Hasting Plants

Little did Nancy Hasting know when she was a little girl poring over seed catalogs with her Grammy Fay Ray in Parke County that flowers would become her career. This love of flowers that began in a family flowerbed has turned into a seasonal greenhouse offering annual and perennial flowers that people drive deep into the countryside to buy. Hasting Plants in Mount Vernon, Indiana, sits literally at the “point” of Indiana, with the Wabash and Ohio rivers on either side. Nancy, along with her husband Mike and a team of dedicated employees, has been in business since 1982 on ground that has been in the family since 1868 and is a Sesquicentennial (150 year) Hoosier Homestead Award recipient.

Nancy, who grew up on hog farm in Warrick County and is a horticulture graduate from Purdue University, always wanted her own greenhouse. Having worked in garden centers and flower shops as well as a vocational teacher, her dream sprouted with one greenhouse on the family land in Posey County. The first greenhouse led to a second as well as five acres of you-pick crops. Today, the operation includes six greenhouses and a sales building with garden-related merchandise.

Back when children came along, Nancy stopped the produce aspect to focus on the flowers. “When I started the business all those years ago, it was a way to have my kids with me through the day yet still have a job,” Nancy recalls. Son Daniel was content in the playpen at the greenhouse, and her daughter Diane started life out in plant box cut into a bassinet. This family time also included Nancy’s mother-in-law who was one of the employees and loved time with the kids, including playing Scrabble at slow times.

“I have always loved the seasonality of my business. When the kids were little, I still had six months of the year that I could do more activities with them,” Nancy says, “And now, I always come back to the greenhouse each January excited to start again after having those months "off.”

Each January, Nancy is in the greenhouse getting ready for the year, with employees joining her as the plants come in from all over the country. The team’s activity ramps up quickly, transplanting the plants, tending to them as well as doing the business side of pricing and preparing for customers. Spring in Indiana can be unpredictable, so the task at hand can even include knocking ice and snow off of the plastic of the six greenhouses.

Hasting Plants opens for customers in March, with sales peaking in April and May. Operations close down in the middle of June, when it is time for repairs and improvements over the summer, before ordering the plants for the next season in the fall. “We are able to attend trade shows in October and November before getting a little time to rest before the cycle starts over again,” Nancy says. Active in her church, Nancy is a member of the Indiana Flower Growers Association as well as the National Perennial Plant Association.

With activity being so concentrated in several months, having an outstanding team of employees is essential and Nancy feels fortunate to have employees who have stayed with her for many years. “I have the best employees in the world and always tell them this wouldn't be at all possible without them! I had the vision, they make it happen,” she says, noting many are retired and enjoy the part time work. “There is a lot of laughter and fun on the job.”Husband Mike is integral to the business, keeping the equipment running and performing a variety of behind the scenes work. He also enjoys upgrading and working on the playground that is there for customers’ kids to enjoy. Daughter Diane lives in the area and helps as time allows with three small kids and one on the way. Son Daniel currently lives in San Diego, California.

When Nancy first started the business all those years ago, a newspaper reporter covering the opening described the flower business as “well worth the drive” and that tagline has stuck as customers come to find plants they can’t find other places. “Wehave such a wide variety of both annuals and perennials, we work to get the new varieties,” Nancy says. From petunias that come in a wide variety of colors to plants like lantana that are popular for butterfly gardens, there is something for everyone.

While of course she can’t name a favorite plant as she loves them all, Nancy does raise a special plant that is a crowd favorite. “We raise the “sensitive plant” from seed. It is a unique plant that my grandma grew from the mimosa tree family. When you touch the leaves, they fold up and drop down, and then bounce back,” she says. “It has to do with the water pressure in the leaves and is a fun plant for kids to have.”

In thinking about being a Featured Farmer at the Indiana State Fair, Nancy fondly recalls coming to the Fair as a participant in Band Day when she was in high school. She has served on the Purdue Ag Alumni Association Board of Directors and was even a volunteer cook in Pioneer Village years ago.

With a love of flowers that started as a child, working with plants continues to inspire Nancy. “I’ve been doing this for 44 years now, yet every year I learn something new, you can never know all there is to know about plants,” she concludes.