Muchtar's goal was to have a business where his family could work together and to create an environment in which all people could be treated with respect, honesty and support; or in his own words, "Yes, we all know we work to earn a living but our business is not just about that. Equally important is the concept that our nursery is a place where we need to learn how to work in harmony with each other. Work in essence, is love made visible. So, let's work hard to put that into practice in all aspects of running an enterprise."
Our nursery goals were to provide excellent quality plants with a large selection of four-inch plants emphasizing hardy and unusual perennials. With help, dedication and support from our loyal employees and customers, our business grew and we soon grew out of our location in Sebastopol. The search was on for a new nursery location.
In 1996, we found the perfect site and the nursery was moved to its present location of 20 acres. There is plenty of room for us to grow (and, of course, lots of room to roam for the office cat). There have been some changes over the years and our current plant list reflects the majority of our changes. We carry many plants from our original offerings and over the course of time, have dropped some plants, added others and still continue to do so today. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service, plant quality and nursery appearance.
In 1997, we grew and opened a seasonal retail nursery, The Nursery at emerisa gardens, to satisfy the need for our plants locally. Because we are a wholesale nursery, many people didn't have access to all of the plants that we grow because they were at the mercy of what our customers were stocking. We had many calls for people wanting our plants and we couldn't help all of them. We decided to open our small nursery to offer the selection ourselves and share our vast selection with the general public.
We are still family owned and Muchtar, his brother, niece, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and four of his children can be found working around the nursery. We also have a crew of about 15-20 non-family employees too. We do our best to grow and provide the best plants that we can offer. Our quality is excellent and our variety is unmatched in the four-inch world. We love our nursery location and we invite you to see it to.
Emerisa is derived from Emerson and Marisa:
Emerson (March 5, 1913-October 25, 1976) was an elementary school teacher and principal in Indonesia, New Guinea and Holland. He was athletic and enjoyed playing soccer, at which he was very gifted. He also enjoyed fishing and hunting. In his heart, however, he was a gardener!
Marisa (June 27, 1915-April 13, 1989) was a schoolteacher in Indonesia, New Guinea and Holland as well. She dreamed of becoming a doctor but 'settled' on a career as a teacher. Throughout her life, she acquired a vast knowledge in vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies and medicines. She also enjoyed reading and cooking (and I must say, she was the best cook I’ve ever known!!).