August 19, 2016
CapitalPress.com
15
Nursery specializes in succulents
By JANAE SARGENT
Capital Press
After a career in the recre-
ational vehicle industry, Bar-
bara Diamond followed her
son’s interests to start Dancing
Lizard Gardens — one of only
a few specialty succulent nurs-
eries in Oregon.
Dancing Lizard Gardens is
a 12-acre wholesale nursery in
Junction City, Ore.
Diamond sells hardy suc-
culent arrangements to home-
owners, garden centers and
online gift catalog companies.
Her succulents have been used
as gifts for a variety of occa-
sions including weddings.
Diamond was laid off from
her 23-year career at RV mak-
er Country Coach in 2005 and
started looking for other sourc-
es of income.
While she was iguring out
her next steps, she took a trip
to Decker Nursery with her
The Dancing Lizard Nursery’s
most popular products are
succulents planted in frog and
bunny containers and a variety
of potted succulents.
Photos by Janae Sargent/Capital Press
Barbara Diamond stands by her selection of succulents at Danc-
ing Lizard, a specialty nursery she started after 23 years of working
in the recreational vehicle business.
son, Jerry. Walking around the
nursery, he begged her to buy
succulents for him to take care
of.
“He really got into them,”
Diamond said. “He had them
all over the place.”
ing to Bi-Mart, Jerry’s Home
Improvement and Market of
Choice and expanded the busi-
ness to do drop shipments for
catalog companies.
Diamond said succulents
are good plants to have because
they are easy to care for and
people are attracted to the vi-
brant colors.
In addition to selling potted
plants, Diamond designs ar-
rangements for specialty con-
tainers, wreaths, birdhouses
and baskets. Her most popular
items are specialty arrange-
ments she designs in bunny,
frog, cat, owl and seashell con-
tainers.
Diamond studied landscape
horticulture at Oregon State
University and had experience
with succulents.
Designing
arrangements
is Diamond’s favorite part of
owning Dancing Lizard Gar-
dens. She said she looks for
complementary colors and in-
teresting textures when design-
ing her container gardens.
The nursery is managed and
maintained by Diamond and
her family.
Diamond’s busy season
goes from Valentine’s Day
through Mother’s Day with the
majority of her plants selling as
gifts. She also stays busy year-
round shipping for catalogs and
selling to garden centers.
Diamond said if she had
started Dancing Lizard Gar-
dens when she was younger,
she would have expanded it to
be a large operation but that she
is happy with where it is for her.
“I’m not the kind of person
to sit around and do nothing,”
Diamond said. “There’s always
something to do here and I real-
ly enjoy it.”
When her son went to col-
lege in Ithaca, N.Y., and left his
succulents at home, Diamond
thought she would give a suc-
culent nursery a try with her
husband, David.
Diamond started out sell-
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