Meanwhile, in Canton, NY, just down the road, we, Wil and Rebecca Rivers, were developing our farm, raising children and building our careers.
One Father’s Day, we decided to celebrate by purchasing some lilacs from the Westerlings. Those first three lilacs (‘Albert F. Holden’, ‘Monge’, and ‘President Lincoln’) sparked what would become a lasting love of lilacs and their remarkable diversity.
In 2023, Cliff and Janice made the decision to begin the process of celebrating full retirement.
The subject of that retirement came up in casual conversation and, suddenly, we found ourselves imagining new possibilities.
In our minds, Moore’s Hill Lilacs was a real community gem, and its closure would be a loss for the North Country.
We decided to take the leap and apprentice with the Westerlings in 2023. We loved it so much that we then made arrangements to purchase the Westerling’s remaining stock when they closed in September.
At that point, North Country Lilacs in its current form was born.
A blooming tradition, lovingly passed on
We opened our nursery in Canton in May of 2024.
Wil is a second-generation botanist and professor. He currently teaches at SUNY Canton in the Department of Science.
Rebecca worked in greenhouses after college, and taught sustainable agriculture and agroecology at St. Lawrence University before becoming a yoga instructor and studio owner.
Both of us are excited to bring many more lilacs to the North Country, and to continue to be a source for rare and heirloom cultivars.
We have two grown children, Aryn and Sarah, who help us in the nursery whenever they are in town, and a retired sled dog, Delilah, who keeps the nursery free of mice and loves to meet customers who enjoy dogs.
A New Chapter
Spring in the North Country involves a lot of cold precipitation. Thankfully, lilacs are very resilient plants.
Early new growth reminds us that spring is on its way.
Our homemade potting mix relies on compost generated locally by North Country Compost.
