[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#d9ae52″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_stops=”rgba(224,153,0,0.73) 0%|rgba(224,153,0,0.91) 100%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”rgba(224,153,0,0.73)” background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(224,153,0,0.91)” background_image=”https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/altatena-woods-bgrnd.jpg” background_position=”top_center” custom_padding=”39px||41px|||” transparent_background=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Title Header” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ text_font=”Crimson Text||||” text_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font_size=”30″ header_font_size=”63px” background_layout=”dark” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Nuccio\u2019s Nursery Over the Decades<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_text_color=”#6B6B6B” custom_margin=”||21px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
By Val Zavala<\/p>\n
Nuccio\u2019s sits on 13 acres of slightly rising land on Chaney Trail, hugged by the chaparral above Loma Alta and Fair Oaks Avenues. With expansive views south, and the San Gabriels behind, there is a sense of timelessness about the upland site this nursery has occupied for 77 years. Stop by if you haven\u2019t already, to meet Tom and Jim, and wander among seemingly endless varieties of camellias and azaleas.<\/p>\n
Brothers Tom and Jim Nuccio, both now in their 70s, estimate there are 200,000 plants on their property \u2014although they\u2019ve never actually counted \u2014 and 600 kinds of camellias. Many were hybridized by the Nuccio family over two generations. Their nursery is world-renowned; they ship throughout North America, Europe and Japan.<\/p>\n
Tom and Jim\u2019s father Julius was 11 when he started growing camellias in his mother\u2019s Alhambra backyard in the 1930\u2019s. She got tired of moving her clothesline to accommodate her son\u2019s plants, so in 1946 Julius\u2019s father (Tom and Jim\u2019s grandfather,) found 38 highland acres for sale in Altadena and bought it for $12,500 to grubstake his sons, Julius and brother Joe. The nursery takes up six of the site\u2019s 13 flatish acres, with the balance of the land steep, gullied, and unusable. (In the early 70\u2019s the family bought 40 more contiguous acres, but the nursery still uses the original six.)<\/p>\n
Tom says, \u201cMy grandfather bought this property because it was affordable. He didn\u2019t bother to check if it had water. So my dad approached the water company and asked if they could supply some.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Tom-Nuccio.jpg” title_text=”Tom-Nuccio” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Tom Nuccio at the door of one of many shade houses at the nursery.<\/i><\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” border_color_all=”#dddddd” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_4_text_color=”#6B6B6B” custom_margin=”||21px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
They said, \u2018We have plenty of water, but we don\u2019t have any pipe.\u2019 After WWII the metal was all used up.\u201d Julius learned that a local character, a motorcycle hell-raiser type, might know where to get pipe and approached him. \u201cThe guy said. \u2018Can you come up with a case of whiskey?\u2019 The pipe showed up. No questions asked. The case of whiskey was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Water has flowed ever since, without any irrigation system. The thousands of plants are hand-watered with a wand on the end of a hose; there is quite an art to watering thousands of containers this way, according to Tom, who has trained generations of workers to do this crucial job correctly.<\/p>\n
The Nuccios are expert propagators \u2014 hybridizing, growing, grafting, and selecting unique and beautiful new varieties. They have worked with Huntington Gardens which grows about 100 camellias they developed, including one named for Henry Huntington.<\/p>\n
Propagating is a multi-year, slow-evolving process that cannot be sped up. Jim Nuccio says, \u201cCamellias grown from seed will not bloom for roughly five years, depending. And when one does bloom and looks promising you have one plant. Then, usually by rooting cuttings (sometimes grafting) it takes five years to build the stock up. Tom explains that the whole time you\u2019re evaluating when it blooms and if it has any idiosyncrasies \u2014 does it bloom early or late? does it set buds well or is slow to produce flower? So it takes about four or five years to really evaluate a new camellia.<\/p>\n
One fun aspect about propagating their own varieties is naming them. Of course they named one for their grandfather, Julius Nuccio, and their grandmother Katie. Another of their favorites is Nuccio\u2019s pearl.<\/p>\n
Camellias are not just for beauty, you may be drinking some. \u201cOur bestselling camellia is the Camellia senensis\u201d, explains Jim. \u201cIt\u2019s the least ornamental. So when you are drinking your basic Lipton or other black tea you are drinking camellia. Quite a few customers order 50 to 100 at a time to start a small tea plantation. It\u2019s become our best-selling camellia.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
The business has served them well over decades. During COVID they noticed a uptick in local customers who had time to work on their gardens. Many were discovering the 77-year-old business for the first time. But like so many family businesses, successive generations have other interests \u2014 which is true of the younger Nuccios as well. So Jim and Tom will be selling the land and closing the much-loved family enterprise. What will become of the land is still undetermined. (Polytechnic school in Pasadena is interested in buying the land to build a sports facility. It has sparked a controversy that will be explored later by Altadena Heritage.)<\/p>\n
The time will come when they step away from the six acres of camellias they have nurtured for decades. What will they miss most? \u201cPeople are certainly up at the top,\u201d said Tom. \u201cBut also seeing new varieties (of camellias) and new developments. If you get a hand-pollinated cross you get a new seedling. I\u2019ll miss the new stuff that\u2019s not out there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
What will he not miss? \u201cWell,\u201d says Tom, \u201cthe days aren\u2019t long enough to get things done. You fool around with other things and you don\u2019t get the thing done you set out to do. I won\u2019t miss the frustration of always being behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Jim, \u201cI will miss the people, especially new customers and new audiences for my oblique sense of humor. But I won\u2019t miss the frequent driving trips in the van to deliver plants up to the Bay area, although my wife and I know all the good restaurants between here and San Francisco.\u201d
The world of camellia growers will miss Tom, Jim, and Nuccio\u2019s nursery, and Altadena will miss knowing that there is a world of choice and cheerful help and advice. With tremendous horticultural knowledge, skill, and decades of time, they have introduced 210 new varieties, winning the prestigious Camellia Propagators award 13 times.<\/p>\n
But the award we Altadenans would likely give the Nuccios would be a prize for decades of wonderful service, making our community stronger, and our gardens more beautiful.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Love Affair with Camellias By Val Zavala – Nuccio\u2019s sits on 13 acres of slightly rising land on Chaney Trail, hugged by the chaparral above Loma Alta and Fair Oaks Avenues. With expansive views south, and the San Gabriels…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter-2023-spring-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7621"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7629,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7621\/revisions\/7629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altadenaheritage.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}