Walther Gardens Opens Up for the Holiday Season - Entrepreneur Generations

It's no secret that I love Walther Gardens, the charming Waltherson nursery and snowball stand that we visited throughout the summer and into the fall, I've missed it as sibling owners Matthew and Paula Wittek closed for around six weeks as they readied for the winter season and added a new shop to the premises. In that interim, Walther Gardens has converted two giant bulk seed containers into a store full of crafts, antiques, and Christmas products. They've also changed the layout of the grounds, eliminating one of the ancient greenhouses and providing more space on the lot for Christmas trees and meeting spaces. All in all, they have been preparing for what is sure to be a busy Christmas season, as well as making their space at the corner of Walther and Southern Avenues in East Baltimore a beautiful focal point for this area of Baltimore City.

A shot from inside Walther Gardens' new Christmas and Antiques shop.

I visited Walther Gardens this weekend to check out the new shop and all the rest of the changes. Stepping onto the grounds, my immediate sensation was olfactory; it absolutely smells like Christmas, full of dozens of fragrant trees (they already have sold several, just two days into the season, and expect to sell nearly 1000 over the season), wreaths, and evergreen garland. Later, I stepped into the charming new shop, which is full of home decor items, antiques, Christmas stuff, crafts, and even clothing; we heard it was the only place you could get an Afghani scarf, a Christmas tree, and a windsock all in one spot.

Later, I wandered out to the snowball stand, where a worker was checking out people buying wreaths and Christmas trees. The stand has been wallpapered with the pages of an old gardening encyclopedia, which I found really interesting, plus a nod perhaps to the future emphasis on "Gardens" in the Walther Gardens name (I've heard a full-fledged nursery is coming for next summer). I got a couple of free candy canes and bought a couple of wreaths.

Walther Gardens from the front.

We spent 20 minutes checking out all the cool stuff in the shop, before walking through the rows of Christmas trees that spread around much of the half an acre of land that Walther Gardens stands on. I'm astounded by how much the Wittek siblings have been able to accomplish in just over a year with the neighborhood mainstay since the 1930s; Walther Gardens has been rejuvenated and is a beautiful spot, and I know plans are coming in the future for hot drinks, pastries and a community meeting place for next summer.

The Christmas, Antiques, and Homegoods shop is open from 10am - 9pm from November 27th through Christmas Eve. A cool event I will hopefully be attending (though I have theater tickets) is the "Christmas on Walther" 1st Annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony done in conjunction with HL Sprouts. Starting at 5:00, attendees will be crafting and hanging of all-natural tree ornaments on the tree, writing of letters to Santa, and fun in a photo booth. At 5:45, everyone will be gathering around the tree, and at 6pm will be the tree lighting, with a special appearance by Santa.

Enjoy some photographs I took today, and please go check out Walther Gardens this month! You'll be glad you did, and I can't think of a better place to get a Christmas tree in the Baltimore area than here.