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D.C.-Area Mainstay Behnke Nurseries Is Closing After 89 Years
APR 4, 5:35 PM
D.C.-Area Mainstay Behnke Nurseries Is Closing After 89 Years
In 1930, a German immigrant opened a nursery in Beltsville, Maryland. Despite less than ideal growing conditions—the Great Depression and a lengthy drought loomed over its early years—Behnkes Nurseries not only managed to thrive, but to become an institution in the D.C. area. Now, 89 years later, it is selling its final seeds, flowers, shrubs, and trees. ... Behnke’s vice president Stephanie Fleming announced today that the gardening center will close sometime in June.
“We’re getting flooded with emails, and most everybody is sorry to see us go,” says Behnke’s president Alfred Millard in a quick phone call. “It’s just a reality that this is what’s happening. It’s been in the process for a couple of years.” ... The business was built over three generations, but as the current owners age into retirement, Millard says that no other family member wanted to take over and manage the day-to-day operations. Millard will be retiring, too, after 57 years with the company (he says he started “pushing wheelbarrows” at 13 years old and has been there “basically ever since.”)
The large property off Route 1 will be sold, but there are no plans for it to remain a nursery. “Independent garden centers are having a more and more and more difficult time competing with the big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, and such,” Millard says. ... It’s a blow for gardeners who appreciated the deeply knowledgeable horticulturalists and wide selection of plants, and the end of an era for the region, where some families have been visiting Behnke’s for decades (Rose Behnke even grew African violets for a series of First Ladies, according to a 1999 profile of the business.)
The entire store is on sale—plants at 20 percent and other goods at 10 percent—through the closure. “For this spring, we’re open and ready with everything you need for your home and garden,” Fleming wrote. “We hope to see all of you over the next few months and to help you find that perfect plant, so in the future you’ll remember the role we played in your gardening journey.”
D.C.-Area Mainstay Behnke Nurseries Is Closing After 89 Years
In 1930, a German immigrant opened a nursery in Beltsville, Maryland. Despite less than ideal growing conditions—the Great Depression and a lengthy drought loomed over its early years—Behnkes Nurseries not only managed to thrive, but to become an institution in the D.C. area. Now, 89 years later, it is selling its final seeds, flowers, shrubs, and trees. ... Behnke’s vice president Stephanie Fleming announced today that the gardening center will close sometime in June.
“We’re getting flooded with emails, and most everybody is sorry to see us go,” says Behnke’s president Alfred Millard in a quick phone call. “It’s just a reality that this is what’s happening. It’s been in the process for a couple of years.” ... The business was built over three generations, but as the current owners age into retirement, Millard says that no other family member wanted to take over and manage the day-to-day operations. Millard will be retiring, too, after 57 years with the company (he says he started “pushing wheelbarrows” at 13 years old and has been there “basically ever since.”)
The large property off Route 1 will be sold, but there are no plans for it to remain a nursery. “Independent garden centers are having a more and more and more difficult time competing with the big box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, and such,” Millard says. ... It’s a blow for gardeners who appreciated the deeply knowledgeable horticulturalists and wide selection of plants, and the end of an era for the region, where some families have been visiting Behnke’s for decades (Rose Behnke even grew African violets for a series of First Ladies, according to a 1999 profile of the business.)
The entire store is on sale—plants at 20 percent and other goods at 10 percent—through the closure. “For this spring, we’re open and ready with everything you need for your home and garden,” Fleming wrote. “We hope to see all of you over the next few months and to help you find that perfect plant, so in the future you’ll remember the role we played in your gardening journey.”
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