It’s like losing a friend (sub. req.):

Rowland Nurseries Inc., whose slogan is “life should be beautiful,” is calling it quits after 52 years in business.

Owners cited increased competition and skyrocketing prices for shipping and freight as reasons for the closure.

It marks the end of one of the state’s largest and longest running family-owned nursery businesses. The late Pat and Reba Rowland opened a single location in 1953, and it has since grown to encompass five Albuquerque stores, a distribution business and a wholesale plant operation.

“It has definitely been a wonderful ride with this community,” said president Michael Rowland, who grew up in his parents’ business.

Rowland’s is simply part of our lives.

As readers of this blog know, I love my garden – the ebbs and flows of the seasons, the endless surprises, its slightly untamed nature. Rowland’s has always been a part of it, full of ideas and a sense of the possibility of urban nature. We bought plants there, and garden gear, but most importantly we went there for ideas, a sort of combination art gallery and art supply store for the urban natural canvas – a sweet and eclectic place that seemed to instinctively understand my needs.

Rowland’s can’t compete with the combination of rising transport costs and big box retailers. Albuquerque gardening will not be the same.