Tish Linsley and her daughter Hope Merkle own and operate the Los Osos Valley Nursery, which is celebrating 48 years this month. Photo by Theresa-Marie Wilson
Most locals would likely agree that it was a good thing that Tish and her late husband Lee Linsley ignored their friend’s warnings in 1977. Despite it being the third year of a drought and having no real experience in the industry, the young couple, with their two children in tow, planted their roots in Los Osos and invited others to grow with them.
Today the Los Osos Valley Nursery is run by Tish and her daughter Hope. The business is celebrating its 48th anniversary this weekend with free talks, workshops and vendors. So many things have changed since they made their first sale on March 25 nearly five decades ago, but the love of all things flora remains steadfast.
At 8-years-old, Hope made her future clear when a customer of the then new nursery asked Tish for a “small shovel that you use on your knees.” Tish was stumped trying to come up with what the woman wanted, but Hope knew and proudly announced it was a trowel.
She and her dad would also drag plants home with the intention of saving them.
Tish and her husband, the late Lee Linsley, who started the Los Osos Valley Nursery. Photo submitted
“Hope came in one night and said, ‘Mom, I can’t believe you left this plant out there,’ Tish recalls. When asked what was wrong with the plant, Hope replied, “Someone’s going to buy it.”
Today, “I am a hoarder of plants,” Hope said laughing. “I tell people, that’s why we have all this stuff. Every single one of these plants, I plan on doing something with, but she makes me sell them.”
On the plant side of things, the nursery carries indoor and outdoor plants, perennials and annuals with offerings for groundcover, vegetables, flowers, fruit trees, shrubs, succulents air plants, flowers and more. Although there are thousands of plants and trees available, mother and daughter can name most of them by their botanical nomenclature faster than any search engine. The two are self-taught horticulturists with decades of experience and first-hand knowledge.
To make your landscape complete, potential green thumbs can choose from wonderful pots in bright colors, garden art, wood chips, mulch, plant food and the list goes on. Tish, Hope and their five employees are also on hand to answer questions about anything from what is ailing your plant to where to reunite them with the earth for best results.
Not unexpectedly, there are also means to get rid of the weeds in your yard, garden or beds. But don’t rush into the seemingly endless battle.
“If you have weeds growing in your yard, it’s usually something you need,” Hope said. “If it’s nettles, you might have arthritis, and they’re one of the best for eating and using on the skin. Ninety percent of the weeds are edible or completely medicinal. A lot of the weeds around here are edible, and they’re actually prized in Europe and sold at farmers markets there.”
Readers should be cautioned to not start chomping away or making tinctures out of anything they find in the ground before doing research, but some favorites include mallow, goosefoot, and leonotis, and varieties of aloe vera among many others.
“I found out about the mallow when I saw it coming up like a carpet,” Tish said. “I thought, when the universe puts an abundance of something, it’s here to use in some way. So, I went and looked it up.”
There have been challenges over the 48 years of running the family-owned business, the constant, and perhaps most important is the need for care of the plants.
“Plants don’t wait around to be watered or fed,” Hope said. “You can’t say, ‘I’ll get to that latter.’ Plants don’t have a later, they have a now.”
Tish says the most important lesson she learned from years in the industry is that “Change is happening all around you, all the time. Plants evolve. Change is constant.”
Hope’s lesson is listening and acknowledging that so much of life is beyond our control.
“People just need to listen. If you would listen to your plant, if you would listen to what your family is telling you, what your friends are telling you, listen deep down, listen to somebody, just listen, and you will find out what that person needs.”
As much as the customers mean to Tish and Hope on both a personal and business level, the duo plays a very important role in return. The stories of meeting great grandchildren of long-time customers, sharing their home with vendors turned friends for a weekend getaway and interacting with the dogs that come in for pets and a biscuit while their human’s shop are plentiful. But it goes beyond that. One woman asked in her will to be interned at the nursery, which, of course, is illegal, but some of her ashes were placed with a tree that is still on the property.
“What an honor,” Hope said, “that this was the place. She could have picked, the ocean, the mountains, anywhere.”
Another woman, who was in hospice, went to the nursery and told Hope that she wanted to drive over and look around.
“When she drove up, I went out and asked her if she had a wheelchair; she did” Hope said with emotion in her voice. “I said, ‘Let’s take a cruise and walk around.’ She died two days later.”
With so many memories of customers, suppliers, employees and family, Tish says the future of the nursery is not expanding, going high-tech or anything like that. “The whole picture is every day together without losing what we have made here.”
A celebration takes place March 28 -30. The workshops are free to listen to but have a fee to cover materials, if someone would like to create and take something home.
Friday, March 28, 12 p.m. Spring Vegetable Gardening with Hope Merkle. Free.
4 p.m. Carnivorous Plants with Burke Gehrung. Free.
Saturday, March 29 , 11 a.m. All About Dahlias with the Dahlias Society. Free
1:30 p.m. California Native Plants for the Central Coast with Mike Craib. Free.
3:30 p.m. Staghorn Mounting Workshop with Hope, $55 include plant and supplies.
Sunday, March 30, 10 a.m. How to Successfully Grow Protea and Plants That Drink Responsibly with Rich Quellet from Grub and Nadler. Free
11:30 a.m. Bonsai Workshop with Gabe Godinez $35 to $65 includes a Bonsai plant, pot, wire and soil.
Vendors
All three days during business hours unless times are specified below.
Steve’s Super Garden – Rare Succulents
805 Tacos – Street Tacos
Whalebone Winery – Wine, vinegar and olive oil tasting.
Shiloh’s Animal Rescue, dogs for adoption, Saturday, March 29, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Rowe Clay Works, handmade- specialty pottery.
Protea Bouquets by Melissa
Fine Art and Design – Mushroom Houses by Amy Loschiavo and Doug Federman
If you run into Tish at the event, she celebrated her 85th birthday this month, so give her a birthday greeting or two.
