2024 Updates and What's New at the Nursery

Let's talk about the wild ride the nursery industry has been on since the era of Covid began. Like many aspects of life, our beloved green spaces and stock availability have faced their fair share of challenges. But hey, amidst the chaos, there's always room for growth and joy, right?

Cast your mind back to 2020 – what a year. It was a record-breaking period for us and many other nurseries and garden centers. We couldn't help but feel incredibly grateful for the abundance of greenery and plant goodness that graced our shelves. While other industries grappled with uncertainty, our gardens flourished.

However, as Covid continued to unfold, a surge in DIY yard projects (thanks, stimulus checks and extra time on our hands!) led to a scarcity of plants. Add to that the logistical hurdles faced by growers in securing labor from Mexico, and we had a recipe for some real plant-hunting adventures.

Since then, it’s been fascinating to witness the nursery industry's resilience and adaptability in the face of recent challenges. In 2021, we experienced tight inventory, making it difficult to reorder many popular items that flew off our shelves. Surprisingly, even staples like rhododendrons ended up on our waitlist, which is quite unusual given their typically abundant availability.

Fast forward to 2024, and things are looking up. Inventory is bouncing back, and we're thrilled to announce that most of the orders we placed last fall will soon blossom into a cornucopia of colors, textures, and lush greens. We can't wait for you to explore all the new additions waiting to grace your gardens this season. Psst... don't miss out on the excitement – stay in the loop by subscribing to our email list!

But wait, there’s more! Here’s what’s new this season:

Drumroll, please… Behold the newest addition to our nursery landscape – the shiny, new SHED! Picture this: as you pull into our driveway, your eyes will be greeted by the sight of this long-awaited marvel sitting proudly atop the hill.

That’s right, the long awaited building is here - one that we’ve been dreaming of and discussing since we took over the nursery 11 years ago (can you believe it’s been that long?!).

It's been a journey – for 46 years the behind the scenes of our business (the stuff you don’t see like the bill paying, marketing, ordering inventory, etc) has happened somewhere in the Hopper house. From Linda’s office and Dave's famous "red box" to our current custom desks in our living room, our family business and family life have existed in the same space.

This new hub of activity will not only house our business operations - workbench for Dave and all of his tools, storage for equipment for the nursery, office spaces, an employee breakroom, and a bathroom - but its loft space will also provide a future haven for our growing family.

This shop is a game-changer for us, promising to bring a new level of balance between our family life and business endeavors. We're thrilled about the prospect of having dedicated space where we can unwind and enjoy precious moments together as a family. It's incredibly gratifying to see our family business evolve and flourish alongside us, and we're excited for this new chapter that awaits both our family and our beloved nursery.

And last but certainly not least, meet the newest member of our family – Sunny!

Back in October our girl Lenabear got sick and we had to say goodbye. Winter just hasn't been the same without her warm greetings at the door, complete with a sock or shoe in her mouth and the comforting click of her toenails on our wood floors. We've been reminiscing through old pictures and videos, remembering what a sweet girl she was to both of our babies when we brought them home from the hospital and as they’ve grown up. It was absolutely heartbreaking to say goodbye.

Sweet Lenabear left big shoes to fill <3

Sunny has bounded into our lives, bringing with her a whole lot of joy and wagging tails to fill the big hole in our hearts with more 4-legged joy and love. We can't wait for you to witness her charm as she settles into her role as the official nursery dog.

So there you have it – the latest scoop from our neck of the woods. We're beyond excited for what the future holds and can't wait to share it all with you. Swing by the nursery soon to see the shed, to meet Sunny and to catch up … oh! and to grab some plants while you’re at it :)

The Hoppers and the Natural Plus Nursery Staff

Reflections on 10 years of Nursery Ownership

A lot has happened since 2013, when we decided to take the leap and become nursery owners.

We’ve added a few more people to our family. We’ve also said good bye to too many of our close loved ones.

We’ve had some great crew members come and go, retire, move on, and join us.

We’ve had the best customers who continue to support what we’re doing here in our backyard.

We’ve learned so much about each other, ourselves, running a business, and life.

We survived a global pandemic that many small businesses didn’t.

We planted many, many trees and shrubs in people’s yards, that bring them joy.

We’ve overworked ourselves, and we’ve set some boundaries so we can have more family time.

We’ve changed this business in ways that fit us and the lifestyle we intend to live.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on what’s happened since 2013.

The one thing that’s remained constant is our love for this land, our family, and continuing to serve you the best way we can.

Cheers to TEN YEARS!

Put a sticker on it.

I am so excited to share a super fun behind the scenes project I’ve been working on.

When we travel, I get ideas for creative ways to add a little more FUN to our business. We were up at the lake and went into our favorite ice cream shop, only to find some fun acrylic stickers to add to our water bottles (we love our YETIs).

After spending close to $20 on stickers for our family, I thought, why don’t we have some stickers for Natural Plus, so our customers can decorate their water bottles (or computers, or notebooks, or cars, or whatever they want!)

So I asked my very talented friend Ayesha if she would be up for the challenge of helping me make this project a reality. And she was. We met for a call, dreamed up the concepts, and she went to work. You know what’s cool? She created these illustrations of the nursery without ever having visited. (But now I can say she has been here all the way from Canada— another super cool fact if you ask me!)

So without further ado…. Here are the 4 new Natural Plus stickers available now:

Stickers available for purchase at the nursery!

The Impact You're Making When You Choose to Support Our Business

The Impact You're Making When You Choose to Support Our Business

We couldn’t do this business without you, our customer. So I wanted to share a little behind the scenes on how much your support means to us, and what it actually does for us. Your support keeps our business going but also gives us flexibility for our family while we have small children.

While it may seem that the only way to support a small business is to purchase something from them, that is far from the truth. Supporting us can mean telling your friends about us, liking, commenting, sharing our posts on social media, subscribing to and reading our emails, referring friends, and even reading this blog.

When you do choose to support and purchase from us, here is the impact you are making:

1. You provide me (Mary) the opportunity to be a mom first, then a business owner. We can afford to have employees, so that we can work ON our business and not IN it all of the time. Having employees also allows me to work when I can, and to spend most of my days taking care of Holtan. When the new baby comes, I will be able to make that a priority. While I don’t get a “maternity leave” I get something better… I don’t have to “return to work” after 3 months at home. I can I get to still be at home with my new baby and my family.

2. You help us create a life we love, by taking some time off in the winter for our family, and having a flexible schedule when we need it. This is especially important this winter as we prepare to add another family member to our clan, but this also includes our extended family, being able to be there for them when they need us too. Family is what matters most to us, and you allow us to live this out day after day.

3. You’ve maybe seen the quote, but when you buy from a small local business, an actual person does a happy dance. This is absolutely 100% true. I get so excited when I hear from one of you that you are interested in something we are doing! You empower us as business owners to keep doing what we’re doing, which in turn provides jobs for other families, and helps sustain our communities.

4. As you support our business by coming to us with questions, referring us to your friends, and just talking about us in general, you empower and encourage us to learn more about being business owners, and connect with other business owners in our community. This just builds a stronger network of people supporting other people and you just can’t argue with the benefits of that!

These are just a few ways you are making an impact when you choose to support and purchase from small businesses like ours. We want to thank you for continuing to show up for us, and we are looking forward to Spring 2020!