Joy Nelson calls these plants her children, and she’s the kind of parent who knows all her kids’ friends, foes and foibles.
She’ll groom each of these plants by hand: run her fingers down the foliage, feel for pests and pinch away the ailing leaves.
There’s a reason why they call it a nursery, says Nelson, owner of Wild Song Nursery in Silvana.
Thousands of plants flourish under her care, raised from seeds, plugs and cuttings. The nursery is a modest affair, a home-based business that doesn’t accept visitors. The plants are swaddled in makeshift cold frames in a front yard ringed by evergreens.
Like many small, independent nurseries, hers started with an abiding passion for plants and an overabundance of seedlings. She specializes in plants that thrive in shade, a natural choice, since every home she has lived in came with plenty of it. Through the years, she has expanded her stock to include plants for part sun and full sun, though she doesn’t carry plants that require both full sun and dry conditions.
This nursery is low-tech. She uses Joy-amation, not automation, she says. A line of water-filled jugs adds insulation on some of her cold frames. She uses organic techniques and no pesticides or poisons. Raised on an Eastern Washington wheat farm, she was taught by her father to value living things. That doesn’t mean she won’t squish an aphid, and she believes it’s better to chuck an ailing plant in the compost than to keep it alive with chemical life support.
“It’s too much trouble to make that specimen thrive; I may not sell any of it,” she says.
Nelson, a self-described workaholic, puts in hours puttering around her plants and learning. She reads incessantly and observes. Consequently, she knows the habits and preferences of every plant she grows. Don’t trust the pre-printed tags, she says. What an East Coaster considers part-sun might mean it needs full sun here. She often ends up telling people about the plants she’s selling and the ones they bought at Lowe’s.
She wants her customers to be successful, and she remembers feeling scandalized when a major grower said her plants were too healthy. What incentive would customers have to buy more if all hers lived?
“I have a different philosophy,” she says. “If people have too much trouble, they’ll give up on the whole thing.”
Someday she hopes to open her nursery by appointment to visitors, but for the moment she sells her stock at farmers markets, fairs and events such as the Everett Home and Garden Show.
She’s bringing packs of eight plants, priced at $20, that are selected to harmonize in a container. Other plants she’s bringing include an edible Australian mint plant, a French variety of Lily of the Valley called ‘Bordeaux’ and an English viola called ‘Tie Dye.’ “She’s a promiscuous gal,” warns Nelson. “She’ll cross-pollinate with the other violas, and I encourage people to pinch the blooms.
She also makes and sells 86 different kinds of hand-dipped incense.
Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
Wild Song Nursery
Owner Joy Nelson only sells her wares at fairs, festivals and farmers markets. Find her complete schedule online at www.wildsongnursery.com or call 360-652-5708.
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