Tonkadale Greenhouse has called Minnetonka home since 1947. The original owner, Robert Anderson, started the business as a breeder of specialty African violets. At that time, the business consisted of one 18’ x 100’ structure. Anderson developed 200 new cultivars during his career and was considered a pioneer in the African violet breeding community. We are currently searching for any R. Anderson violets still in cultivation to add to our collection! To expand the business, Anderson began producing spring bedding plants, an evolution that continues today.

Tonkadale was purchased by Bill and Shirley Maruska in 1978. The greenhouse facility was completely rebuilt in 1998 and the business began to grow.

In April of 2016, Jessie Jacobson (Bill and Shirley’s granddaughter) purchased Tonkadale. Jessie lives in Minnetonka with her husband Luke, two young children and dog, Zinnia. Jessie loves to garden with her family and invites the community to enjoy her gardening journey as well. She is passionate about feeding people locally grown produce and getting children involved in gardening!

Longtime customers remember the quirkiness of the “old” Tonkadale but embrace the new Tonkadale and look forward to the future. Tonkadale’s mission is to enrich lives by creating plant-inspired experiences as we connect everyone to beautiful spaces.

Jessie grew up planting baby plants in the greenhouse. She and her brother earned 50 cents per flat, which was big money at the time! Jessie often celebrated her birthday at the greenhouse, (May 17, the busiest weekend of the year!) often eating cake and ice cream on the counter tops at the check-out.

Jessie studied horticulture and biology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison (go badgers) and just couldn’t get away from her love of Tonkadale. Her love for what she does is rooted in her belief that what we do everyday matters. She says, "We add joy and value to the customers, community, and world around us".

When Jessie purchased the business in 2016, incremental growth was well underway, but since that time, Tonkadale has broken all records across categories with more opportunity on the horizon. The indoor plant boom of 2021/2022 might be over, but Tonkadale continues to see strong movement in the categories that got us here, namely annuals, perennials, herbs/veggies, garden supplies, and home and seasonal décor.

Tonkadale has used events to connect with your customers and the community for over 25 years. Events serve three purposes: to educate customers about the products we sell, drive sales, and to invite the community into our space.

1% of our Tonkadale's annual revenue is donated back to the community supporting education, adaptive learning, racial equality, the lgbtqi+ community, food security, animal rescue, and other programs supporting children in our area. Last year Tonkadale supported 82 local non-profits with contributions, 46 local organizations received silent auction donations, 13 area schools received plants, seeds and garden supplies to support educational programming and plants in the classroom, 7 community gardens grew over 10,000 lbs. of produce to local food shelfs with seeds and starter plants donated by Tonkadale, 12 youth sports teams competed on the field with sponsorships.

While we are definately living in uncertain times, some things remain the same. What's old is new. Plants continue to provide beauty, solace, and stabalization in this ever changing world.