Laura and Alex Falconer might be a bit busier than usual this year. Instead of home gardening, they have set out on a new adventure to bring the garden goods to their community. Both long-time Plympton residents, the Falconer’s have purchased the Plympton staple, Sunrise Gardens, and are taking tradition to new heights with fresh ideas and innovation.
On a hot May day, where the first of summers lashing is felt after months of persistent cold, the vibrant flowers and lush hanging baskets cluster the tables and every corner of the newly minted Falconer’s Garden Shop. Local goods, and very reasonably priced, high-quality garden tools, line wooden shelves of the recently renovated shop building. Piles of fresh mulch and small hills of stone sit ready for customers to load into trucks, and new areas of garden treasures, such as locally grown evergreens, hibiscus plants, and even apricot trees with tiny fruits on them have spread into previously unused areas of the garden center. Things here are growing -and not just the plants.
“I worked part-time here for Sunrise Gardens for five years,” says Laura, “So it is not totally new to me, but it is definitely a lot to learn.” The Falconer’s purchased the garden center over the winter after learning it was for sale. “It just made sense for us,” Alex explains, “Okay, well we have yet to see if it makes sense for us, but things are going good so far.” While maintaining the staples that customers have come to expect from Sunrise Gardens since the 70’s, the Falconer’s Garden Shop will take tried and true and mix it with new offerings -many of them based off of what customers are asking for on a consistent basis.
One of the soon-to-come-focuses? “Native plants,” Laura says, “We get so many customers asking for native plants and so we are going to build up a section of the garden center for those.” Another frequent request: Shade plants. “We have a ton of interest in people looking for shade plants and native trees,” Alex explains, “And we have plenty of room for that, so we are going to add that to the stuff everyone already loves like the hanging baskets.”
The hanging baskets, overflowing with blooms in particularly lovely color schemes, are prepared and planted on site. Standing under the showcase house with ceilings lined with them is a small visual taste of what an undertaking that is. “We start planting them in March,” Laura says, “We get plugs of flowers and then decide which color schemes we like and then we put them together and they are finished around April.”
Aside from the crowd-favorites like marigolds, geraniums, and petunias, Falconer’s is looking to carry more unique plants as well as unique products like pre-made raised beds built by Alex who is a well-known and reputable handyman who can build and fix just about anything. “I made a watering bench for a woman the other day and it gave me the idea to start building things like that to sell in the shop.” The indoor shop space has been tastefully remodeled and has plenty of room for lots of great local products. “Pretty much everything in here is under $25 -even though it’s really nice stuff,” says Alex holding up long handle garden claw. “We are going to carry local honey soon, too,” assures Laura.
With the new ownership came a new logo designed by the Falconer’s. “It is a classic black and white look but we added the Falcon because people so often confuse our name. They think it’s Falconieri, so we figured putting a Falcon in the logo would clear that up,” says Alex. Helping them along in their new barrage of responsibilities are six employees who assist at the checkout counter and caring for the plants. “We have the best helpers,” says Laura, “We could not do this without them.”
Falconer’s Garden Shop is just warming up in terms of offerings and ideas. The fall will bring the beloved pumpkins and mums and cool garden crops like decorative kales and squashes, but the Falconer’s look to take a more community-involved approach. “I am looking into having a little tractor ride for kids out back and a pumpkin patch where kids can pick their pumpkins. We have a lot of space for kid’s crafts and garden classes -you know, stuff that will involve the kids in the area more.” “We also want to have a food truck sometimes for events,” says Laura. We are in a great location so it would be easy for passing people to see there is something going on and stop by.” And rest assured, the Christmas trees will also be back under the Falconer’s ownership. “Oh yes, we wouldn’t skip the Christmas trees,” says Alex. “We will try to keep the wreaths as well but it will be hard to make them like Keelin (the former owner) did. We will do our best.”
Enthusiasm and innovation are bursting to life alongside the thousands of plants and with the Falconer’s endless streams of ideas matched with stellar work ethic and dedication, Falconer’s Garden Shop is well on its way to picking up where Sunrise Gardens left off and establishing a new reputation for local plants, goods, and community inclusion. “We just hope to keep up the amazing legacy Sunrise built and brought to the town since the 70’s,” says Laura. As I check out with a spur-of-the-moment purchase of annuals, herbs, and Osmocote in my second trip there the last few days, it is obvious that the familiar at-home feeling Sunrise had is still there but it is enriched with the amazing energy of new ideas that will surely grow Falconer’s into Plympton’s garden center staple.