Patrissi Nursery Gets Back to Its Roots

Patrissi Nursery has always had the Patrissi name, and for much of the business's 70-plus year history it has been owned by the Patrissi family.

The Ringgold St. business was started by Frank Patrissi in 1942, and many West Hartford residents still associate it with Frank's son, Richard, who took over and ran the Park Road area nursery and garden center for decades. Richard Patrissi's work to support the area and his fellow Park Road area businesses earned him the unofficial title of "Mayor of Park Road."

Rob Patrissi and his siblings spent many years working alongside their father, and as the family grew through marriage, two of his brother-in-laws worked there, too.

Richard sold the business to Kevin Cavalier about 15 years ago, Rob said, and the chance to reclaim the family business had to wait until the timing was right.

When Cavalier decided to sell it last summer, Rob had the chance he had been waiting for, and along with two of his brothers-in-law brought Patrissi's back to its family roots.

Not long after that, Richard Patrissi's cancer came back.

"He was very happy that we were buying it back. He really wanted to be around this year to help out," said Rob. Richard Patrissi passed away on March 7, 2013, but his family hopes to keep his legacy alive through the service they provide to their customers.

Rob said that many people didn't even realize that Richard hadn't owned the business for years, and many feared it would close after his death. Instead, Patrissi Nursery is very much open and right now is fully stocked with flowers, shrubs, and vegetables ready for planting. Rob is also working to ramp up and promote the full-service floral shop as well as the work they do with landscapers.

"This is the time," Rob said, when asked when flowers and vegetable gardens should be started. He said it's a bit late because of the cool spring, and the cold rain and strong winds Memorial Day weekend also delayed many gardeners.

Patrissi's number one seller is probably tomato plants, and they have multiple varieties. Many customers have Portugese or Asian backgrounds, Rob said, and he caters to their requests for unique varieties of vegetables such as Bok Choy.

"According to a man who was here a little while ago, we are the only place you can get Jilo in the state," Rob said. Jilo, a type of eggplant which has a more sour taste, is common in Portugese cooking. They obtained the seeds and gave them to a grower who produced the plants.

Patrissi's utilizes growers from throughout the area. All of the flowers are locally grown in Connecticut, and many of the plants are from Burnham Brothers in East Hartford, but some stock comes from as far away as Oregon.

Rob said his competitors are all of the garden centers in the area as well as the big box stores, but said his prices are very competitive and they have a large stock of ready-to-grow shrubs for re-landscaping projects. Since Patrissi's is more specialized, they can also spend more time caring for the plants in their inventory. "We baby them, fertilizing as we water," Rob said.

They also provide an extra element of customer service, carrying and loading purchases into customers' cars and even providing lengthy consultations during non-busy times.

Patrissi's is open all year round, although the only retail business in the winter is the floral department. After this past winter, employees spent hours rebuilding the greenhouse that collapsed due to the blizzard.

Rob said that they are working on the website, http://patrissinursery.com/, and will add at special "in memory of" section dedicated to his father.