Betty's Bloomers Nursery - Hinkie's Nursery

Forty years ago this April, Betty's Bloomers Nursery began operation. In 1968, with 5
kids (one still in diapers) Betty Hinkie decided to turn a hobby into a money making
operation.

A friend had given her some hybrid daylillies and showed her how to cross
pollinate them. In a few years she had over 10,000 seedlings planted in her yard. Like
many new ventures, she had to learn from trial and error. Because the native soil was so
poor, and too many trees made it too shady, the daylillies did not thrive. Betty then
decided to transplant the plants into better soil in nursery pots. When she applied for a
nursery license to sell the plants, the agent from the Texas Agriculture Department
suggested she start a full nursery since there were no other nurseries located in the area.
Betty gathered cuttings from friends pruning their shrubs, and taught herself how to root
them and grow them to sell. She found a source of containers from local school
cafeterias that discarded large metal cans . Since Betty was a registered Dieticion she
had no formal schooling in horticulture, but learned over the years what it takes to garden
in Southeast Texas. Her husband, J.B., who had a degree in Forestry soon joined her
working in the Nursery. In 1998, Betty decided to go back to work as a Dietician as head
of the WIC program for the Health Department of Hardin County. At that time some of
her children took over the operation of the Nursery. Daughter Kay and Daughter-In-Law
Rhonda managed the greenhouses. Betty's son, Pat grew the shrubs and trees and
provided a landscaping service. After a few years, Betty returned to help in the nursery
she loved. Betty's Bloomers Nursery has grown into a large nursery covering 5 acres and
20,000 square feet of greenhouses.
This nursery is unique to the area because 90% of all the plants at this nursery are grown
here from cuttings or seed. Unlike many of the Mega Garden Centers everyone working
here is ready and available to pass along information gathered from years of experience.
They also grow a wide variety of plant material such as shade trees, shrubs, perennials
and groundcovers outside in the nursery area. In the greenhouses, you can find vegetable
plants, bedding plants, hanging baskets, and color pots. They also grow tropical plants
and hardy ferns, with one full greenhouse dedicated to bromeliads.
The nursery has weathered lots of storms and droughts over the years, including extensive
damage from Hurricane Rita, but has managed to survive for 40 years and with their
loyal customers help, they hope to be around for another 40.