A Bradenton post-Thanksgiving tradition returns: Orban’s Nursery poinsettia open house
By the time Orban’s Nursery holds its annual open house, owner Tyler Orban estimates that nearly one-quarter of this year’s crop of poinsettias and other flowers will have been shipped to markets around the Southeast.
But never fear, that still leaves about 150,000 plants to choose from out of the original crop of 200,000.
The 31st annual Orban’s Nursery open house and poinsettia drive-thru event at 9601 Ninth Ave. NW, is set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday The public is invited to drive through the nursery and look at the brilliantly colored flowers, take photos and stop to buy something. In addition to the flower sales, there will be a number of arts, crafts and food vendors on site.
Admission to the open house is free.
The open house has become a popular after-Thanksgiving tradition in Bradenton, evolving from a once-a-year drive-through opportunity to a full-fledged open house.
Orban’s biggest customer for its poinsettias is Publix, which has already received five semi loads of poinsettias, Tyler Orban said.
That works out to about six plants per case, and somewhere between 350 and 500 cases of poinsettias per 18-wheeler, said Ashley Wiser, who has worked at Orban’s for eight years.
The nursery traces its roots back to 1914 in Medina, Ohio, where the Orban family had a flower shop. The family made the move to Bradenton in 1952.
This past summer, the Orban family announced that Tyler Orban, who had been running the business, had bought the property, ensuring that it didn’t go to developers.
The purchase relieved any uncertainty that the business would continue after family patriarch Marty Orban died in 2019.
“I am just thrilled about it. The whole family wanted to see Tyler take the ball and run with it. It’s been a stressful six or seven years,” Tyler’s sister, Whitney Bradberry, said this summer.
For more information about Orban’s Nursery, visit http://www.orbans.com/ or call 941-792-8717.
This story was originally published November 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
