Celebrating our 88th Anniversary!
In honor of our anniversary I have to tell you it's hard to believe that 88 years ago my Great Grandfather William Edward Williams, and Grandfather Roy Williams started a business selling plants in Union County. Originally called Williams Floral Farm. Last night I went through some old dusty boxes of pictures that my Grandmother Helen had saved, and found a few great shots to share with everyone.
Originally 
the property was 13 acres, but in the late 1920s roughly half of the property was deeded to the Union County Park System through the newly created Green Acres program.
The store consisted of an open building with a large overhang. A brightly colored camelia flower from the then named “Williams Floral Farm” proved to be a well-sought item.
The next decade brought diversity. Roy Williams became the known local expert on plants and flowers. When the Depression hit, much of our inventory was sold to Echo Lake Country Club for pennies on the dollar.
After the Depression, the store was moved to where the existing store is now. Roy Williams began traveling throughout the United States for new and exciting plant varieties. Many of these rare plants were sold to the Doris Duke estates, and many were planted in the quickly developing Westfield community.
In the early 1950’s the store was rebuilt into a gift shop with a glass greenhouse roof. (shown at the right) “Williams Floral Farm was the only place in the state that offered gorgeous camellia plants in bloom”. The 1950’s also brought a large cut-flower boom. Ed Williams, then a teenager, was following in his father’s footsteps,” He said his father taught him that hard work leads to success, and the entire spring season would pass without a day off.”
This of course gives me the opportunity to share this picture of my father Ed. Taken in September of 1938. (I'm assuming at this point that twenty years from now my son Dakota may be showing some sort of embarrassing photo of me when it's our 108th anniversary)
First the trend was cut gladiolus, then as the market shifted it was cut dahlias. We adapted our crop to meet the market demand. In the early 1960’s the cut-flower market tapered off, our focus was diverted to selling plant material again. At this point the name of the business was changed to Williams Nursery. I did find a shot from inside the giftshop. I'm thinking its from the 50's since it has the large bouquet of gladiolus. For those that haven't been in the giftshop, it's worth visiting inside of the brick building. (We retrofitted the giftshop with an apartment on top in the mid 60's. Mom and Dad were living up the street from the nursery renting a house from the Geigers. After my sister Denise and I were born, my grandfather Roy built the apartment, and Mom, Dad, my sister and myself moved into the house) 
In Roy and Edward Williams’ travels they found new suppliers in California and Oregon. In a first for the nursery industry, they brought these unusual plants to the east coast.
They began selling these plants to other garden centers, and became the first plant broker in the eastern United States to bring in west coast material. Now 50 years later, almost all garden centers receive some material from the west coast. While we take for granted transporting things across the country in 2008, it was something unique in my grandfathers’ day. What my grandfathers did was start a legacy that we are proud to carry on. It’s still on my mind to bring you interesting plants for your home and family.
As a family business we try to stick to our roots. I am proud to work with my sister Denise who manages our giftshop, and my brother-in-law Greg, who is in-charge of day to day operations. We appreciate you allowing our legacy to be shared.
Special Anniversary Sale
Don't miss this once a year Sale event.
Now thru Oct 1st we are having a celebration Sale. The more you buy, the more you save.
Buy 1-3 Shrubs get 20% Off.
Buy 4-8 get 25% OFF.
Buy 9+ get 30% OFF
Some items have been reduced even more, including Fruit & Shade Trees, Rose Bushes and Native Rhododendrons. These are 50% OFF.
Sale ends Oct. 1st. Sorry but does not include previous purchases.
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