Local Gardens: Vonnie Smith Brings Blooms to Boone

Story by Amy Cooke

Rudbeckia with carpet of purple and white sweet alyssum bloom in front of the DiSanti Watson Capua & Wilson office in downtown Boone. Photos by Amy Cooke “I love my work,” said landscaper Vonnie Smith. “The whole reason I got into this business is because flowers make people happy. When bad things happen and when good things happen flowers make people feel better, make people happier.”

Smith and her husband Simon own Wintergreen Farms in Laurel Bloomery, Tenn. He works mostly in the greenhouses there and with the Christmas trees while she landscapes businesses and homes in Mountain City, Tenn. and across the state line into North Carolina.

One of her smallest gardens is also the one that the most people may see. Her flowers at DiSanti Watson Capua & Wilson, Attorneys at Law, on King Street in Boone bring color and fragrance to the heart of town.

“The flowers are so beautiful, and this morning when I came in they looked like a rainbow,” said Jackie Priddy, real estate associate with the firm. “I love them and everyone who comes here loves them. So many people stop and want to talk about the flowers. We get a lot of responses and they are all good.”

Bright pink petunias brighten King Street. The gardens have a little bit of everything—from trees to shrubs, perennials to annuals, bulbs to ground covers. Bright pink petunias are in full flower and blue and yellow pansies are still in bloom. The hostas provide a cool green background, along with the leaves of the azaleas and rhododendrons.

The rampant Houttuynia cordata ‘Chameleon’ spreads brightly colored leaves throughout the garden in hot shades of red, pink, yellow and green. The more subdued Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, or leadwort, is just starting to bloom. It has deep royal blue flowers and, as a bonus, the leaves turn red just as the flower show is at its autumnal best.

Smith attended Appalachian State University, majored in psychology and went to work in her specialty, elder care, at a local nursing home. “I asked the residents what they wanted to do, and they told me they wanted to garden. They wanted to grow cucumbers and morning glories and so they taught me. What they gave me in that garden is a gift that I will be thankful for forever,” she said.

A silvery blue eucalyptus tree grows amid the herb garden at DiSanti Watson Capua & Wilson. Realizing that her life needed a transition, Smith signed up for the very first Master Gardener class offered by the North Carolina Extension Service in Boone. She worked with Susan Wright at Shady Grove Gardens & Nursery, and when she branched out on her own, the Boone law firm was one of her first clients.

“Vonnie Smith is constantly here doing something in the garden and is constantly changing things so there is always something in bloom,” explained Priddy. “The first thing I do each morning is look and see what’s blooming. Customers comment on the flowers, and we have people just come in off the street to ask what kind of a flower is in bloom or just to tell us that they are beautiful.

“I like them all, but do have my favorites. The peonies are beautiful and I love the fragrance. Right now, I love the herbs.”

A little herb garden is tucked in the plot, near the entrance to the office. Yellow and orange calendulas with deep brown centers brighten the space, and basils, curly parsley, chives and artemisias provide texture. A silvery blue eucalyptus tree grows among the herbs and all is edged in rock and backed by the brick wall.
In spring, plenty of flowers bloom with those fragrant peonies, including iris, daffodils, azaleas, blue delphinium, clematis, lilies, periwinkle and hardy geraniums. Summer white phlox, coneflowers, white nicotianas, golden rudbeckias and daisies are still flowering, and fall will add white Japanese anemones to the mix.

Smith still enjoys doing the gardens for another of her first clients, Bob and Lillian Turchin in Hound Ears. She also takes care of the plants for Deal Mosely & Smith and Appalachian Management in Boone, three businesses in Mountain City and other homes and commercial accounts.

White phlox grows above a carpet of the multicolored groundcover Houttuynia cordata ‘Chameleon.’ “I want to give a lot of credit to my husband,” explained Smith. “He takes care of the Christmas trees and the greenhouses and makes sure that the quality of the flowers that we grow is so good. We specialize in annuals and also grow vegetable plants. We do them all from seed and don’t buy any plugs or cuttings. We like babying the little plants and think that makes for better flowers.”

The greenhouses are open to the public and will soon be filled with plenty of new seedlings for fall planting. The Smiths have ornamental cabbages and kales and 130 flats of pansies.

Smith enjoys working in the gardens and appreciates the many compliments she receives as she works. “People will stop and tell me how much they appreciate the flowers. They thank me a lot and that means a lot.

“I think flowers are one of God’s greatest gifts to us on this earth. That’s what drew me in to doing this.”

Contact Vonnie Smith and Wintergreen Farm by calling 423-727-2593 or, best during the busy garden season, by emailing wintergreenfarm@gmail.com.