GARDEN CENTERS

MILLCREEK GARDENS

By Tamara S. Wolfe | Photography by Rebecca Kay

“MY DAD WAS A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT back when the profession was rare,” recalls LaRene Bautner, owner of Millcreek Gardens. “He used a Polaroid camera to photograph people’s homes, then he’d sketch in flowers, shrubs, and trees to show what each yard could become. He’d return, ring the bell, and share his ideas. It was such a creative way to connect.”

And it was this knack for helping people see possibility that guided LaRene’s parents, Vernon and Murriel Smith, as they began growing a small nursery and landscape design service in Millcreek seventy years ago. In those early days, they also built friendships with fellow nursery owners Lee Mitchell of Mitchell’s Nursery and Dave Johnson of Wasatch Shadows Nursery. The three worked together, sharing equipment, pooling plant orders, and supporting one another’s success.

That generosity of spirit has never left the now 3 ½ acres of Millcreek Gardens, nor has Vernon and Murriel’s belief that a garden can lift a life and shape a child’s world.

“I was a happy-go-lucky girl growing up,” LaRene remembers. “I was chasing butterflies and bees. We had gladiolas, zinnias, snapdragons — and the bumblebees would be going in and out. The garden was great fun for me.”

LaRene also spent many childhood days at the nursery, watching neighbors and friends stop by — not just to buy plants, but to talk with her parents, perhaps plan a garden, and then leave with joy in their purchase. Those early memories stayed with her. What began as a one-year promise to help her father became her life’s work. More than four decades later, LaRene continues to lead Millcreek Gardens with the same belief her parents held dear.

In 2022, LaRene’s daughter, Heidi Orme, joined the business. Like her mother, Heidi grew up in the gardens — collecting fallen plant tags in a red wagon, splashing in fountains, romping through soil piles, and delighting in the fragrance of fresh blooms. Her path led her elsewhere for a time, but soon, the garden called her back.

Today, Heidi brings not just knowledge, but a natural empathy, especially for those seeking more than just greenery.

“A woman came in after her mother passed away,” Heidi recalls. “She told me, ‘My mom had the most beautiful tulip and bulb garden. I want to dig them up and take them to my home. Can you help me?’ She was so afraid of losing that part of her mother. I walked her through it — how to map the colors, when to dig, how to let the leaves feed the bulbs. I told her, ‘Bulbs are tough. And your love for your mom is tough. They’ll survive.’ I’m sure every spring, when those tulips bloom, she feels her mother with her.”

It’s moments like this that embody the soul of Millcreek Gardens. People come looking for a plant, but often, they’re searching for something deeper: peace, remembrance, or a little beauty to brighten their world. What they find is a place that listens — with compassion, knowledge, and care.

“My favorite thing about working here happens in the spring,” Heidi says. “I’ll be at the register, and the line will be out the door and winding down the sidewalk. And people will start talking to each other, to pass the time. They’ll admire what someone else is buying, ask for tips, share their stories. There’s this joy, energy, and connection.”

That sense of connection often reaches far beyond the garden beds. When Millcreek City began infrastructure work that threatened beloved plantings at neighboring businesses, LaRene didn’t hesitate to step in.

“There was a Japanese maple and a climbing yellow rose bush — both deeply meaningful to their owners,” she recalls. “We brought in a crew, carefully dug them out, and replanted them in their owners’ yards. They’re still thriving today.”

And when trying times arose during the pandemic, LaRene’s son, Chris Bautner, who had joined the business in 2019, worked beside his mom, late into the night — fulfilling curbside orders, lifting spirits, and helping wherever needed with a steady, heartfelt care. 

“In everything we do, we help make lives better,” shares LaRene. “We care deeply.”

Behind the scenes, long-standing relationships help Millcreek Gardens offer one of the region’s most diverse selections of plants.

“We have such a unique line of plants now,” LaRene says. “People come here from all over for what we offer.” That kind of variety is made possible by suppliers who’ve partnered with Millcreek for decades.

“Some of our suppliers have been with us since before I was born,” she adds. “These are relationships built on trust and mutual respect. We share stories, celebrate milestones. It’s more than a business connection — it’s a friendship.” With care and dedication, they ensure that every tree, flower, and seedling is nurtured from the start, ready to flourish in someone’s garden.

Through the generations, from Vernon and Murriel to LaRene and now Heidi and Chris, a shared devotion to people and plants lives in every corner of Millcreek Gardens. It shows up in the way returning customers are greeted by name, in the guidance offered to first-time gardeners, in workshops that inspire works of art, and in the care extended to every person who is simply searching for the perfect bloom, or just a moment of beauty.

Millcreek Gardens is a lasting reminder that when gardens and relationships are nurtured, they grow into something extraordinary.