MARYSVILLE -- Sunnyside Nursery got its start in 1948 with 2 acres of rural land, a two-bedroom house, a chicken coop and a small greenhouse.

The nursery celebrates its 60th anniversary in March, one of a handful of independent retail nurseries that have stayed in business for decades despite crop failures, a greenhouse collapse and competition from chain stores.

Chalk up the nursery's longevity to farmer mentality or maybe incurable optimism, said Steve Smith, who owns Sunnyside with his wife, Pauline. He bought the nursery in 1989 when it was a mom-and-pop rural business that closed for six weeks in the middle of summer.

The days of taking a summer hiatus are long gone, Smith said. Today, it boasts multiple greenhouses, an expanded retail store and a modest 4 percent profit margin.

"Nobody has ever gotten rich in the nursery business," Smith said. "We make a respectful living. What we have here is a lifestyle. We're doing what we enjoy and working with a product we enjoy."

It's a good thing he likes it, because there have been some tough times in the last two decades.

Some independent nurseries shut down when big-box stores came on the scene in the early 1990s, Smith said. But it wasn't just the Home Depots and Lowe's that killed the smaller nurseries. Around that time, a host of other types of retailers began selling plants and supplies.

"Back in the good old days when everyone got their garden supplies, they went to the nursery," Smith said. "Then hardware stores started carrying Ortho this and Ortho that. Then the grocery stores started carrying plants, then the drug stores. Now gas stations carry bark in the summertime to make a few extra bucks.

"Over the years, other businesses have each taken a little piece of the pie."

Now that customers can get their petunias, bark and fertilizer along with their milk, eggs and gas, they aren't visiting the small garden retailers as much. That's cut down on the number of people visiting the nursery and the unplanned purchases that often come with them, he said.

Supersized companies such as Wal-Mart can buy large volumes of plants cheap, far cheaper than a small independent can. In most cases, Smith said he can't compete on price. But big-box stores aren't necessarily always cheaper. Some independent nurseries can offer competitive pricing because they grow some of their own plants.

A 2007 study by the National Gardening Association shows that most consumers buy home and garden products at home centers such as Lowe's and Home Depot or mass merchandisers such as Wal-Mart and Kmart, said research director Bruce Butterfield. Retail nurseries are consumers' third choice, he said. That's a change from 20 years ago, when the local nursery was the first stop for most consumers of lawn and garden products.

Today, local nurseries find other ways to compete. They often provide plants better suited to the local climate, Butterfield said, since many of the larger corporations may make purchasing decisions on a regional basis.

When the big-box stores first came on the scene, retail nursery owners said they would destroy the industry, said Jeanne McNeil, executive director of the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association. They're not saying that anymore, she said.

The successful nurseries adapted and survived by promoting themselves as a different experience than the big-box garden center. That experience often includes knowledgeable staff, a selection of chic and hard-to-find plants, and classes for customers. It also means independents have to work harder to stay on top of trends. Nursery owners are worried about adapting to a new generation of customers who may not have the know-how or the time and energy to devote to gardening, she said.

Area nurseries have each developed their own niches, she noted. For instance, Molbak's in Woodinville offers customers a vast selection of perennials, a cafe and an extensive home and gift section. Christianson's Nursery near La Conner is known for roses. Sunnyside developed a reputation for its extensive tropical border plants and its professionally trained staff.

Smith remembers how cars would stop on rural Sunnyside Boulevard in the summer to catch a whiff off the hundreds of sweet-smelling brugmansia blooms and wonder what they were doing in Marysville. Sunnyside scaled back the tropical border, partly because dragging 500-pound banana trees into the greenhouse each fall became too much work, Smith said. The border evolved into a hardy tropical border, which means the planting has the same tropical look using plants that come back most winters.

Ultimately, the reason people come to Sunnyside is because they want to build a relationship with a local business and they want good customer service, Smith said.

"You have a face or a personality with this place you spend your money," he said. "Something other than a giant corporate entity that takes your money and runs."

Smith said they also take care of the plants better. Big-box stores, he said, get the plants in and expect to sell them quickly or toss them. They don't generally devote resources to caring for the plants for the long term.

"They do that because they have thin margins," he said. "It costs more to keep it healthy. We may have a plant for six months before it sells."

McNeil also noted independent nursery owners are employing marketing tactics to personalize their businesses.

"Personality makes a difference," she said. "It's like you're coming to visit friends instead of grabbing a cart, running through the store and getting done as quickly as possible."

That's true at Sunnyside, where Smith said an essential part of growing the business is getting it into public view. Although Smith co-owns the nursery, he is the public face as "the Whistling Gardener," a whacky but lovable persona he has promoted with a local radio show, public speaking appearances, newspaper ads and even life-size cutouts at the nursery.

The nickname comes from his early days when he ran a landscaping business and used to whistle before he entered people's back yards because "you never knew if Mrs. Jones was sunbathing."

All the hours Smith spends on his business doesn't leave him much time for tending his own garden. "I'm ready to find some sucker out there," he said. "We're at the point where we are ready to pass the torch to the next Whistling Gardener."

There have been several near misses for selling the nursery in the last few years, but the right person hasn't stepped forward. The land it sits on has appreciated so much, it's hard to say if someone else can afford to buy it like he did 20 years ago, he said.

Indeed, McNeil said the price of land may be what kills some independent nurseries in the future. As owners want to retire and are ready to sell, the land the nurseries sit on becomes so valuable, it's hard to find someone who can afford to keep it a nursery and still make a living.

She noted that nursery owners tend to be an optimistic and persistent bunch.

"They've chosen this as a vocation, not just a business venture," she said. "Something seems to captivate them despite the ups and downs."

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.