What better mix than flowers and antiques? Wrifton Graham cannot think of a thing.
Graham, along with his parents, Bill and Sue Graham, will unveil their
Lilac Lane Antiques & Garden Center at a grand opening May 4 with four new employees to staff the Galesburg store.
The antiques, courtesy of more than 30 vendors, will be housed mainly in the big red barn that sits on the property.
"We're going to have a little bit of everything," Graham says. "I like to think of our antiques as 'reclaiming beautiful old pieces' and making them cottagey."
Old rocking chairs with flowerpots in place of caned seats. Old tin watering cans and wheelbarrows bursting with blooms. Recycled doors, windows and painted furnishings -- these are just a few of Graham's favorite things.
Lilac Lane's garden center will be stocked with annuals, perennials, hanging baskets and herb and vegetable plants. Bushes, shrubs and dwarf varieties of ornamental trees, such as redbud and dogwood trees will be for sale. So will fertilizer, wood chips and other landscaping materials.
"Roses will be our 'calling card,'" Graham says. "There are hundreds of types and since that will be our specialty we'll have a nice, big selection in every color -- climbers, hybrids and rose trees."
Graham also plans to offer gardening courses instructed by master gardeners and classes for kids to take while their parents shop.
Writer: Kelle Barr, Second Wave
Source: Wrifton Graham, Co-owner, Lilac Lane Antiques & Garden Center
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