SOUTH FORK— Peg and Phil Varoz will be celebrating their 15th year in South Fork this year as the area’s only tree nursery and plan to offer discounted prices on flower pots for the town.

Last year, the town of South Fork used funding set aside for the 25^th anniversary celebration to purchase pots from the La Garita Mountain Nursery for area businesses in town and though they cannot do so this year, Varoz wants to see the beautiful flowers on display again this season.

“We have had the nursery for going on 19 years now, 15 of those have been spent here in South Fork and having the pots outside of businesses last year gave the idea of a community rather than a fork in the road,” said Peg. “It is hard to pull this town together sometimes and we want to help do that extra little thing to bring the community together.” The pots that were purchased last year can be reused again this year if the business owners so choose. “They can do one of two things; they can have us replant in the pots from last year or they can purchase new pots by Feb. 1st. Either way, I know how beautiful the town looked last year and we want to do our part to see that again,” finished Peg.

The La Garita Mountain Nursery has been serving the area in South Fork for the past 15 years, offering a service that otherwise would be unavailable to the small mountain town. Prior to her opening the nursery, Peg spent her time as a teacher at the Del Norte School for 25 years. “I decided I wanted to retire so we opened the nursery in South Fork. A lot of people don’t know that we are up there, our name confuses them. We grow most of our plants at the location in La Garita and transport them to the one in South Fork,” explained Peg.

The nursery does more than trees and shrubs, which is another little-known fact about the place. “We also do any type of flower you can think of. Most of our business is deciduous trees, which are trees that lose their leaves. “We can order any type of flower, tree or shrub as long as the order is placed ahead of time. People tend to really like perennials, as they come back each year. We specialize in Colorado- Spruce trees, but we try to find what people want. I will hunt anything down, and I have several growers in the Valley that I can go to,” said Peg.

Last year, the nursery supplied over 100 pots to area businesses in and around South Fork. Peg would like to see that happen again, so she will be offering a discount to those who want to either refill or order new pots from her for the coming summer season. “I have to have orders in by Feb. 1st in order to have them ready by the time the warm weather hits. It was so lovely to see the pots scattered throughout town. It gave a sense of community and beautification that South Fork sometimes lacks,” finished Peg.

To order pots or to place an order to have last year’s pots refilled, interested parties can call Peg at 719-754-3630.