A 1939 article in the Atlanta Constitution describes Sirron Nurseries as sixteen miles outside of Atlanta and three miles from Chamblee on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. The article states that the 75 acres nursery is owned by Ora Green Norris (Mrs. A. L Norris) and is managed by landscape architect H. K. Shirley. The nursery was particularly known for the shrubbery they grew. There was a small painted white wood building for the nursery with the words Sirron Nurseries across the front. Customers could contact the nursery by calling Cherokee 1922.
The Norris family are primarily known for their candy company, which Arthur L. Norris and Minnie Davis Norris turned into a successful business. The couple married in 1894. They had a large summer house in the same area where the nursery business was established. The summer house later burned down, but a guest house remained and still stands today. The guest house is on Sirron Road, so perhaps the nursery business was nearby.
Arthur and Millie Norris are listed in the 1920 census as living in the Shallow Ford district of DeKalb County with their three children. Arthur Norris indicates that his employment is as a candy manufacturer. When Millie Davis Norris died in 1937, she was at their Atlanta home, 37 Camden Road.
A February 12, 1928 Atlanta Consitution article about the model Constitution home for that year identifies Sirron Nurseries as the nursery providing plants for the model home. The home was located in Haynes Manor.
Sirron Nurseries had shrubbery and flowering plants growing all over the nursery property on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. When customers visited the nursery, the plant they wanted was dug out of the ground. The plants growing included boxwoods, laurels, hawthorns, holly, jasmines, and nandinas. The woman in the 1939 article, Ora Green Norris, was the second wife of Arthur Norris.
Just down the road from Sirron Nurseries, Lois Pattillo purchased the old Donaldson home place in the mid-1930’s and converted it to a Colonial Revival style home. She enlisted the help of architect Francis Palmer Smith. A beautiful boxwood garden with paths, peonies, and a brick wall with fountain were included in her plans. I don’t have any proof, but I’d like to think she purchased boxwoods from Sirron Nurseries.
So far, I have not found anyone who remembers Sirron Nurseries or the little white building on Chamblee Dunwoody Road. Please use the Contact Us button if you have additional history to share.