Growing through a lifetime of gardening

Paul Schnare retires from writing gardening column

Paul Schnare of Cape Girardeau prepares to go outside while giving a tour to the Southeast Missourian on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019, at Sunny Hill Gardens & Florist in Cape Girardeau. Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

With a green thumb and more than a handful of advice, Paul Schnare has been guiding Southeast Missouri gardeners to a better understanding of their plants for nearly three decades.

Paul Schnare and his granddaughter, Kelsi Siebert, play with potting soil in 2018 as they reminisce of times together 20 years ago at Sunny Hill Gardens & Florist in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file photo

From protecting sprouts from the winter cold to rainfall concerns, “Dr. Grow” advises Southeast Missourian readers on maintaining a home garden through witty but educational gardening columns. In this column, Schnare pulls in gardeners through his use of lighthearted stories and down-to-earth tone, carefully detailing special concerns for plants growing in the Southeast Missouri area. For more than 20 years, the column has graced the pages of the Southeast Missourian newspaper and its online website.

Schnare’s advice is grounded in a lifetime of experience in the garden. He has owned and operated Sunny Hill Gardens and Florist with his wife, Marilyn, since 1992, while the business itself has been operating for nearly 100 years. In addition to managing the Cape Girardeau garden shop, Schnare also appears on the “Gardening with Paul Schnare” segment of KFVS-12 News every Saturday morning.

Paul Schnare of Cape Girardeau poses for a portrait in his office, where he typically writes his gardening column for the Southeast Missourian, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019, at Sunny Hill Gardens & Florist in Cape Girardeau. Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

As 2019 comes to a close, however, Schnare will be stepping back from the column that so effectively demonstrated his lifelong love for gardening. As he reflects back on his journey as a gardener and columnist, he says it all started with a simple garden behind his childhood home.

Schnare was born in Marshall, Missouri, before his family moved to a home on Themis Street in Cape Girardeau when Schnare was 10 years old.

Paul Schnare adds sunflower seeds to a bird feeder in 2016 in his backyard.Southeast Missourian file photo

His father — formerly a farmer — had a knack for gardening, Schnare says. As Schnare’s father left the agriculture business to become an insurance agent, the empty lot behind their Cape Girardeau home soon became a space for his father to nurture a budding garden. Neighbors collaborated with the family to also share the task of tending the vegetables, and Schnare quickly found himself helping, as well.

Schnare was soon enlisted by family to help tend the garden by spading. His father gave the 10-year-old a spade with careful instructions to turn over soil in the shared garden. Schnare’s first impression of his future lifetime career?

Paul Schnare uses a microscope to see aphids munching on a diseased hydrangea plant at Sunny Hill Gardens & Florist in Cape Girardeau.Southeast Missourian file photo

“Well, I thought it was a lot of work,” he says with a laugh. But that didn’t stop him.

Following high school, Schnare pursued a degree in forestry at the University of Missouri, an educational path that allowed him to explore the many sides of caring for plants. Through his classes and lab work, he dove deeper into the biology behind trees and plants similar to the ones he’d first cared for in his father’s garden.

He began looking into master’s programs to further his research into forestry. His education was put on hold, however, when he was drafted into the Vietnam War following his undergraduate graduation in 1969.

A year, 10 months and 27 days later, he was back in agricultural research at graduate school provided under the GI Bill. He worked in a lab in an ongoing research project developing better medical technology for the military. As a graduate student, he also studied biological processes in plants and focused especially on the effects of temperature stress on forests and gardens.

Now, he applies that combined technical knowledge and passion for gardening to both his business and each monthly column.

He gathers inspiration for each column from discussions with employees and customers around the greenhouse. As he sits down at his computer to type out each column, Schnare says he tries to brainstorm ideas relevant to current issues in the gardening community. He often addresses customer questions he or his employees have heard at Sunny Hill — especially those that affect gardeners specifically in the Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois region.

As he retires from his longtime gardening column, Schnare will also be spending less time involved in the shop at Sunny Hill Gardens. He will be using that extra time to work in the office at Sunny Hill and enjoy more time at home with family.

His problem-solving attitude at Sunny Hill helped him develop close relationships with customers and employees alike over the years.

“I like gardening, and I like people who do gardening because it gives them a different perspective on life. A lot of people have never grown even a tomato; they go to the grocery store and think that’s where food comes from,” Schnare says. “My dad gave me a hoe and a spade and put me to work.”

Sometimes, the greatest stories start at the roots. As his column comes to a close, Schnare still remembers his first interaction with the Southeast Missourian that sparked a lifetime relationship.

“I’ve been working for the Missourian for nearly 60 years,” Schnare says. “I was a paperboy!”