MANHATTAN, Kan. (Dec. 3, 2025) — “We’re not really in the plant business, we’re in the people business.”
That may seem an unusual statement for the owner of a nursery and landscape company, but it describes the philosophy that has helped this business to succeed.
Darrell Westervelt is the retired owner of Blueville Nursery near Manhattan. On April 28, 2025, he turned 90 years old and is still sharp as a tack. His granddaughter Sidney put together a book about the history of Blueville Nursery.
“I was born in the dirty thirties (of the Dust Bowl),” Westervelt said. “They told me they put a wet sheet over my crib to protect me from the dust.”
Westervelt grew up on a farm near the rural community of Leon, population 669 people. Now, that’s rural. After one year of community college, he came to K-State to study dairy husbandry.
He had $67.50 to pay tuition for the first semester and buy books, but he wanted a job. “A card on a bulletin board in Anderson Hall said, ‘Wanted: Nursery Workers. $0.50 per hour, Blueville Nursery, Prescott 8-5155,’” Westervelt said.
Blueville Nursery began in 1933 in an unincorporated community called Blueville on the west side of the Big Blue River northwest of Manhattan. Marlin Scott was raising shrubs for Skinner Nursery in Topeka. The operation later moved to Rosencutter Road near Manhattan.
Westervelt went to Blueville to apply for a job. Because of his experience on the farm and his ability to drive a Ford 8N tractor, he convinced Scott that he should receive a higher wage of $0.75 per hour. Maybe that was the beginning of his success in business.
By the time he graduated, Westervelt was helping manage the nursery and had married Dorothy Fox. Scott offered to pay his tuition if he would go back to school and get a master’s degree in ornamental horticulture, so that’s what he did. His graduate research project was studying the grafting of junipers.
After graduation, he was drafted and assigned to Army Intelligence School in Maryland and then Arkansas. Meanwhile, Marlin Scott was considering selling the nursery. The Westervelts made a deal to buy it while out of state.
“I bought Blueville Nursery by mail for $7,500 with a $2,500 down payment and borrowed $5,000 from the bank at 5% interest,” Westervelt said.
The Westervelts took over ownership in 1962. They also had sons Mark, Keith and Glen. “I came with the nursery,” Keith said with a smile.
The business continued to grow. In 1970, Blueville Nursery moved to its current location west of Manhattan. Architect Bruce McMillan designed the current garden store.
The Westervelts transitioned to a Subchapter S corporation which made it possible for key employees to purchase stock in the business while the Westervelts retained majority ownership. “Employees can only hold stock as long as they are employed with us, so that helps us retain good people,” Westervelt said.
Tragically, Dorothy Westervelt passed away from breast cancer on September 13, 1999. Darrell retired one year later and son Keith became president and CEO as he is today. Darrell found he didn’t like retirement. His doctor’s advice was, “Go back to work.” Darrell did so for projects he enjoyed.
Under Keith’s leadership, the company has grown from 50 employees to around 125. Blueville Nursery has several divisions: Irrigation, maintenance, growing, administration, landscape, garden store, nursery, and rewholesale.
One day, Keith told Darrell that the company was having a problem getting good juniper trees. Darrell recalled his original master’s work in grafting, and devised a process to graft junipers onto a root system that was ideal for transplanting. “We had phenomenal success,” Westervelt said.
One of Darrell and Keith’s favorite sayings is that they are in the people business, not just the plant business. “You have customers and employees, and you’ve got to treat them both right,” Darrell said.
For more information, see www.bluevillenursery.com.
We commend Darrell and Dorothy and Keith and Sheri Westervelt for making a difference while developing people and having fun in the nursery business.
As Darrell said, ”We are people with a sense of humus.”
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