EVERGREEN AND EVER-EVOLVING
Evergreen and Ever-Evolving
Toms Creek Nursery in Denton celebrates 20 years of wreath workshops
By Cassie Bustamante • Photographs by John Gessner
Down a winding gravel drive, just past the ducks and several greenhouses on the 400-acre Toms Creek Nursery property, a large, heated greenhouse awaits. Inside, straw wreath forms wrapped in dark green plastic sit two at a table with small tins of greening pins plus pairs of clippers. A few stations throughout the building are loaded with overflowing buckets of greenery and berries in scarlet and plum. And, of course, there’s hot cocoa, coffee and cookies. The only thing you need to bring to this hidden Denton treasure? Yourself and a little spark of holiday spirit.
“The first year, there were probably 10 people,” says horticulturist Jim Carraher, whose idea it was to start these wreath-making workshops, which began 20 years ago in unheated smaller greenhouses. “I’d been to a garden center that was up in Greensboro and they were selling greenery that you could take home and make into wreaths and, I thought, we’ve got hundreds of acres of plant material here.”
Now, in the greenhouse, over 40 people mill about planning their designs for their own wreaths. And that’s just one of many sessions available over a two-and-a-half-week period that begins the day after Thanksgiving. In 2023, the workshop broke 1,000 total attendees. Former nursery manager Brittany Andersen said at the time that their max capacity in a season is around 2,000, a number that depends not only on space but greenery available. The farm has trees that are specifically grown for this workshop. “But,” Andersen, had noted, “we need more trees to have enough greenery.”
This nearly century-old farm did not begin its life as a lush and idyllic setting that would draw mostly well-heeled urbanites for continuing education. But this nursery’s line of owners knows something about growth opportunities.
In 1934, single mother Ovie Henson purchased the property with her own money. Her husband, who’d been older than her and already passed his wealth on to his older children from previous marriages, died early in their marriage, leaving her with a son and not much else.
But Ovie was “tough people,” according to granddaughter Melinda Vaughan, the 70-year-old third-generation proprietress of Toms Creek Nursery. How did Ovie, a single woman with a baby during The Great Depression, manage to purchase the farm she named after its creek? With money she earned from her job as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse that she’d wisely invested in a little mill close to what would eventually become the N.C. Zoo. She traded off her stake in the mill for the first 200 acres.
“One of the old neighbors was a big farmer,” says Vaughan, “saying, ‘I am going to get that land for nothing because that little lady — she is going to go under.’”
Vaughan, whose blue eyes sparkle as she speaks of her Granny, holds herself proudly, her shining silver hair grazing her shoulders. “She proved him wrong though.” With sheep and chickens, Toms Creek got its start, eventually adding cows. But it soon evolved when Ovie discovered she had a green thumb. Money that was earned from the plant portion of her business was fed right back into the community and given to the Quaker church she belonged to. While the dairy no longer runs, Vaughan recalls getting the cows in their loft before catching the bus for school as a youngster and remembers Granny milking them well into her 60s.
Today, Toms Creek Nursery is home to not only acres and acres of plants, but also its own landscaping and design company, run by Brandon Vaughan, one of Melinda’s sons. In addition to being owner, Vaughan is also the designer. In fact, Carraher, wreath workshop innovator, began on the landscaping crew. He met and married a woman from Denton and moved there with her after earning his B.S. in ornamental horticulture from N.C. State. And, as Vaughan plainly states about the Denton area, “There’s only one nursery big enough to hire a person.” So Carraher put down roots at Toms Creek. That was some 30 years ago.
These days, 67-year-old Carraher’s sole focus is the wreath workshop. In 2021, in fact, the farm purchased a special T-shirt for his role. Pictured on the back of it? Why, a wreath, of course, the words “The Wreath Man” surround it.
Each workshop session runs two hours and change, during which time Carraher roams the greenhouse, answering questions and offering guidance as needed. Otherwise, it’s a free-for-all when it comes to the creation and design. The tools and materials are all provided. There’s an inspiration binder filled with images of wreaths Carraher and customers have created over the last 20 years. And sprinkled throughout the greenhouse, doors of all colors hold wreath hangers, welcoming customers to test their creations.
“Basically there’s no wrong or right way to do it,” says Carraher. “That’s the beauty of it all.” With several types of greenery and berries — Leyland cypress, American boxwood, D.D. Blanchard magnolia, blue Pfitzer juniper, American beautyberry, Norway spruce, Sunkist arborvitae, heavenly bamboo nandina berries, white pine, multiple yews and multiple holly berries — customers can create their own mix. And over two decades of workshops, Carraher has yet to see it all.
“When you mix up all these textures, even after all these years of doing it . . . some of them are just breathtaking,” he says.
For many, the Toms Creek Nursery wreath workshop has become a holiday tradition. Carraher recalls a group of young moms who hit the workshop as a break from their children. Two of those moms still carve out the time for it each year. “One of the two, she was pregnant the first time she came,” he recalls. “And now her son is 16 years old.”
Sue Shumaker has been coming with her friend, Susan Short, and a varying group of women for about a decade. This time, she showed up with a dozen wreath-makers.
“I first came with Little Gate Garden Club in Asheboro and loved it so much, I invited Sue,” says Short. Since those first years at the workshop together, Short has moved to the Charlotte area. “I spent the night in a hotel last night so I could be here first thing this morning. That’s how much I love it!”
With so much experience under their belts, have their wreath-making skills improved over the years? Absolutely. But, according to Shumaker, there’s never been an ugly wreath that came out of this workshop. “Some are Southern Living-beautiful, but they’re all pretty. Every wreath that walks out the door is beautiful.”
The two friends recall a bittersweet memory during the COVID pandemic when a friend was ill and couldn’t attend. “Jim filled up a bag of goodies for me and I drove it to her house and put it on her porch,” says Shumaker. “That’s just like Sue,” adds Short, gazing at her friend.
Carraher also remembers the pandemic-influenced pivots: Tables were spaced out as they are now, but only one person to a table. During that time, he also offered pick-up of all the wreath-making essentials so customers could recreate the experience safely at home.
But today the workshop bustles with activity, the smell of Christmas pine wafting through the air.
“There is just something about a fresh wreath on the door,” says Vickie Whitaker, who’s attending for the second time. “It really makes you think about Christmas when you were young. Years ago, we didn’t go out and buy wreaths or buy decorations. We made them! I think that is part of it. Don’t you?”
“You’re still young!” her friend, first-timer Linda Powell, responds with a laugh. Powell entered the workshop doubting her creative skills. As the workshop progresses and her lush wreath nears completion, you’d never guess it was her first time.
And therein lies the magic. “It’s always that smile on that person’s face who was convinced they couldn’t do it — and they did,” says Carraher. “That’s what really sticks out the most.”
