible contribution to the garden scene at the centre of this continent and well beyond. Founded in 1927 by Gerald Joseph Aubin and now operated by his grand-


T 68 • Fall 2016


ucked behind a beautifully landscaped front entrance and a house that’s been home to


son and great-grandson, the family business began with the purchase of 72 acres of land near the Boyne River in Carman. The rainfall, good soil and two railroads provided ideal attributes for a nursery business start-up, and remains the family’s homestead and main business office. Today, Aubin Nurseries is one of the largest whole- sale growers on the prairies, supplying


vate and take risks that brought this now-large and multi-faceted operation to the forefront of prairie commercial nurseries. Between 1927 and 1957, Gerald Joseph Aubin's business blos- somed. In the beginning he sold door to door offering fruit, vegetables, live- stock, nursery stock and a "you pick" service. His business grew as he began increasing his nursery stock offerings and acquired a contract from Eaton’s. In 1958, son Lawrence Aubin took the business


over and made many


expansions over the next 40 years. He succeeded in building one of the largest nurseries on the prairies. In the 1970’s Aubin Nurseries was


one of the first prairie nurseries to install an irrigation system, creating better quality plants for its customers. Softwood cuttings now had the


benefit of growing with an automatic mist system; prior to this, the plants were imported from Holland.


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