Crocuses, Daffodils and Tulips on Their Way to Local Nursery

When it comes to curb appeal, nothing says "wow" more than a yard blooming with a bounty of colorful flowers.  

What appeared last week as a barren landscape at , will soon be brimming with new foliage artfully arranged in containers, as the center gears up for throngs of customers on shopping sprees to spruce up their gardens.

“Without a doubt, spring is our busiest time of year,” says Rich Flagg, 57, current owner of the company on Bridgeboro Road, which edges the border of Moorestown and Delran.

From its early roots as a roadside flower cart, the proprietors of this third-generation garden center have cultivated relationships with owners of homes and businesses in the area, while supplying them with all varieties of annuals, herbs, shrubs and trees.

Flagg’s father, Albert, started selling plants in the '50s. He was also working as a groundskeeper at . Around that time, he built the original store and the nearby house. 

Growing up, Flagg developed an interest in outdoor work and enrolled at Mercer County College. After graduating with a degree in ornamental horticulture, he took over the reins of the business in 1983. Shortly thereafter, Flagg added the existing greenhouse to the 4-acre yard.

“Since I was 17, I’ve worked here,” he says.

Throughout the years, Flagg notes that shifts in trends and lifestyles have played a part in some changes to the center's business practices.

Years ago, Flagg says most plants were grown on-site.

"Or farmers in South Jersey would supply us with flowers and trees," he says. 

That was before suburban sprawl began to dwarf farmlands locally. 

In an odd contradiction, the same suburbanization that has glutted farming towns has produced a demand for landscape and lawn services.

These days, a vast amount of plants come to Flagg’s from the West Coast, especially from Oregon. According to Sean Cox, one of two nursery managers, the adequate mix of sunlight, moisture and wind in that region yields hardy plants.

“Oregon has a lot of growers,” Cox says. 

Cox also says each year—increasingly driven by the must-have styles seen in magazines like Martha Stewart Living, or on gardening segments spotlighted on HGTV—folks wander into the garden center looking for a particular, and sometimes peculiar, plant.

“Last year it was the monkey puzzle tree,” he says of the shrub with spindly branches native to South America. “It’s a very unusual plant and can sometimes have difficulty in this area." 

People get fixated on a certain look, Cox explains, and then become discouraged if the plant struggles.

"Camelia and magnolia trees are great looking, but sometimes they are stubborn in becoming established. But, we'll work with people who are having trouble getting them to thrive."

To further cater to the aesthetic needs of its customers, Cox says the garden center carries hybridized species—those plants whose genetics have been joined with another plant for a hardier constitution.

“We also sell variegated plants like boxwoods and abelias," Cox says, explaining the distinctive striating on the leaves is a popular sell.

One big positive for the garden center has been the Internet, Flagg says. “There are so many gardening websites. It's just drives people to come in with ideas."

And while today’s gardeners possess a higher level of sophistication and knowledge about planting, Flagg adds, amateur gardeners do make some mistakes that can cost them money.

“People sometimes want to put vegetables and annuals outside too early," he says.

Flagg’s has tried to remain on the cutting-edge of horticultural expertness. For five years, the center designed an exhibit dazzling patrons at the annual Philadelphia Flower Show, until it just became “too much,” says Flagg. 

And the nursery's team studies and stays current on the latest in landscape architecture, insect control and soil problems.

These days, Flagg's two daughters, Kelly and Lauryn, work in the business, along with six other employees.

Flagg says he welcomes another busy season and a chance to see some of his customers again.

“The interest in gardening just keeps increasing, and I think it will probably continue to grow,” he says. “People like to dress up their homes.”