Long Mountain Nursery reaches end of the road

Richard and Sandy Antony wanted to plant azaleas on their quarter-acre inside the Beltway, but prices for the plants were pretty steep by a young couple's standards.

So Richard decided to take a cutting from an azalea in his mother's yard, and propagate his own plants. It worked beautifully and the Antonys became more and more intrigued with azaleas.

Neighbors raved about the Antonys' garden. One friend even suggested that Richard and Sandy should grow more azaleas and sell them. They did.

That was more than 30 years – and thousands of azaleas – ago. In the time in between, the Antonys moved from suburban Maryland to 25 acres on Tiger Valley Road and cultivated Long Mountain Nursery.

After 28 years in the business, the Antonys have announced that they are closing the nursery, but plants will still be available this spring until inventory is sold out. Richard believes strongly in recycling, so he wants to sell the nursery's hoop houses, pots and other infrastructure as well.

At its peak, Long Mountain grew 500 varieties of azaleas. From the early 1990s until a couple years ago, when the Antonys began easing back production, the nursery grew some 30,000 azalea plants annually.

Like many Rappahannock transplants, the Antonys found the county by coming to hike in the mountains. They were so taken by Rappahannock's beauty and calm that they decided to make a little piece of the county their own.

In 1977, the Antonys bought 25 raw acres on Tiger Valley Road. They were still living and working in Maryland, but thought Rappahannock would be a weekend getaway and someday where they would retire.

"We had no intention of starting a nursery," Richard said.

But the lure of living in the country tugged at the Antonys and they began to think of ways to make a living in Rappahannock. They took a neighbor's suggestion and decided to open the nursery.

They started soft, growing about 1,000 plants in their backyard in Maryland.

In 1981, they built a barn on the property on Tiger Valley Road to be the base of operations for Long Mountain Nursery.

In 1982, they cultivated their first growing zone for azaleas. They added more and more each year until they reached their property line in 1987.

They did nearly all the work themselves. And it was a lot of work.

"It's like having a dairy farm, almost," Richard said. "You have to be here all the time and deal with the weather."

He recalled, as an example, an early Alberta Clipper in 1987 when the family worked 24 hours straight to cover plants before the storm came through.

What made things more difficult during those early years was that Richard was still working as an engineer in Washington, D.C., while Sandy ran the nursery and took care of their son, Chris, who was born in 1981. Richard would come out to Rappahannock on weekends.

"I was living in Maryland; they were living in the barn. The candle was burning at both ends," Richard recalled. "I said, we need to fix this."

In 1985, Richard landed an electrical-engineering job at Vint Hill Farms Station in Fauquier County. The new position allowed him to live in Rappahannock full time and commute to work each day. With that, the Antonys really left the city behind.

In many ways, 1985 was a banner year for them. They landed what would become their main customer one Saturday while taking a sales trip along Route 29 in Fairfax. They arrived at Betty's Azalea Ranch, which reserved the rest of their inventory.

A major industrial revolution also happened at Long Mountain in 1985. Richard took some old washing-machine parts, a few free weights, PVC pipes and more otherwise-unrelated machinery and assembled a mechanized potting line.

Before that, the Antonys had done all the potting by hand. Richard's invention allowed them to pot 1,200 azaleas a day. In 1998, the potting line attracted the attention of a Washington Post reporter who described it in an article as "a cross between a piece of mine-working equipment and a carnival ride."

Even though they are closing the nursery, the Antonys plan to stay at the property. Richard will continue to do engineering work for a contractor.

"We bought this place because we love it, so we're going to stay," Richard said.

The Antonys admit that they had a few moments early on when they thought, "What have we done?" But now they say, without any reservations, that opening the nursery was one of the best decisions they ever made.

What they will miss most is the people the nursery brought into their lives.

"The people have been the most wonderful part of it," Sandy said.

Most of the plants grown at Long Mountain were sold to wholesalers, but the nursery opened to retail customers for six to eight weeks each spring. The nursery became a destination for many, and most retail customers became regulars over the years. A brother and sister are the first customers to show up each year on the first day they open.

Richard and Sandy hope past customers will stop by this spring, even if it's not to buy azaleas. The couple just wants to thank those who have supported them over the years.

Employees and customers have become almost like extended family, Sandy said. The nursery has employed a total 72 people since it opened. Jarvis Fletcher worked for the nursery for more than 22 years.

Their son, Chris, married and living in Jeffersonton, and daughter, Allison, currently pursuing her nursing degree, were raised on Long Mountain.

"Both the kids started working here about as soon as they could walk," Richard said.

The Antonys desire to raise their children in the country, rather than the suburbs, was one of the factors that motivated them to make the move to Rappahannock.

"It was good for our kids because they learned a tremendous amount," Richard said. "It's a nice environment to raise your kids."

Richard and Sandy wanted to explain to their children why they were raised in the country, so Richard planned to write a short story for the children's baby books.

"It started as a very simple project," Richard said.

He is now in the process of revising his third book and planning a fourth in the series he titled "Mountain of My Dreams." The books are available for purchase on the nursery's Web site as well as online booksellers, such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Borders.

Long Mountain Nursery still has 2,000 uncommitted azaleas in stock in 150 varieties in 3-gallon and 7-gallon containers. Plenty of 2-year-old rooted cuttings are also available.

The nursery will be open this spring from April 19 to May 18. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Call 675-3707 with questions or to arrange another time to visit the nursery.

For more information about Long Mountain Nursery and to see the varieties of azaleas available, visit www.longmountainnursery.com.

E-mail the reporter at kallen@timespapers.com.