5 Minutes With … Doug Rhinehart
Doug Rhinehart is the founder of Grandma’s Gardens in Waynesville, Ohio, a 2025 Innovator of the Year honoree.
How did the name Grandma’s Gardens come to be?
My mother, father and I were on the way back from a horticulture show in Columbus, Ohio, and had bought this little piece of property we had, but we didn’t know what to call it. My mom said, ‘The old farmhouse looks like Grandma’s house. Why don’t we call it Grandma’s Gardens?’ All my grandmas were always super great gardeners — if you had a question, that’s who you would ask.
What’s the best part about your job?
No. 1, I love having freedom to do anything I want to do, anytime I want to do it.
My dad was a manufacturer’s rep who made his own hours, and I always was spoiled by that. Almost at the drop of a hat, we could go places. I can’t quite do that with Grandma’s, but it’s close, and so I love the freedom.
I also thrive on implementing new ideas. I always tell everybody that not all of my ideas are great, but humor me — let’s just try and see how it works. I’m always trying to come up with something that will make it more fun for customers to shop here.
What has surprised you about running your business?
This is around our 46th year, and I think the biggest thing is how well-loved we are in the community. We attract a lot of families to Grandma’s due to our park-like setting — we have an old farmhouse that’s 140 years old, about 14 acres, and a couple of ponds, and it’s more like a park that happens to sell plants. In the springtime, when families come there are always bunnies running around, and you’ll see a family of ducks coming out of the pond. I get a huge buzz out of that, watching families interact with butterflies on the lantana.
If your career had gone a different direction, what do you think you would have done?
I probably would have been an engineer on an old steam engine in the Colorado Rockies. My father passed down a love of trains to me when I was a kid, and he was always chasing after a train somewhere in the U.S., and I found that was something we could do together. Dad and I combined our interest of railroading into Grandma’s — we have a little railway that goes around. It’s a miniature version of a real train. A lot of kids have never ridden a train before, so I get them on the train.
What’s something few people know about you?
My mom has had dementia for the last 15 or so years. She needs a fair amount of care, so I spend a lot of time with her, watching TV or movies. I started watching Hallmark Christmas specials with my mom, and now I’m a bit of a junkie, because they always have a happy ending and usually some nice scenery. Of course, that has led to a “Hallmark Moments” at Grandma’s. Just a couple days ago, my son and his young wife were sitting on a bench looking out toward the pond eating lunch together and a coworker happened to see this and said, “Doug, I saw a Hallmark Moment at Grandma’s.”
Favorite plant to grow? Why?
I have a couple: I planted some hardy banana trees off my porch five years ago that have gotten huge. It makes me smile every time I look at them. The other one I really love is any annual salvia. We do a lot of custom potting up of annuals, and we always put some salvia in them so people can experience hummingbirds and butterflies.
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