Blooming In Business
At Canyon Creek Nursery, Amanda Smith is cultivating a new passion
As you step into the greenhouse at Canyon Creek Nursery, the fluffy little petals of a bright pink dahlia peek out from one of the nursery’s benches. A striking yellow forsythia bush in full bloom sits nearby. In the back, a woman is busy up to her elbows in dirt seeding sunflowers as another takes to watering the rows upon rows of perennials.
As the owner of the nursery, this is Amanda Smith’s domain.
Five years ago, she would have never imagined herself here. As a 44-year-old mother of four, she was in the final years of raising her kids. She’d held odd jobs off and on but nothing she’d call a career.
“Our last kid had just left the house,” Amanda says. “I was just sitting there asking, ‘What now?’”
Around the same time, her husband, who owns Clear Creek Landscapes, a company that provides commercial and residential landscaping services, asked if she’d be interested in owning the nursery that supplied his plants.
It was an adventure she knew would stretch her. “I said, sure, why not!”
That was close to three years ago. Today, the nursery that used to cater almost exclusively to landscaping companies has slowly but surely branched out more and more into retail. There isn’t a corner of the 10-acre property that Amanda hasn’t dreamt about refashioning.
“This is something new,” she says as she points to an area near the nursery’s cash registers. It’s full of gift and decorative garden items. In the room next to it, “My goal is to turn this into a big house plant area,” Amanda says. Right now, there are a handful of varieties perched here but nothing compared to what Amanda ultimately envisions.
Down the road, she says, “I would have a pumpkin patch. I would have a cut garden, a sunflower and lavender field where people could come and cut their own.” She chuckles as she says, “I’m still trying to talk my husband into it.”
For now, Amanda’s biggest challenge is helping the community understand that Canyon Creek Nursery is no longer just an operation for commercial enterprise. She wants you to come and check out her ever-expanding lot of annuals and perennials for your own yard and garden.
“There are a lot of people who don’t know we are here,” Amanda says. Treva Kenik-Grewe, the nursery’s main caretaker, nods in agreement and says, “She keeps saying we need one of those tall wavy guys.” The two laugh as they describe the tall inflatable dancing displays often seen at the entrance of car lots.
When Amanda bought the nursery, she knew she was getting way more than a structure. She hoped to keep the people that make the operation a well-oiled machine. She says the staff, many of them certified plant professionals or master gardeners, are the backbone here.
“I couldn’t have done this without them,” Amanda says. “If I would have had to start over with a whole new crew, I would probably have quit within the first year. They have been life savers.”
As you traipse through the aisles, you can see why.
“I love helping people find the right plants for their spaces, and educating them,” Stephanie Ligon says. She’s a certified plant professional who’s been with the nursery since 2021. “I am also a beekeeper, so I want them to have beauty and help the environment.”
Stephanie started working at the nursery shortly after retirement. “I had a stressful career as an engineer with AT&T. When I retired, I said I want to do something that I want to do that has no stress.” It’s safe to say she’s found her groove.
Just a day earlier, she spent 45 minutes helping a gentleman plot out his garden and sharing plant ideas as the two walked the property.
Treva’s story is much the same. After a demanding career working for a company in branding and promotional products, she prefers the quiet days spent caring instead for plants, trees and shrubs.
“I love that it’s family-owned and made up mostly of women,” she says.
At the time of our chat, the entire team was busy unloading new product, tagging plants and gearing up for what they consider the Super Bowl for nurseries.
“Mother’s Day is just incredible around here,” Treva says. “It’s like the catalyst for the rest of the season.” The crew will see some 600 people come through the nursery that weekend. This year, Amanda is adding food trucks to the mix to help her customers grab a bite as they stick around and shop.
Before you even step foot on the property, however, Amanda hopes you check them out online. They have a tool known as the Plant Finder that will help you search plants based on their sunshine needs, height, width and foliage or flower color. It’s being updated now to include every variety the nursery sells so someone can look there first to see if what they would like is something they carry. It’s been a tool that more and more people are turning to.
“I get a little report every month and it tells me how many people actually use it and have a list of plants and a plan,” Amanda says, adding that in May of last year, 600 people were using her Plant Finder to build the garden of their dreams.
No matter which plants you pick up from the nursery, Amanda’s team makes sure they were built to survive Montana’s weather. “All of our plants and trees, we make sure that they live here,” she adds.
Come June, things will more than likely start to wind down little by little. It’s on those days that Amanda is able to sit back and take stock of what she is helping to grow here in the business.
“It’s mostly in the evenings after everybody has left,” she says. “I like the shade house over there because when the wind is blowing gently, we have a big wind chime there and it’s just peaceful.” It’s her time to check in on the goldfish swimming around in one of the ponds that her husband helped create, or quietly watch the wildlife that loves to walk the land.
“I shut the gate and will say, ‘Oh, this is so cool,’” she says.
Her workers describe her as a decisive, “get-’er-done” kind of woman. They also admire her eye for color and the way she merchandises all the beautiful things they grow.
“The esthetic has changed here quite a bit,” Stephanie says in approval.
But, deep down, Amanda describes herself as an introvert who never imagined herself working in a business that thrived on developing relationships with others.
“I’m shy,” Amanda says with a laugh. “I usually sit back and just watch people. I don’t really talk to people.” She says she’s learning to change that about herself and step out of her comfort zone. “Overall, this place has made me a better person.”
TO LEARN MORE about Canyon Creek Nursery, visit canyoncreeknursery.net. While you’re there, be sure to check out the company’s Plant Finder tool. It’s a library of hundreds, if not thousands, of plants that are perfect for our climate.
