About Us
Julie
Owner
A Mankato native, Julie graduated from Mankato East High School in 1983 and Minnesota State University, Mankato, in 1988 with a Business Administrative Degree. She married Mike Drummer in 1989 and the next year they started the Garden Center at the corner of the old Menards site. During the 1990’s Julie and Mike worked to establish Drummers Garden Center and Landscape. They opened Drummers Garden Center and Floral in October of 2000 and have been very pleased with the new location. Along with raising two sons, Julie splits her time at Drummers between paperwork, growing and supervising the crew.
Sarah
Assistant Manager
Along with serving customers especially in the areas of the retail store, perennials, trees, shrubs, and water gardens, she also handles training, marketing and various administrative duties. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Colorado State University and the University of Minnesota Master Gardener Designation in Le Sueur County. At home, her focus is on her perennial gardens, shrubs with four season interest, trees, vegetables and herbs and houseplants that like it on the dry side.
In the floral business for more than 14 years, Kari studied horticulture in college. As the Manager of Drummers Floral Department she takes care of ordering fresh flowers and supplies as well as designing arrangements and working with customers and staff. Kari enjoys working on weddings, different seasonal designs and every day deliveries. She and her husband are enjoying raising their daughter. During the growing season, she dotes on her suburban yard featuring blooming shrubs, perennials and annuals.
Dan
Assistant Manager of Outdoor Sales
Dan provides advice on finding and caring for the best shrubs and trees for your landscape. A graduate of South Central Technical College Dan is also Drummers water garden expert. He runs a pondless waterfall, a pond and a stream system outside along with the popular indoor pond stocked with colorful fish. Dan’s work at home focuses on his houseplant collection, a vegetable garden inlcuding lots of hot peppers and wildlife cover and food crops. This is Dan’s seventh year at Drummers.
Bryden
Grower
Bryden oversees all aspects of growing spring, summer and fall annuals at Drummers Garden Center and Floral. With a degree in horticulture and an option in greenhouse management from Iowa State University he has been with Drummers for over five years and has over eight years experience in the industry. Customers can also get advice from Bryden on growing tips for both indoor and outdoor plants, varietal information and in just about any aspect of gardening including ponds. At home he helps grow fruit, woody ornamentals, trees, vegetable and water gardens, not to mention annuals.
Jesse
Greenhouse Manager
Find Jesse managing the retail greenhouse at Drummers during the growing season or concentrating on indoor plants and store layout during the winter. Jesse has special expertise in annuals, tropicals and houseplants. During the growing season he focuses on custom potting and the care and feeding of our annuals and tropicals. He also purchases Drummers houseplants and flowering gift selectons. Having spent over 14 years in the industry, Jesse has managed garden stores and grown annuals and succulents commercially. He has extensive home gardens incorporating fruit, woody ornamentals, trees, perennials vegetables and flowers plus a pond.
Brenda
Office Manager
Brenda helps keeps things running smoothly in the back office tracking inventory and performing bookkeeping duties. Still, are you thinking she’s helped you in the store? That’s right, she’s also on hand doing customer service when we need her. A South Central Technical College graduate in Accounting, Brenda has been with Drummers since August 0f 2005. She enjoys the wide variety her work offers and helping customers leave happy with their experience at Drummers. In her spare time, Brenda and her family grow annuals and vegetables plus reading and spending time with her daughter.
Johanna
Landscape Designer
Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Assn. Certified
Landscape Professional
With Drummers since 2007, Johanna lends her expertise as a graduate from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls in Horticulture-Landscape Design and Contracting Emphasis and a minor in Agronomy. Customers notice her upbeat attitude when they meet to determine their landscape needs and get designs custom-drawn. She meets with customers at Drummers or on site. Helping clients achieve their goals is hers as a timely, trustworthy and accurate source. Johanna also manages Drummers perennials section and, of course, helps out in a number of ways around the store. Jewel, her golden lab, is the apple of Johanna’s eye but she also has time for hunting, sports and running. Her patio is a colorful spot filled with annuals and a few vegetables. Call Johanna for help any time of the year.
Kris
Floral Designer
With a practiced and unique style, Kris provides expert service to our customers. Her first job in the industry was in 1971 as a designer, greenhouse worker and landscape assistant. Since then she’s worked as her own boss, teaching and in floral design. She has AAS degrees in Landscape Design, Floriculture and Greenhouse Management from the University of Minnesota Technical College and Bachelor’s Degrees in Horticulture Education and Agriculture Education from the University of Minnesota. Also, Kris takes great pride in earning her FTD Master Designer designation. She is also a first place winner in the Local District-4 State Area America’s Cup Design Competition. Customers rave about her work too! Along with husband Ted, Kris lives on 5 acres of wooded heaven with a pride of 3 (indoor cats) and Pogo, the intrepid adventuresome MinPin. She also enjoys her garden and spending time on the road on a 4-wheeler, motorcycle or her trike.
Brad
Nursery Sales Associate
Brad helps out around the garden center so much it’s hard to put a finger on his exact position. He enjoys giving customers the information they need about trees, shrubs and perennials for them to make a good choice for their own landscapes. An all around adviser, Brad helps customers with houseplants, ponds and vegetables. Plus, Brad can always find a fun way to get things done. Ever see him carry a potted tree on his shoulder? In his spare time, Brad is a hobby inventor and welder and he grows houseplants and vegetables (especially sweet corn).
Lisa
Floral Assistant
A 1987 graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., Lisa earned her bachelor’s degree in art. Lisa’s love for flowers is inherited from her grandmother who always had a large flower garden on her Wisconsin farm. Lisa has worked in the floral industry, on and off, for four years. Her modern and stylish designs delight our customers. Away from the store, Lisa enjoys spending her free time with her three children and her husband. One of their favorite activities is travel.