Get our RSS Feed
The Two Year Move
Moving a nursery causes more controversy among today’s garden writers than closing one down. Many view a relocation as zero sum: one region’s gain is the other’s loss. However, a company with a national scope and half its business direct to gardeners outside the Seattle area, such as Heronswood Nursery, gains by moving, as do its customers. For example, there used to be hundreds of nurseries in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Indeed, folks forget that Ohio was a major center of ornamental horticulture, and remains one of the most progressive of any size. In the mid 20th century innumerable breeding and propagation nurseries were there. Since then, many have closed or moved south or west, while others have consolidated. Yet the industry in the area continues to thrive, while folks elsewhere benefit from the arrival of Ohio-bred growers. None of these relocations—including several retail nurseries—has ever made the news. Two and a half years after our move of Heronswood Nursery from western Washington to Pennsylvania, and southern Delaware, we still receive criticism.
Heronswood Nursery diversified its research test sites and production facilities in order to serve the entire continental US. After 6 years of ownership concentrated in one location 35 miles from Seattle, and 75 miles from Sea-Tac Airport, we decided to expand. The local Seattle, Kitsap and Bainbridge area gardeners had enjoyed an appointment-only nursery for about 12 years by the time we bought it in the summer of 2000. We increased the number of “Open Days” and initiated regular business hours. In 2001, we bought the adjoining property, doubling our size from the original 7 ½ to 15 acres. We not only maintained the staff, but also increased it. Also, back in Pennsylvania, we briefly experienced financial problems in late 2001. We made mistakes. However, the Heronswood workshops, classes and salon-like sales events continued, as did the plant hunting expeditions. Later, we attempted “personal shopping”, employees accompanying individual customers through the gardens—a rare and expensive practice. We tried to make a go of it, and didn’t think of moving it.
Then, in 2006, after several years of testing, we noticed a pattern of Heronswood plants not doing well in our Pennsylvania test gardens. Rather than seeing this as a detriment, we decided it was an opportunity to broaden our abilities and increase our nationwide customers’ satisfaction. Dan and Robert were still promoting the nursery to audiences across the United States. We felt it necessary to assure these potential customers the same reliable new plants that patrons in western Washington enjoyed. We realized also that the quality of the young plant production—the nursery—would be better, and the orders easier to fulfill, at our larger facilities in eastern and western Pennsylvania and southern Delaware.
It was an agonizing decision to move the nursery. We thought folks in the Pacific Northwest would be disappointed but did not foresee a 28-month backlash. I come from the commercial nursery industry, not the world of connoisseur plant collectors. Nevertheless, we decided to continue searching, breeding and selecting unique new plants—that’s why we remained at the Washington location for six years. We have succeeded with introductions such as the new Kingston hellebores. However, we could neither adapt new plants properly in a warm and wet zone 8 location, nor expand the business in the relatively small operation there. To survive, we had to move.
We maintain the famous display gardens in Kingston as our ongoing West coast research site, while seeking an appropriate buyer of the property. “Heronswood West”, as well as the many acres of rare plant displays at Fordhook Farm, are open several times a year to the public, with the proceeds of the entry fee donated to The Garden Conservancy. Most of Heronswood Nursery’s sales continue to be by mail-order catalogue and the internet. We also hold retail events and plant auctions every spring, summer and fall at Fordhook Farm. In addition, we have expanded our research over the last three years, not only in Washington, Pennsylvania and Delaware but also in new locations in Central America, Central Europe and the UK. Heronswood Nursery is very much alive and well.
In the United States, nurseries move: they move south, west and, rarely, east. We are one of the few that moved east. The result is that, next year, we shall have over 80 exciting and unusual new plants to offer you, including three brand new hellebores with colors never seen before. Please look forward to the 2009 catalogue and, after 2 ½ years, pardon our dust.
Thank you for this insight. I, too, was one of those who felt “sold out” when Heronswood was sold to a “large and impersonable” company. I am glad to understand and feel comfortable about “losing” Heronswood. Things change and time marches on.
Your newsletters are great. I look forward to them each month. I like feeling I am doing business with a friend and a person who is passionate about plants, gardening and the people who make it all happen. Thank you for your letters. I love to feel the sharing of a kindred spirit and passion.
Mary H.
Thank you Mary,
I appreciate your continued patronage of Heronswood Nursery and your candor on the difficult moves the nursery had to make.
I too was one of those very disappointed about what I considered the “loss” of Heronswood to big business. Your history of the process helps me understand there is no one to blame. Change is necessary. I live nearby and look forward to visiting on some of your open days in the future.
You make everything crystal clear with your comment that you, ‘come from the commercial nursery industry and not the world of connoisseur plant collectors!’ Resistance is futile. I only hope that somewhere out there is someone or a group of people who will understand the passion that we ‘connoisseur plant collectors’ hold true to our hearts, and that the great Kingston display gardens can be rescued and revitalized to their former glory. Thanks for clarifying things for me!
Hello George, I came here to read your side of the story from Zanthan Gardens blog where you responded to my negatives comments about the whole Heronswood thing. I respect your point of view. It is true then, that the display gardens in Washington are still for sale, the public garden planned by the friends did not work out as yet? It is sad that the business could not thrive to your expectations in that location. I still wish it were otherwise. Many many of the plants that were mail ordered from there are alive and well in my southeast TN garden. Not the same conditions as either PA or WA with drought, heat and cold winters with no snow cover. Plants have to be tough to thrive, and only those that thrive with little care get to be in the garden. In fairness, I do subscribe to Dan Hinkley’s travelogue which expresses his point of view on the whole matter. He and his writing are what attracted me to make purchases from Heronswood in the first place, from the non color no photo catalog. What I get from reading your side of the story is that you treated the employees more than fairly and moved or sold all the stock. Who is taking care of the display gardens now? My wish is for those gardens to be sold or donated for the public to enjoy and be maintained by volunteers like many older gardens across the country. I do buy your seeds from big box stores.
Frances
Dear Frances
Thanks very much. Many lies were spread on the Internet. The garden was neither sold nor closed. Blog For The Perplexed, about two scroll levels down will inform and entertain you, I hope. As Horace said, "Tell the truth laughing."
The garden is tended lovingly by Allen Hansen and an assistant, both part time.
The actual garden is only five acres. The nursery took much effort as well as water.
Much of the stock was bought in, grown and resold. Dan’s trips are what they are. He is copying his formula for Monrovia now, at the precise moment the non compete terminates. We paid a premium, and employed him for over five years. Then ran the nursery as is for six years.
When we moved the "plants in pots" nursery, we almost got tied to Burning Man. An episode behind us, but not behind many garden writers, alas.
Thanks again for your interest and best of luck in your garden.
(My mother was from Ware Shoals, S.C.)
George Ball