Garden Greenhouses & Exquisite
Floristry
Carol Davis
 | ||
Carol and her family moved from Newark
to Chester, N.J., when she was nine. She and her sisters used
to visit their uncle’s farm in Wayne County,
Pennsylvania, and spend the summer. She always loved going out
to visit the farm and would speed down to the barn at 4 a.m.
every morning to watch the cows get milked and would then fall
asleep among the calves. Her parents bought the 40 acres where
Stony Hill Gardens is currently located before it was developed
into 17 homes.
Old apple orchards and fields were on
the original land. Her family rented out their land to other
farmers who grew hay on it. Carol’s family was then able
to harvest and keep this hay. In exchange, her family would
help the farmers when needed. When one of the farmers went on
vacation, Carol was asked to milk the cows for three weeks.
Three weeks turned into three years because the farmer was so
impressed with how well the cows responded to her. Milk
production went up dramatically!
When it was time for her to attend
college, she continued her milking job. In addition to her role
as a student, Carol waitressed at a local restaurant and worked
for an orchid wholesaler. She originally enrolled in Delaware
Valley College as an Animal Husbandry major with an eye towards
becoming a veterinarian.
She met Dale in her sophomore year at
school through mutual friends. They were engaged during
Christmas of their senior year and married in May 1980. She and
Dale decided to open their own greenhouse business and took the
steps needed to do so after their graduation. She took two
semesters of floral design at Mercer County Community College
and started her florist work by doing wedding arrangements in
the basement of their home.
Dale and Carol built their home on the
land her parents had bought. Their home was completed in August
1984, after 18 months of construction. Their three children
were born in 1984 (Dale), 1987 (Brandt) and 1990 (Kaitlyn).
