Aberdeen Florist & Garden Center

Evelyn Oldham quit her job as office manager at Pinehurst Warehouse in 1949 to give birth to a daughter.

By the time Janet was 2 years old, she and Emerson had moved into a house on South Pinehurst Street in

Aberdeen and with time to spare she began to collect and root African Violets on the windowsills of their

home. The violets thrived and soon nearly every window in the house was filled. Friends and neighbors who

visited began to buy the plants and pass the word. The lovely flowering houseplants made great little gifts for

hostesses and invalids as well as cheerful additions to the home. Soon, the doorbell was ringing daily. “Do you

have any violets today?” Callers were welcomed to browse the windows in search of the perfect plant, and

upon making their selection, paid .25c to .50c per plant. In order to restore order to the home, Emerson built

a three-tiered metal shelf with florescent lights and the violet collection was moved to the garage. By 1955, the

light rack was too small for the collection, so Emerson built the first greenhouse as a “lean-to” on the back of

the garage. It was 12x20’ and constructed from cinder blocks, lumber framing, and salvaged barracks

windows hauled from Fort Bragg. A propane burner provided protection from cold and white paint on the

windowpanes shaded out the scorching summer sun. The pine benches were painted white, as treated lumber

was not yet available.

At about the same time, a local florist remarked to Emerson that he had trouble germinating snapdragon seeds.

Emerson said, “I think my wife might be able to do that.” The Florist bought the seeds, the seeds were planted,

and the plants grew successfully and were sold to the grateful florist. This was the beginning of the bedding

plant project. Soon, cold frames were built from used cross ties and each spring seed were sown. Heating

cables were imbedded in the soil. Young plants were pulled each morning, counted into bunches of 13, and

wrapped in bundles, the roots snuggled in wet peat moss, and the eager tops sticking out of their wrapper, cut

the night before from brown paper grocery bags and secured with rubber bands and a small white hand

printed label designating the variety and the price, .30c/doz. The plants were delivered daily to Aberdeen

Supply Co. where they were sold. Gardeners also flocked to the back yard to have their selections pulled as

they watched. If they admired some plant in the yard, it might be offered, dug and sold right out of its

flowerbed. Cuttings of azaleas and camellias were rooted each summer, potted into burnt out oilcans and

grown in the shade of the pines to the side of the house.

The word spread, and each spring brought more and more delighted home gardeners to the back yard

enterprise, by 1963 a commercial greenhouse was erected. 20x50’, complete with oil boiler and cooling fans,

and excelsior evaporative cooling pads. Cold frames were expanded, and so was the offering Geraniums,

caladiums, impatiens, begonias, tomato and pepper plants were added to the mix, which still included African

violets, philodendrons, snake plants, wandering jew, etc. Dish gardens were made to order, and an occasional

plant was wrapped with foil for a gift. Bedding plants were now planted in market paks and then peat pots,

which nestled in plastic packs of 12. By 1967, the fiberglass house was added to accommodate the expanding

bedding plant market, and the season began earlier with petunia transplanting consuming February. Garden

mums and pansies were grown in the fall to extend the season.

November and December were filled with making cedar wreaths on frames Emerson crafted from wire coat

hangers. Trimmed with tiny pinecones and holly, they were sold at the feed store, and to customers at the

house. Evelyn expanded with pinecone wreaths and “nut rings”; some of which were marketed through the

Pinehurst Women’s Exchange. Sunday afternoons were frequently spent trekking through pine forests behind

pulp wood crews, cleaning the small pine cones from laps left behind by the loggers. Pods, nuts, cotton bolls

were collected to decorate the wreaths.

The daughter tagged along, helping, playing, and getting in the way. Learning by exposure to recognize beauty

in nature and the joy of watching plants grow.

One of the pitfalls of dating the daughter was having to visit her while she worked helping her mother in the

greenhouse. The occupation is contagious, so the new son-in-law saw the opportunity to make the hobby into

a business. Persuading Emerson was easy, as he was tiring of having his car blocked into the driveway by

plant customers who came at any hour of the day including lunch and supper. The land was available on the

highway, and in 1973, construction began on a retail building facing the highway, which would become a

full-fledged garden center.

Sandhill Lawn & garden Center officially opened on March 1, 1974. Shelves were sparsely stocked with

gardening hardware, fertilizers, chemicals, pots, soils and the current fad, macramé.

Short on capital, but long on customer satisfaction, the business grew and expanded. By 1983, it had

incorporated, Aberdeen Florist, Inc. and Southern Pines Florist. Full service and inventory included a small

engine department complete with mowers, chain saws, tillers and lawn tractors, and a landscape design and

installation department, not to mention the ever-increasing plant offerings.

The backbone of the business remains our willingness to serve the customer as a small family owned business.

Economic tides have caused changes over the years. But we still strive to serve the botanical needs of the

community.

Today, there are two major facets to Aberdeen Florist, a full service florist, and a complete gardening shop. We offer consultation on floral decorating, weddings, home and commercial gardening, indoors and out. We carry the areas largest selection of herbaceous plants, including hard to find tropicals, perennials and herbs. Our greenhouses are brimming with seasonal plants, and our staff is brimming with ideas and knowledge to make your ideas come to life in your setting.