US, Carver- At Nash Nursery, strawberry plants in hangers with pink flowers and fruit all summer long and Vermillionaire firecracker plants by Proven Winners with tubular flowers that are a main attraction for hummingbirds are among the offerings.
So are little mock orange shrubs, miniature butterfly bushes that only get about two-feet-tall but have full-size flowers, three kinds of landscape roses, rhododendrons, several types of hydrangeas, lilacs and other smaller, miniature shrubs like dwarf lilacs.
Owners Leah and Mike Nash are in the process of emptying out the greenhouses, moving the hanging flower baskets and the annuals outside for new customers who are joining their recurring customers looking for annuals, perennials, vegetable starts, herbs and shrubs.
She looks for flowers and shrubs that are different things that garden centers may not have and are hard to find. She’s also busy getting seedlings ready in the working greenhouse because customers are looking for vegetables and are buying them quicker than they are sprouting.
They started the nursery located on the Carver and Plympton line alongside her Carver Country Mouse gift shop at 159 North Main St. in 1999. Mike was working for Stop & Shop and wanted to retire but didn’t have interest in the gift shop.
She had always wanted a greenhouse, and he built one that first year, added the cold house the following year, and a year later added the third greenhouse.
“We’ve been full speed ahead ever since,” she said. “It’s what we love. You have to or you couldn’t do this kind of work.”
Knowing that Leah had always wanted a greenhouse – her parents originally bought the home in 1977 and they have lived there since marrying in 1996 – Mike wanted to accommodate her wishes. He said after opening, he realized he loved the work, too.
She said when they open each spring, it’s like a family reunion.
“The customers have been coming for years and years and years and you know them and you know their family members and everything else,” she said.
Some of their customers are experienced gardeners and know what they are looking for, returning every year on pre-orders to collect their favorites.
Other customers don’t know what they are looking for, and she’ll work with them, putting combinations together to see what they like.
It’s just the right size business for them to be able to provide the personal touch that’s so important to them.
“This way we’re in complete control,” she said. “We know everything that’s going on. We’re right there if something isn’t looking good. We know we have to get right on it and find out why.”
Mike Nash said it’s important to them that they are consistent with their prices, with no price gouging. He said the prices they charge now will be the prices they charge in September.
In Carver, the Nashes are synonymous with the Carver Farmers Market in Shurtleff Park. Mike said the town approached him about operating it years ago, and they’ve been in charge every since. They are hopeful there will be one this year.
Click here to check Nash Nursery’s photo gallery.
Nash Nursery, a Proven Winners-certified garden center, opens in May and stays open seven days a week through the end of October. They are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days and can be reached at 508-866-2428.
Source: Wicked Local Carver