From the Exotic to the Everyday, Nabel's Has it All

– By Jim Byrne –

With “Old Man Winter” having decided to overstay his welcome, the degree of difficulty in growing flowers, trees and shrubs has been raised for local nurseries.

For Nabel’s Nurseries, located at 1485 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, this is nothing new. The family-run business, currently operated by President Paul Nabel, has been in existence since 1942 and has seen its fair share of winters that drag on into the spring season.

“It’s always difficult,” said Secretary Treasurer Kent Henderson. “The seasons can be so erratic. We’re always looking for spring to get going and it can be a long winter sometimes. It’s tough to figure out how the weather is going to break, and weather is such a big factor in this business.”

Nabel’s is open year-round, but it’s presently preparing for the heart of spring and summer. They have a staff of 20 in the winter months, but that jumps up to about 70 between their five acres in White Plains and the 42 they have up in Dover in Dutchess County. As of now, the hardier plants – like pansies – are out on display, along with the indoor houseplants that are there all the time. Unlike most flowers, pansies can last as long as it doesn’t go below 32 degrees. They can even survive a little snow. Nabel’s also has petunias out now, a flower that is hard to find this time of the year. As a rule of thumb, Nabel’s looks to May 15 as the no turning back point of spring. That’s when a gardener can expect to leave behind the cold weather and welcome consistent sunshine and warm temperatures necessary for most local gardening.

Every year, Nabel’s grows over 100,000 plots of annuals, perennials and vegetable plants. Among them are the new and interesting plants that the nursery prides itself on.

“There is always something new going on here, and we’re always searching for new trees and shrubs, especially from around the country,” said Henderson. “We have trees trucked in from the West Coast. One of our staples is the rare and exotic. We’re always looking for new varieties and different color variations, even in something basic like pansies.”

One of the rare plants you can see at Nabel’s is a large Sesame tree, located in one of the greenhouses. In fact, customers of Nabel’s have claimed it to be superior to the one at the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Some of the nursery’s predilection for the exotic was born in Paul Nabel’s early days as something of a “mad botanist.” Through experimentation with plants, he was able to create unique specimens and varieties not seen at other nurseries.

Now, Nabel’s allows its customers to experiment in a scaled-down fashion. At Christmas time, patrons can customize their own wreaths with hundreds of combinations available. These wreaths cost as little as $35, or as much as a few hundred dollars. This past season was the nursery’s third year selling wreaths and trees for Christmas, and they had a better year than usual. Some thanks come from a Christmas television ad they did, which was well-received and seen on local news channel 12. With that television spot doing so well, Nabel’s put together another one that will soon be airing on cable channels like USA, TNT and 12.

Nabel’s works a lot in supplying local nurseries, and also has a landscape department, where they are involved in installation and design. In addition, they do quite a bit of work with movie and television studios like Universal. In the past, they have supplied landscaping material for HBO’s “The Soprano’s” and FX’s “Rescue Me” when the shows filmed locally.

“We don’t really get more exposure for it, it’s just another account for us,” said Henderson. “But it’s always exciting when you know there is a movie going on.”

While “The Sopranos” will be coming to an end soon, Nabel’s Nurseries is about to go into bloom for their 66th season.