Petal Pushers Farm visits South Down Home & Garden Club for kick-off meeting

LACONIA — The South Down Home & Garden Club kicked off its 2024 season with a visit from Petal Pushers Farm. Owner Patty Gianunzio and general manager Ron Palsgrove brought along Ray DeFeo to share the evening’s presentation.

Palsgrove first spoke to the group of 25 South Down and Long Bay residents, describing Petal Pushers’ robust history in the nursery and landscaping business. The nephew of Pat and Patty Gianunzio, Palsgrove explained that the three of them combined have over 100 years of experience in gardening, landscaping and farming. He said the intention is to keep Petal Pushers operating as a family-owned business, with 50% of the current staff made up of family members, including Palsgrove’s children.

In addition to Petal Pushers Farm’s four greenhouses, he said, the farm keeps an extensive variety of perennials, shrubs and trees; the nursery offers vegetables, mulch, compost and soil; and staff is available for garden design and landscaping. An additional emporium is used to sell an array of local antiques and vintage wares.

Last year, Palsgrove put into place winter storage for RVs, cars, boats and trailers, brought back the fall yard sale and opened the gift and antiques portion of the store for the holidays, he said. New for 2024 is a section of the store that will highlight the work of local artists and craftspeople, a food truck, and official designation of Petal Pushers Farm as a retailer for Proven Winners plants and shrubs.

DeFeo, a sales manager with Prides Corner Farms, a distributor of American Beauties Native Plants, carried by Petal Pushers Farm for over 20 years. DeFeo presented to the group the benefits of incorporating native plants into home gardens. He specified which plants worked best to attract native butterflies, birds and bees, while simultaneously providing the most color to the garden. One example he shared was that butterflies are attracted to coneflowers, black-eyed Susans and goldenrod.

For more information, 603 524-7253 or info@petalpushersfarm.com.