Nancy's Dream Garden Center is in Waitsburg.

Editor’s note: The headline to this story was updated to more accurately reflect the location of the garden centers.

WAITSBURG — Inside the greenhouse at Nancy’s Dream Garden Center, it’s hard to remember it’s still chilly outside.

Although the business is open year-round, co-owners and operators, Janet Lawrence, Douglas Biolo and Mark Leroue, are excited for the upcoming spring and summer seasons.

Right now, they are focused on spring cleaning and preparing for what warmer weather promises — customers.

The garden center at 124 Warren St. in Waitsburg is awaiting the first order of hardy spring plants to arrive. The next shipment will be a large order of frost tender plants.

When all of the plants are accounted for and placed in their respective areas there will barely be any room to stand.

“When we get our first large summer order in, it will be packed,” Biolo said. “Everything will be full of hanging baskets.”

Both Biolo and Lawrence agree that the spring and summer seasons generate about 80% of the profit for the business. In the off season, Nancys Dream Garden Center also sells firewood, pumpkins and Christmas trees.

Despite starting out in a single small greenhouse, the owners have managed to keep their business open for five years. Just like the plants they provide, their enterprise has blossomed and grown.

Nancy’s Dream Garden Center has three greenhouses, several sheds, and outdoor shopping areas that have shrubs, trees and soil. Biolo said he plans to build a wheelchair-accessible restroom, and Lawrence said she plans to put a water feature in front of the business.

To keep the business as local as possible, Lawrence said she wants to incorporate things that are special to the Valley. For instance, she said the garden center will be a pit stop for bicyclists and cross-country runners as they travel through the winding hills of the Palouse.

This year, among the flowers and shrubs offered, the garden center also will sell local in-season produce. Everything from the famous Walla Walla sweet onion to the Hermiston watermelon from Walchli Farms will be available.

Both Lawrence and Biolo agreed they want to keep things as local as possible. Even the plants are sourced from wholesale nurseries in the Valley.

For Lawrence, spring means lots of color. “It’s a very exciting time for us,” Lawrence said. “I can’t wait for the warmer weather.”

On the other hand, Biolo said it means a lot of work and longer hours. The first things he has to do are inventory, spring cleaning, and then ordering plants.

Last week, Biolo sent in orders for cold-weather spring plants that are set to arrive this coming week. The biggest order of plants will arrive around the first of April with another order of frost-tender plants to arrive six weeks later. “We have to order those plants particularly early otherwise they’ll all be gone.”

The first couple of years for the business were difficult and there was a lot to learn about the nursery industry, Biolo said. The owners said they believe they have finally solved the challenge of determining the right time to order plants and supplies, which had been particularly difficult.

“I think we’re past the hardest stage,” Biolo said. “It was a lot of work to get started up, but it’s getting a lot better.”

The greenhouses packed with colorful and fragrant flowers offer an escape for the owners. Lawrence, who is also a full-time nurse, said the smell of the flowers in the early mornings and evenings is unreal.

Even though it is work, running Nancy’s Dream Garden Center is like a vacation for the co-owners.

“It gets better every day,” Biolo said. “I’ve traveled quite a bit and you always see those places that you think would be really amazing to work or live there. That is what this job has become for me.”

Victorian Gardens Retail

For John Borchert, owner and operator of Victorian Gardens Retail, spring not only means renewal for nature but a renewal for his wallet.

Victorian Gardens, 1501 N. Columbia St. in Milton-Freewater, has been open as a retailer for six years. Before starting Victorian Gardens, Borchert said he worked as a wholesale plant supplier to retailer Fred Meyer for 20 years.

Borchert said he has a very short offseason. He starts prepping and buying raw materials in November, then he starts seedlings in December. “We greenhouse the plants right up until we start putting them out in April.”

The prep and upfront costs to start the process of growing plants for the buying season take the majority of the previous year’s profits, he said. “By the time I get to January I’ve got everything sunk into my crop, and I haven’t sold a thing yet.” Borchert said. “Eighty percent of our sales are in two months … in April and May.”

For Borchert, he is most looking forward to the big colorful baskets of flowers he sells. “Our first day of basket sales is always kind of a landmark for us,” Borchert said. “That typically happens mid-April or later.”

At Victorian Gardens, there are a few select plants for purchase. The bulk of the frost tender plants won’t be put out until mid- to late-April, depending on the weather forecast.

Borchert said although the first day of spring is Monday, he suggested gardeners wait until Mother’s Day to plant anything vulnerable to frost. He said now is the perfect time to buy soil and prep beds for plants.

Borchert said the best part of his job is getting to grow things. “It’s really satisfying to start things in greenhouses and watch them bloom,” Borchert said. “It’s also wonderful to watch people enjoy them. That’s one of the best parts of the business.”

Green Valley Gardens

For Anne Jaso, plant champion and ambassador for Green Valley Gardens, spring is a time that brings hustle and bustle to the garden center.

“Every year in late autumn, we winterize the nursery by burying all of the plants in the ground to provide them with protection from the elements,” Jaso said. “Spring means digging them out, sprucing them up with haircuts and getting them ready for the throngs.”

Green Valley Gardens, 3050 Plaza Way, has served Walla Walla under its current ownership since 2018. The original business, Green Valley Nursery, was started by Jaso’s parents, John and Yvonne Jaso, in the early ’80s. Upon retirement, they sold the five-acre property to the Jewell family, who made the decision to take on the nursery business.

Jaso said about 70% of the garden’s sales happen between late March and early June. “People are usually enjoying the fruits of their spring labors when summer rolls around, so we don’t see a whole lot of traffic in the deep heat of July and August.”

When it’s time to get ready for the spring season, Jaso said it is all hands on deck. Between five acres, there is a lot of ground to cover.

“Everyone is eager to shake off the winter cobwebs and get out into the garden, so spring means being full-throttle busy through mid-June when business tends to drop off a cliff,” Jaso said. She attributed the stall in work to summer vacations and graduations. “In September, business tends to pick up again for autumn planting and then we begin to button the place up for a long winter’s nap. In deep summer, it’s a ghost town. We’re usually consumed by keeping the plants hydrated and the weeds at bay.”

Jaso said the warmer months can be stressful in terms of the sheer number of people who show up to look at or purchase plants but it’s a good thing. 

“Our clientele is so positive and everyone for the most part likes being in such a gorgeous environment — people tend to be patient and just enjoy the flowers and the grounds if we’re unable to tend to them right away,” Jaso said. “Plant people are pretty chill. It’s hard to be stressed out around flowers.”