Welcome to Branches of the Past, an ongoing collection of short stories that highlight the history, camaraderie and memorable moments in CNGA history, as told by CNGA members. These memories reflect the deep roots and strong connections that have shaped our association.
Submitted by Stan Brown, Alameda Wholesale Nursery
The Consolidated Nurseries of Colorado
In about 1950, the United States started building the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. By 1955, they were ready to do the landscaping (link to related story HERE). There were two main components: plant supply and installation. The government felt there was not a large enough landscape contractor in Colorado to do the work, so they hired a landscape contractor from Illinois to handle the installation. A group of the largest members of the Colorado Nurserymen’s Association convinced them that they could provide knowledge of what would grow here and supply the plants. This new company was called The Consolidated Nurseries of Colorado and was incorporated on January 23, 1957.
One of the first tasks they had was to convince a group of Senators that it was not a good idea to have the state tree of all 48 states lining the main entry drive!
The team included Scott Wilmore and Steve Driftmeyer of W. W. Wilmore Nursery, Maurice Marshall of Marshall Nurseries, Charles Wilmore of Green Bowers Nursery, Bert Clark of Robert’s Nursery, Carlisle Ferguson of Northern Nursery (now James Nursery), Al Foster of Kroh Brothers Nursery in Loveland, Stanley Brown Sr. of Alameda Nursery, and Art Langman of Colorado Springs. Members divided the contract among themselves, agreeing to grow 20% extra to prevent shortages.
The contract included a few B&B trees, such as:
- 400 Thornless Honeylocust 2.5”-3”
- 140 Douglas Fir 8’-10’
The vast portion of the contract was for over 250,000 plants sold as “Nursery stock grown in containers for one year.” The list of shrubs is too long to list, but there were over 50 varieties. Some of these included:
- 5,000 Rhus Glabra Cismontana @ .41
- 3,000 Rhus Triloba @ .29
- 1,000 Symphoricarpos @ .31
- 1,000 Mt. Mahogany @ .38
- 5,000 Potentilla Fruiticosa @ .39
The Consolidated Nurseries of Colorado supplied plants for a few other projects, such as Fort Logan Cemetery, but dissolved on December 31, 1960.
