Lukas Nursery By Ashley Gardner

The Lukas family has been farming the fertile land in the heart of Florida for four generations. The result of their efforts is Lukas Nursery, a bustling family garden center that carries anything and everything that will grow in their region from basic plants to exotic flowers. Their property is also home to a 4,000 square-foot butterfly conservatory called the Butterfly Encounter, an exhibit that features all of the state’s native butterflies.

“We are a retail family garden center,” said Cecelia Lukas, who handles accounts payable and receivable and ordering for the family business. “We’ve been farming the same land for over 100 years. Our great grandmother and great grandfather came from Cleveland, Ohio. They pioneered this area where we’re at.”

The Lukas family evolution as farmers started simply.

“When our ancestors came down, they made a humble living through agriculture. They started out growing crops like celery. As things changed they went from row crops to ornamentals, trees, shrubs, and palms,” said Caleb Lukas, bookkeeper for Lukas Nursery. “We do have a sense of pride about it. It’s not like we’ve just moved along with the winds of time. We’ve been able to stand steadfast in the same location and maintain those agriculture roots and values.”

In typical fashion for a family-run business, Caleb and Cecelia pitched in from a very young age. They were put to work in the nursery shortly after they started walking.

“Often time we get asked when we started working here at the nursery. We laugh and scratch our heads because we don’t really know how old we were. It was when we were old enough to start pulling weeds,” Caleb said with a laugh. “We literally learned from the ground up. Our family members planted us as little seeds, and now we’ve sprouted and grown to become the tree and keep the business going.”

That connection with their business has helped Lukas Nursery fight off the competition from big box stores that are located within a mile or two of them.

“We’ve been able to stand the test of time from those challenges. A big reason why is due to customer satisfaction,” Caleb said.

The customer experience is a focus for the Lukas family and their employees. They provide clients with a wealth of knowledge about the plants and products they sell.

“One of the things we hold ourselves accountable for is customer experience. We strive to provide them with expertise. People may not know anything about plants or gardening products but when they come here they know they are going to get certified horticultural professionals to assist them,” Caleb said.

It also doesn’t hurt that Lukas Nursery is the kind of place where people will stop by for a visit just to take in the scenery and stroll among the plants and the natural setting. Some customers have stated their nursery is “better than Disney.”

While Lukas Nursery’s focus is on the products they sell, they do offer something for tourists as well. The Butterfly Encounter has turned into quite an attraction for the family business. The exhibit opened in 2004 and now sees approximately 20,000 visitors annually. It’s a beloved destination for local school field trips.

“It’s very popular. We have a bunch of school tours come through. The peak season for school tours is March through May. Just about every day during that time we have buses coming in with lots of children,” Cecelia said. “There are more than 20 types of butterflies but they all have different peak seasons so we don’t necessarily have that many types flying around at one time.”

The Butterfly Encounter is more than an attraction. It has been a way for the Lukas family to get people thinking about ways they could positively impact the environment.

“The Butterfly Encounter came about as an idea to bring nature back to the fingertips of locals. It was a big effort of ours to bring conservation back into people’s minds. We wanted to show people with houses living in neighborhoods that they can still give back to nature by planting a butterfly garden or a pollinated garden of any kind,” Caleb said. “It helps us sell a lot of neat plants and give back to the environment.”

Beehives have found a home on the Lukas land as well. They have a beekeeper who works with the bees and they’ve now had two successful harvests of honey.

“Both times we sold out in one day. It was a hit. We have such a vast source of nectar plants from citrus trees to different perennials that it creates a tasty honey,” Cecelia said.

Customers can see more wildlife than butterflies at the nursery. They also have farm animals including cows, donkeys, and chickens.

“A lot of families will come and visit just to see the animals as well,” Cecelia said. “We live in a populated area so kids don’t get the opportunity to get up close to animals very often. This area used to be mainly agriculture but over time it’s grown up into a lot of neighborhoods.”

Lukas Nursery has been around for a century and they plan to continue for many more by staying innovative and continuing to give people a multitude of reasons to come by the nursery.

“Every year we try and have something new and exciting for our customers to come back and see us for,” Cecelia said.