Wyntour Gardens

Meet Our Staff

George Winter
George Winter’s family has been in the nursery business since 1960. In 1976, he bought the Red Bluff Garden Center from his dad. He later acquired Wyntour Gardens, and has built both nurseries into showplaces of the healthiest and most beautiful plants he can find which do well in this area.

George attributes much of his success to his excellent staff and to his commitment to educating nursery customers so that they can have a successful gardening experience.

Amanda

Our newest cashier Amanda is always there with a smile. In addition to working full-time, she is the single mother of three boys, ages 14, 12 and 9, who are all very involved in sports. The boys are on football, basketball and bowling leagues (to name just a few), which keep Amanda very busy, shuttling the boys here and there to their games and practices. In her spare time, you can find Amanda with the boys out bike riding or just hanging out.

Art

A love of gardening brought Art to us when he was still in high school. Now a student at Shasta College, Art continues working here, watering plants, planting color bowls and trimming the perennials and annuals. Art is an avid gardener at home, as well. His new custom-built greenhouse expands his opportunities for growing things and brings him great joy. When Art first began working at Wyntour Gardens, he was accompanied by his aide, Susan. He now works independently, and is a great help to all of us.

Ellen
Ellen grew up in the Portland area, following both of her gardening Grandads around and digging in the dirt with them. Ellen’s admiration and curiosity about plants grew in her adult life. She has been living in Redding for the past 21 years, and loves the long growing season here.

Ellen has wanted to work in a nursery for quite some time, and was inspired to apply for a job after seeing one of our commercials on TV. She really enjoys working here, because the plants are so wonderful and the customers are always in a good mood. She is thrilled by the opportunity of learning more about plants, and has a great time working with and learning from her co-workers.

Ellen likes to push the limits of plants, trying to get them to grow in places where they might not otherwise survive. And after about a month on the job, Ellen is surprised that she knows a lot more about plants than she thought she did.

Johathan
Jonathan began gardening when he was 11-years old, helping his grandparents take care of their Redding property, which was filled with a variety of plants. His job, basically, was to keep the plants alive, which he successfully accomplished. Because his Grandpapa knew lots of people in the area, Jonathan also worked as a gardener and handyman for other folks as well, and continued with this career well into high school.

After a few years at an automotive job Jonathan started looking around for something new. His dad suggested he apply at Wyntour Gardens. Impressed by Jonathan’s work ethic, friendly attitude and knowledge of gardening, George hired him this past fall. Jonathan’s first project was to climb an orchard ladder 20-feet into the air and replace all the Christmas lights in the lobby ceiling.

John and Sherrie
muck it up
in the mud.

Abby

Abby was born and raised in the Redding/French Gulch area. Her AA Degree in Horticulture from Shasta College and her Forklift and Heavy Equipment Operator certification make her a valuable addition to our staff.

Abby has four children, ages 4 through 20. She enjoys going to the coast (Shelter Cove and Arcata), diving for abalone and collecting shells which she uses to make wind chimes and other gifts. Abby’s favorite tree is the Dogwood, and she also loves Snapdragons and Passion Vine. Check out her spectacular cacti and sedum gardens the next time you visit the nursery.

Abby embraces a holistic Body-Soul-Spirit approach to life and enjoys being a valuable addition to Wyntour Gardens.

Linda

One of our newer staff members, Linda is now the friendly voice you hear when you call Wyntour Gardens on the phone. Born and raised in the Redding/Anderson area, Linda has been interested in gardening her entire life. She remembers the garden tours while visiting her great grandmother in Rogue River, and how proud her great grandmother was to be a member of the Rogue River Garden Club. Her mother and her grandmother also always had large gardens.

Linda loves the outdoors and being around plants, which is what brought her to Wyntour Gardens to look for a job. In addition to handling the many phone calls we receive, Linda is taking on many projects, including helping with events, displays, creating planted containers, and trying to keep track of all the plants we have in stock so she can answer customers’ questions. Lavenders and other scented herbs are her particular interest, and we look forward to many container gardens with her magical touch. After working in the floral industry for several years, Linda’s bow-making and plant wrapping skills are being used daily as she wraps gifts for our customers.

Linda lives in Whitmore with her husband and two teen-aged children – one an aspiring veterinarian and one a future musician. They also are home to lots of animals, including horses, pigs, rabbits, and of course, several cats and dogs.

Maggi

Maggi was born and raised in the Redding area and remembers cruising Market Street before the downtown mall. She earned an MBA degree at Oregon State University. Maggi has been an accountant for many years. She recently returned to the North State and is acclimating to the weather. Maggi is an avid reader and enjoys animals. She lives with her cat Turbo and Sheba, and is an equestrian. Maggi is the new accountant at Wyntour Gardens, replacing Betty Sutter who recently retired.

Rikki

After careers in Banking, Medical Billing and Printing, Rikki found her way to Wyntour Gardens three years ago, and is now our Head Cashier. Rikki also does the ordering of all of our fertilizers and other garden supplies, and is very helpful in answering questions about plant problems. Gardening has been Rikki’s hobby since she was a child. She enjoys working with our customers, and sharing knowledge so that they will have a successful gardening experience. Her quick wit often brings smiles and laughs from customers and staff members alike. Rikki enjoys and admires her co-workers for their knowledge and team spirit, and feels that she learns something new about gardening every day.

