Connie and Spencer Davis pose for a photo at Dirty Thumb Nursery in Adna Thursday morning.
Signs for their ‘End of Season Sale’ are dislpayed outside the Dirty Thumb Nursery in Adna.
Raindrops collect on flower petals at Dirty Thumb Nursery in Adna on Thursday.
Connie Davis’s reason for helping start Dirty Thumb Nursery was simple.
“I married a man who wanted to be self-employed,” Davis said. “This is what Spencer wanted to do and I’m a really good supporter of my husband.”
Spencer, who grew up gardening, had worked several different jobs over the years, while Connie had worked nearly her entire life for a supply store in Centralia. She had zero experience gardening beforehand.
“I never even knew a name of a plant,” Connie said. “I learned a lot real quick.”
It didn’t take long for her to get accustomed as the Davises jumped headfirst into their new venture. They started their first nursery in Orting in 1987, co-owning it with another family. After two years, the two families decided to split and break off into their own businesses. Spencer had noticed a 13-acre farm for sale next to state Route 6 on the way to Adna and thought it was the perfect spot to continue their nursery. So they bought the property near Adna High School in 1989 and it’s been burgeoning ever since.
About a third of the 13 acres are dedicated to the nursery, which features four large greenhouses and is surrounded by cow pasture on three sides. They grow all their own annuals, vegetables and hanging baskets. They purchase in nursery stock perennials, shrubs and trees. Though the bulk of its revenue comes in selling annuals, the nursery sells a little bit of everything.
“We pretty much have an unlimited variety,” Davis said.
The nursery, which has a 4.7 out of five-star rating on Facebook reviews and 4.2 rating on Google reviews, has been able to stay open during the entire COVID-19 pandemic. And good thing, too, because it’s been a historic year for sales at Dirty Thumb Nursery.
“It’s been the best year we’ve had in 30 years,” Davis said.
Nurseries in general have benefited from the pandemic, Davis said, as people were stuck at home with nothing to do after most public events statewide were shut down for the year. She heard many customers say they had put off landscaping projects for years and it was now the perfect opportunity to fulfill those previous plans.
“And I don’t think the stimulus checks hurt either,” Davis said.
The boom in business has recently plateaued, Davis said, but that’s normal for this time of the year. There is typically an explosion of customers during the summer months and then it starts to taper off in late August.
The nursery is typically open year-round, but this will be the first year it plans to close temporarily during the winter. The Davises also do not plant to sell pumpkins for the first time in years this fall, as well. The nursery has become too labor-intensive over the years for the Davises, who are no longer spring chickens.
“I’m a woman who works with three men who are 70 years old,” Davis said. “So we don’t have that young labor running around here. We’ve just made the decision to make it easier on ourselves.”
The Davises have also recently put the nursery up for sale, but have had no prospective buyers as of yet. They said it’s time for them to retire after 31 years of growing and selling plants. They plan to be open next year, even if the nursery doesn’t sell by then.
“We will be open either under new owners or ourselves,” Davis said. “We’ve placed all of our orders for products next year.”
The nursery is currently open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, through September. They plan to be open only on Saturdays through October, open back up temporarily through the Christmas holiday, then be closed January and February and reopen again full time in March 2021.
Davis said it’s been a pleasant business to work in over the years. Customers are always happy people as it’s a retail industry where they like to buy plants. There’s always a positive vibe around a purchase. Davis is also appreciative of the countless people she’s met and friends she’s made over the years.
“We’ve loved every minute of it,” Connie said. “We get to be at home, work together and we raised our child here. Not many people get to say that.”
