Easter means flowers, plants at Wilson’s, a Rock Hill institution since 1957

After what seems like one of the coldest winters in York County history, Easter Sunday under a warm sun was the green light for many gardeners to start getting down and dirty in the soil with flowers and plants.

And if it is Easter in Rock Hill, one of the most legendary places that draws those who need new life in their gardens is Wilson’s Nursery and Garden Center. Wilson’s has been selling just about anything that grows since 1957.

The Easter tradition for many is church and faith first, but a close second is the start of planting to make the drab come back to life. Up from Chester on Sunday came Kay Odom, 68, who celebrated seven years of being cancer-free by loading up on flowers and plants.

“Easter to me is a rebirth, a new beginning, and getting plants today goes with that,” said Odom. “I have seven years (of being) cancer-free. This is the day when all starts fresh.”

So many people buying flowers and plants at Wilson’s talked of Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is an integral part of their religious lives. The holiday also seems to go hand-in-hand with the arrival of spring.

“Today is a day where we celebrate rebirth, and it just seemed to be the perfect day to buy a flower to go with it,” said Lynette Burnett of Rock Hill.

To Beth Otis of Rock Hill, “Easter means spring – and this is where it starts.”

Otis and her husband, Rob – a native of Maine – were going to share with people they know in Maine how their planting started with Wilson’s Easter products. The folks back in Maine just got five more inches of snow – nothing like rubbing it in.

Brian and Karen Berkebile bought flowers, shrubs, even a tree, to help usher in a spring that was too long in coming. Paul and Gail Hinson bought the plants that signify a new season and said that Wilson’s on Easter Sunday afternoon makes the day even more special.

Couples and singles flowed in to Wilson’s to buy plants or flowers that will brighten up not just yards, but lives. The Clarkes, Greg and Sherri, wanted bushes to brighten up the yard after months of cold. Chad and Amy Smith came down from Mecklenburg County, N.C., and other people came from as far as York, Lake Wylie, even Ballantyne in North Carolina.

And then there was Max Ussery, 72, of Rock Hill, who has been buying his spring plants at Easter from Wilson’s for “at least 50 years.” If Ussery walked into Wilson’s on Easter Sunday, then it had to be spring had sprung.

“You get the prettiest stuff, you put it in the ground, it makes you feel better,” said Ussery. “That boy right there, I been buying from him and his daddy before him.”

The “that boy” Ussery is talking about is Jimmy Wilson, second-generation owner who took over the business from his late father, the legendary James Wilson. Jimmy’s father was a character right out of the movies and books, starting the business with a roadside fruit and vegetable stand in front of the same West Main Street site where the business sprawls over 25 acres.

James Wilson would croon his jingle on the radio and sing on TV ads. He once even tossed coupons down from the roof of the nursery. The coupon chaos was so big that traffic was stopped on Main Street and the cops threatened to put James and his son Jimmy in jail if they ever pulled another stunt like that.

Jimmy’s daughters, Yvonne Wilson and Julie Fox, are the third-generation running the business with almost 50 years combined between them working with their father. The sisters, and all the other workers, hustled from customer to customer Sunday. Sunday was one of those special days, a new feeling of a little joy to be spread and planted.

As Lilli Fox, the fourth-generation at Wilson’s at age 9, put it: “We have a lot of love here.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2015 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Easter means flowers, plants at Wilson’s, a Rock Hill institution since 1957."