Mary

Since Bev’s retirement, Mary has taken over as our Plant Purchaser. She comes to us with a great nursery background, having spent four years working as a propagator at Grey Pine Farm, a wholesale grower of primarily native plants.

Born and raised in Redding, Mary’s family includes three children, two dogs, two cats, two “carnival” fish and two hamsters. Mary is an avid Mountain Biker and enjoys identifying native plants while out on her bike rides.

Mary has a casual approach to gardening. She doesn’t pamper her plants, figuring that if they don’t grow in her yard, they probably shouldn’t be there. Salvias and lavenders seem to really love it – not surprising here in Redding’s Mediterranean climate. Perhaps the biggest challenge for Mary in her home garden is keeping her two very large dogs from destroying the plants.

Sherry

Sherry’s extensive marketing, promotion and event planning experience are all used on a daily basis here at Wyntour Gardens. She holds a degree in Buying and Merchandising, and has worked for a variety of businesses and non-profits, as well as owning her own marketing and administrative services business. Sherry also teaches Yoga classes at Shasta Family Chiropractic in Anderson. Sherry’s dream is to have an organic produce farm, and lovingly tends her vegetables in her free time.Sherry organizes all of the events here at the nursery, writes the print and radio advertisements, and answers lots of phone calls. She also coordinates the web site and researches and writes the articles, hand-outs and dreams up marquee slogans. Any suggestions for future classes should be directed to Sherry.

Holly

When Holly came into the Nursery this spring wishing to return to work, we smiled. Our long-time customers may recognize her at the front counter, from her many years as a cashier. Holly has a fantastic knowledge of plant problems and products, and especially enjoys helping people diagnose and correct their gardening problems. She believes that organic products are superior to chemically derived ones, and will recommend the organics as the first choice for most situations.

In her free time, Holly enjoys tending her huge vegetable garden.

Jeanine

A transplant from Eureka, Jeanine recently moved to Redding where there is plenty of support from extended family. Wyntour Gardens was her first choice for employment and it didn’t take her long to land a job. Jeanine studied at College of the Redwoods, earning a degree in Plant Sciences, a certificate in Nursery Practices and another in Landscape Maintenance. Jeanine also completed a work study in Greenhouse Practices and holds a Tractor Safety certificate.

Jeanine is thrilled to be working at Wyntour Gardens, where she especially loves working with the plants. She hopes to stay here at the Nursery a long time and continue to learn. Jeanine lives with her husband and seven year old son. Although she loves shade gardening, Jeanine’s latest project is a tropical container garden.

Wendy

Wendy grew up with avid gardening parents and has been gardening all her life. It seemed natural for her to study Horticulture at Shasta College. Wendy believes that gardening keeps a person young. She also believes there is a perfect plant for almost every gardening situation. Wendy has a great eye for display and plant combinations, and creates many of the spectacular displays here at Wyntour Gardens.

Victor

Victor Trapala has been working at Wyntour Gardens since 1999 and has become the backbone of the nursery. Victor is in charge of managing our vast selection of trees, making sure they are potted, pruned and watered, as well as many of our shrubs and perennials. Victor is mechanically inclined, and maintains everything from the water and fertilizer injection system to the office vacuum cleaner. Victor also propagates plants, makes deliveries, unloads arriving stock, and operates our fork lift. If Victor has an extra moment, he can be found planting handsome succulent gardens or artistically pruning bonsai and topiaries.

Ren

A member of the yard staff, Ren comes to us from South Africa and has been here in the Redding area for five years. She is married to a Pharmacist and has two sons, one in Medical school and the other is studying Environmental Science. Ren has a degree in Horticulture, is a certified Master Gardener, volunteers at the Arboretum at Turtle Bay and the Native Plant Society and is a member of the North State Symphony League. In her spare time, Ren enjoys hiking, bicycling and of course, gardening.

Sherrie

Sherry and her husband moved to the Redding area after purchasing a water garden shop in Southern California. They began propagating water plants, expanded their collection, and opened Sherrie’s Water Gardens. After over 20 years in their Anderson location, Sherrie decided it was time for a change. She sold Sherrie’s Water Gardens to her children and tried to retire.

Sherrie has worked on pond projects from 5-gallons to 15,000 gallons, and has also worked on small lakes. In addition to her expertise on water plants, Sherrie is quite fond of Koi and goldfish, and has lots of knowledge and experience in their culture, spawning and diseases.

She remembered years ago George telling her “If you ever want a job, come see me”, so she did. Lucky for us, she is now a member of our staff! Thanks to her vast experience, our water plant and product selection has now expanded, and container water gardens are abundant. Sherrie also helps customers in other areas of the nursery.

Married for 43 years, Sherrie is the proud parent of 6 children and grandma to 15 grandchildren.

Callie

Callie has been our nursery cat since she wandered across Airport Road and into our nursery in October, 2003. She made herself right at home, and immediately showed an affinity for the shiny gold fabric we were using as part of our Halloween décor. Since then, Callie has shown herself to be quite the fashionable kitty. She’s sweet as can be, and is often found visiting with our customers.