Wholesale nursery opens retail market in Vina

VINA — After spending five years supplying independently owned garden centers across the region, The Nursery at Hurricane Creek has added a new chapter by opening a seasonal retail market for local customers.

General manager and partner Dee Murphy said the retail market this spring, but the business continues to focus primarily on wholesale production.

“We had to keep expanding our wholesale,” Murphy said. “We expanded toward Highway 24, and after clearing all the trees to put that house in up there, that’s when we decided that we would open up a little seasonal retail spot.”

Murphy said the nursery itself began about five years ago, but the story started much earlier.

He met principal owner Todd Willett about 25 years ago while working with the Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District through the Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program.

At the time, Willett had purchased the property as a place for his family to hunt. Murphy said the two quickly discovered they shared a passion for hunting and wildlife habitat.

Murphy began helping on weekends, planting food plots, fruit trees, and other improvements designed to benefit wildlife.

Those weekends eventually grew into Hurricane Creek Lodge.

Murphy said the hunting preserve is entering its 19th season and continues to welcome guests from across the country, many of whom return year after year.

About five years ago, Murphy and Willett expanded again by building the nursery. Murphy said the original plan was to grow native plants that would benefit wildlife.

Instead, he said they found stronger demand for landscape plants sold through independently owned garden centers and shifted the business in that direction.

The nursery started with a greenhouse. Today, Murphy said it includes 16 greenhouses and about 12 acres under irrigation while supplying independently owned garden centers within roughly a 150mile radius.

The retail market, he said, simply became the next step as the wholesale business continued to grow. Rather than changing the company’s direction, Murphy said retail complements its primary wholesale operation.

“We definitely focus on quality versus quantity,” he said. “We’re going to deliver a really good quality product to our customers.”

Murphy said the nursery business has been part of his life for as long as he can remember. He grew up in a family involved in landscaping, sod farming, and nursery operations. He said members of his family have worked in those industries for more than 30 years.

After earning a degree in turfgrass from Auburn University, Murphy worked as an assistant golf course superintendent at Burning Tree Country Club in Decatur.

HelaterworkedforJohn Deere Landscapes, now called SiteOne Landscape Supply, before moving to Franklin County to work with the Soil and Water Conservation District. He also spent a year as a field representative for Gold Kist before joining Willett full time.

Murphy said the nursery expanded significantly in 2024, adding additional greenhouse space and irrigation acreage. The operation now employs eight to 10 fulltime workers.

Many employees work in both the nursery and the hunting operation, Murphy said.

During the busy spring growing season, employees from the lodge help at the nursery. When hunting season arrives and nursery work slows, those same employees shift back to the lodge.

Murphy said that flexibility allows the businesses to keep experienced employees working yearround.

He also credits the employees for much of the operation’s success.

“Our team is definitely phenomenal,” Murphy said. “They do a great job.”

Murphy said one employee manages the retail market while also overseeing annuals and perennials, while others have developed specialties that help keep both businesses running smoothly.

He said the greatest reward has not been the expansion itself but the people he has met along the way.

On the hunting side, Murphy said longtime guests continue returning year after year with some having visited for more than 15 consecutive seasons.

In the nursery business, he said he has built relationships with independently owned garden centers, fellow wholesale growers and home gardeners.

Murphy said he still enjoys coming to work each morning because every day brings something different. “You think you have a plan for that day, but it changes quickly,” he said. “It’s not monotonous. There’s always something different all the time.”

Looking back, Murphy said he never imagined where a shared interest in wildlife habitat would eventually lead.

“I never would have thought I’d be doing what I’m doing now,” he said. “It’s a lot bigger.”