SmartyPlants founders are retiring, but the beloved nursery is expanding
New owner Ryan Boylston is buying both the Lake Worth Beach business and land; founders will say farewell to customers on Saturday.
FOR NEARLY 16 years, Amelia’s SmartyPlants has been an urban oasis, a Dixie Highway garden center with tranquil music, bubbling fountains and a panorama of colorful plants.
Now, the beloved Lake Worth Beach nursery is about to blossom even more.
Marta Edwards and Paul Harding, who founded the 2-acre nursery in 2010, are retiring. They will say goodbye to the community from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at 1515 N. Dixie Highway.
The farewell celebration will include discounts, live music and a complimentary happy hour for shoppers from 4 to 6 p.m.
They have sold Amelia’s SmartyPlants to Ryan Boylston, a former Delray Beach city commissioner, who is also buying the land.
Boylston is relocating two other greenthumb businesses he owns to the Lake Worth Beach site — GoodBird Landscaping, offering landscape designs, installation and maintenance; and Urban Abundance, specializing in fruit, vegetable and herb gardens.
SmartyPlants will continue to be the main attraction while hosting the relocated offices of GoodBird Landscaping (now in Delray Beach) and Urban Abundance (now in Jupiter).
With partner Ed Mileto, Boylston has big plans for the 2-acre site: Adding a small cafe, hosting community programs such as gardening classes and seasonal festivals, and renting the space after hours for weddings, birthdays and charity events.
The only thing likely to change? Shortening the name to “SmartyPlants.” (“Amelia’s” was a nod to an Edwards relative.)
One other significant difference: Unlike SmartyPlants’s founders, Boylston will own the site. He said the business and real estate closings should happen next week.
The land’s current owner is a company linked to Virginia Palhof of Ocean Ridge, according to public records. She considered other offers for the land before reaching a deal with Boylston.
The sales prices on the business and land deals were not disclosed.
“This coming Monday the transition starts,’’ Boylston told the Lake Worth Beach Independent.
“You can let all Lake Worth Beach residents know that we are purchasing the business and the land, so all the rumors of the nursery going away and condos going up are gone,’’ he said.
”We want to open SmartyPlants up to the community.’’
Like many of the nursery’s loyal customers, Boylston and Mileto have been Smarty Plants regulars who stopped by not just to make purchases for their home butterfly gardens but to relax among the expansive jungle of plants.
“Now it’s going to be our home,’’ Boylston said.
Boylston said he learned about SmartyPlants being for sale about a year ago from a colleague, who didn’t identify the business and only told him that a Palm Beach County nursery was for sale.
“I said, ‘I am only interested if it’s Amelia’s SmartyPlants. I’m not interested in some nursery out on 441. There is only one I would ever be interested in, so if it’s SmartyPlants, then go ahead and make the introduction,’’’ he recalled saying.
“This individual laughed and said, ‘That’s exactly who it is.’’
Love that place!!! Great variety of Florida natives and their online inventory list is very helpful!!!
Such wonderful news all around. Paul and Marta have been such great neighbors. Best wishes on their well-deserved retirement. And best of luck to new owner Ryan Boylston. Plans for the future of SmartyPlants sound amazing!