| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 6 Oct 2008.
Just Plain Talk - Fall found at Classic Plantings
October arose from its slumber to find cold mornings but no sign of frost yet in our hometown, decorated in festive yellow and orange hues for community festivals.
Cool days, warm days, spring through summer, whenever you travel Knoxville Highway west, you can find a field of beauty at Classic Plantings. It's not that obvious, even to locals. But watch for Beetle's Broasted Chicken as you drive west on Hwy. 25/70 and then turn at the next right onto Old Newport Highway. The road is old and narrow, serving motorists for more than 50 years. The area used to be a large farm owned by the Jones family. One of the descendants, Louise Jones) Samples, lives at 1614, and is one of the long-time Reidtown residents. I also bumped into tall and slim Bobby Frisbee, whose family is from Grassy Fork, but he, too, has lived along the old highway for 50 years. It was a hot early fall afternoon in Sept. when I dropped by to chat with nursery founders Michael Price and his wife, Janet (Samples) Price. Bobby's wife, Wilma Frisbee, was there to help customers. Sitting in the shade of a large tent covering an assortment of decorations, gourds, pumpkins and mums were also Mrs. Samples' daughter, Carolyn Ressler, of Sevierville. It's a family and friends operated business and has served customers populating the area with colorful flowers and traditional shrubs since 1999.
Louise promised to tell me a lot of the history of Reidtown, so I will be sharing this with you after a return visit soon. Her husband, J.P. Samples, died April 9, 1989. You know his nephew, Cecil Samples. Louise was raised in the neighborhood by her parents, Roy Jones, married to the former Maggie Reese. Not only was he a farmer but a carpenter, who built the family home and others along the highway connecting Newport and Knoxville. He was a brother to Winford Jones. While Michael was finishing some chores aided by nephew, Michael David Price, Janet told me about her background. She was smart to get into the early respiratory training programs at Walters State Community College and later enhanced training with California Health Sciences to gain an associates degree. Today, students study for at least two years to get a respiratory therapist degree. Janet is one of 10 such employees at Mercy Health Partners, formerly Baptist Hospital. She has been with Baptist for 14 years. She was raised at 1614 Old Newport Highway along with Carolyn and their brother, James Samples, of White Pine. Carolyn is now retired from Eye Care Associates, of Sevierville. Her husband, Tom Ressler, is retired but remains an audio consultant. As an engineer, he worked with the former Electro-Voice Company, especially at their plant in Sevierville.
I also found it interesting to know a little more about Michael Price, who I got to know through his company advertisements in the Plain Talk. You may recall the giant pumpkin photo I made at Newport Hardware. Keith Williams, store operator, had sponsored a great pumpkin contest won by Michael. This competition will be bigger and highly promoted next year. Michael's father was one of the veterans of Rhyne Lumber Company. Charles "Bill" Price worked there 37 years, perhaps alongside folks you knew, like Jim Allen. Charles and his wife, the former Lorene Hartsell, had three boys. Michael's brothers include Charles Dwight Price and Gary Wayne Price, who works at Bush Brothers.
Many years ago, Michael worked alongside block mason Holland Clevenger and later worked as a driver for the county high dept, then Blaylock and Bush Bros., as a long-distance hauler. But he always enjoyed the land and growing things and got tired of all the time watching the dotted lines come and go. In 1999, he sold his truck and started the nursery. The Jones farmland was available, flat, and near highways and the Interstate. The family jokes that part of the land sold for I-40 construction got them an indoor bathroom. Michael's first "crop" was mums, which he grows from cuttings he purchases. He does not do landscaping. By the third year the family was growing 25,000 mums, mostly sold to retailers. He has cut back to about 9,000 this year and also sells directly to the public at prices below retailers. Other popular plants he grows are crepe myrtles, and "Knock Out" roses, red and known as the rose an idiot can grow. Most of the routine work, such as watering, is done automatically. He has a pipe and feeder system feed by pumps that distributes water throughout the day by timers. He is watchful for fungus, disease, and bugs, such as spider mites and aphids. Bugs have not been so troublesome, but the dry year has required lots of water. He recalled that at times he would use 4,000 gallons per day. His advice to gardeners, "If you see one bug, spray" because there are many more that you don't see. And, it requires continuous spraying to break the lifecycle of bugs.
You don't have to buy anything to drive by and drink in the colors and aroma of the nursery. Michael, Janet and Wilma welcome friendly visits and can give you some good ideas about decorations. I enjoyed seeing the monster pumpkins in the patch. If you thought that 350-pounder at Newport Hardware was big, it's a puppy next to the big boys still growing. He showed me one pumpkin that was just a few pounds, the size of a softball, but within three weeks weighed about 100 pounds. If you wonder why yellow mums are the majority, it's still the most popular color. Classic Plantings offers 39 colors and 9 shades of yellow, he said. As I found out, he buys pinky-finger length cuttings in spring, uses a rooting chemical and mix, and keeps the cuttings misted until they root. The growing season is from May into October.
Michael will tell you that you get a good deal to start with so don't be anxious to beat him down on the prices. Their business is almost as time consuming as a dairy, because they are available just about every day. So, when winter arrives they finally can take to the road and travel. That's their hobby. Michael and Janet have lived at 1620 Old Newport Hwy. for 10 years, and Michael David lives practically on the nursery in the old house where Mrs. Samples was raised. The Prices have been married for 25 years and have no children. Since they have to water about every day, they are dedicated to the nursery and open until 6 p.m. If you need some beautiful and healthy flowers and plants head out to Reidtown now, but the nursery does stay open until the end of Nov. After relaxing during winter Michael starts preparing for a new year in January and opens in early March. It's been a natural cycle that has invigorated their lives and it shows in their flourishing nursery and reputation far beyond Cocke County as growers.
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