Carl left a legacy in the Green Industry

                              Photo credit: David Winger Photography 

Colorado’s horticulture industry lost one of its most influential advocates with the recent passing of Carl W. Anderson Jr., founder and owner of the former Arapahoe Acres Nursery in Littleton. Though his primary residence was recently in Arizona, a memorial service in Colorado will be held November 18, 2024, 2 p.m., at Mission Hills Church, 620 Southpark, Littleton.

In his early career, Anderson was a Denver-area schoolteacher who started what was to become Arapahoe Acres Nursery--a large wholesale nursery and retail garden center in Littleton. After school hours, he came to the nursery which his wife Mary managed early in the day. In later years of the nursery, their adult son Wayne became an owner.

As a full-time nurseryman, Anderson served on the boards of both the Colorado Nursery Association, now Colorado Nursery and Greenhouse Association (CNGA), and Associated Landscape Contractors of Colorado (ALCC). His industry peer, Stanley Brown Jr., of Alameda Wholesale Nursery, Inc., recalls that it was rare for industry pros to serve simultaneous terms on the boards of both organizations whose priorities were not always mutual. Yet, Anderson managed those dual commitments with enthusiasm for both.

Anderson earned the nickname “King Carl” when the nursery board did not vote to support a project he proposed. He said, “No, this is something we ought to be doing, and Stan [Brown] and I will pay for it!” and they did. “King Carl” believed in doing what served the industry, whether it was internally promoting industry-wide best practices or educating their consumers in best horticulture practices. In the green industry, “He was not reluctant to call on others to get help for worthwhile projects,” remembers one.

He was very involved personally in the Denver Post’s weekly gardening insert which was one of the most popular features among its readers for many years. Anderson also coordinated writing and publishing the book, Successful Gardening for Colorado, which included a chapter written by each of 21 industry contributors based on their individual area of expertise.

Brown also recalls Anderson’s character as always being one that placed goodwill above personal gain. He recounts he and Anderson often went on trips together to buy plants for their respective nurseries. One such trip was to Oregon when the relatively new introduction of Mugo pines was in high demand. The distraught salesman told them¸ “I only have enough stock to fill one of your orders.” Anderson’s immediate response was, “Then sell us each half!” Dilemma solved.

His commitment to the industry and its consumers earned Anderson numerous leadership positions and awards from several industry segments. Among them are his selection as the eighth person to earn ALCC’s Bob Cannon Award for Lifetime Achievement, induction into the Colorado Floriculture Hall of Fame in 2000 and induction into CNGA’s Hall of Fame in 2006.

Read more in this issue of Colorado Green Now: 

Enhancing snow-clearing performance

CO 811 Damage Prevention Summit

How to manage vole damage