Vinland Valley Nursery is a locally owned nature extravaganza of sorts, located only a couple miles outside of downtown Baldwin City. The nursery boasts an impressive collection of plants, trees, shrubs and everything you could possibly need to start and maintain your own at-home garden. The nursery has been serving Baldwin City and surrounding communities since 1998.
Co-Owner Amy Albright has been around since the beginning of the business, when the first five acres were purchased in 1991. The property started with only a house and a silo, but the nursery has been hard at work over the past 35 years. Now, they have built a workshop, a coffee shop and seating area, a barn-like garden shop, four greenhouses, six high tunnels for storing plants in the wintertime, and multiple additional houses on the property.
Vinland Valley Nursery prioritizes organic growing and mainly focuses on nurturing native plants. By growing organically, they are skipping the synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and cultivating truly healthy plants. Although they specialize in native plants, the nursery also carries other plants, trees, and shrubs from other areas.
Along with plants, the nursery offers a plethora of nature items and services for citizens to grow their own gardens. The garden shop holds seeds, tools, pots, and different ceramics and crafts from other local small businesses. Customers can grow their own plants, or rent fully grown plants for displays and events. The nursery also offers renting space for clients to host their own small events and workshops. Renters can purchase party kits like pot painting and planting, bouquet making and terrarium building.
Albright is proud of the place her and her family have built from the ground up. Not only that, but she also thoroughly enjoys working around the nursery and seeing her family come together to use their skills to improve the business. Her and her husband, Doug, are the co-owners and their three daughters also hold roles at the nursery.
Albright’s daughter, Emma Davison, is the nursery’s special events coordinator. She works with the community to plan and host events for locals and out of towners alike to enjoy. This month, Vinland Valley Nursery will be hosting one of Baldwin City’s Be Well events, “Gardening as we Age” on April 11th. Presented by master gardener, Kevin Nelson, community members can learn about the lifelong pursuit of nurturing a garden. Later this year, butterfly expert Lenora Larson will be presenting on how to build or convert your garden into the perfect butterfly garden. Catch this workshop on May 17, and get a signed copy of Making Gardens for Insects & Other Wildlife, a collaborative work by Larson and Albright.
Another of Albright’s daughters, Bess Davison, is the landscape design coordinator. Opening a new service for the nursery, Bess and the team can help design and install dream gardens and more for clients. Celie Davison, Albright’s third daughter, is the operations and marketing manager. She keeps the nursery running smoothly, and continues to pull in more customers with helpful tips and nursery updates. Albright says she is not only happy to have her family here with her, but also her dedicated, hardworking staff and community.
Families often bring lunch, set up shop at the picnic tables, and have calm afternoons while their kids play bocce ball, or giant chess, or take photos in the photobooth. The Baldwin City and Baker University community can get involved by attending Vinland Valley Nursery events, purchasing items from local businesses in the garden shop, or even simply spending an afternoon at the nursery.
