06/09/2026
You might have heard us mention a man called Digger once or twice. Ken O’Dell had a successful retail nursery in Memphis when he met my mom at a Kansas City trade show where he was talking trees and she was hawking typesetting services. One thing led to another, and by 1995 they were officially “a thing.” Before relocating permanently, he traveled between Memphis and Paola to visit Mom and check progress as Doug built the new greenhouses that would become Spring Valley Nursery.
Around about 1997 he pitched the idea of building a nursery at 1606 N 600 Road in Baldwin City. Before we knew it we were covering high tunnels with poly and stapling hardware cloth to 2x4 benches. He loaned us start-up money, told us who to call for everything from potting mix to Japanese maples. He showed us how to take cuttings, sow seeds, and pot plugs. He even placed the very same straw hat on Doug’s head that he had worn in his Memphis logo to create our Vinland Valley Nursery version—he insisted that specific logo was the secret to his success, and that we had to duplicate it.
Baby Emma came into our lives at about the same time Digger did, and he doted on that kid big time. Emma’s the one who dubbed him “Bah,” which stuck for all future grandchildren. When Celie came along she stole his heart with her salty toddler wit. He liked to recount the time she sat at their table at Spring Valley eating lunch and commented to them that they didn’t have nearly as many customers as we did at Vinland Valley. When Bess came along he fully melted.Years later when she was the first of the three girls who decided to work full time at the nursery he was so very proud. During all those years he happily attended grandparents’ luncheons, school functions, birthday shindigs and holiday gatherings where he always gave a meaningful toast.
Digger had become interested in growing native plants when he landed at Mom’s property full time.Together they worked to restore and manage the 80 acres of prairie grassland surrounding their greenhouses and gigantic walnut forest shade garden. When he discovered Mead’s milkweed growing he reached out to the Missouri Botanical Garden Center for Conservation and invited them to monitor the plants on the property. They even won a Grassland Heritage Award.
During these years Digger and Mom also grew thousands of plants for the Friends of the Overland Park Arboretum and Miami County Extension Master Gardeners Ursuline plant sales. Like Picasso and his Blue and Rose periods, Digger had his Magnolia period, his Peony period, and his Catalpa period, among many others. With the fascination of an explorer or scientist, he would drill down to learn every detail about a specific genus, paying special attention to propagation. We were often the beneficiary of his successful production efforts once he needed to make space for his next horticultural adventure. Plenty of his plants found their way to Vinland Valley Nursery in this way. Many of you have the fruits of Digger’s obsessions in your landscapes.
Later on when he slowed his growing endeavors, he became interested in hunting down and documenting champion trees in Kansas. He and a friend would travel the blue highways of Kansas to record the largest specimens of different species and mark their locations. The man was a walking encyclopedia of flora. He was a plant nerd before plant nerds were cool.
During the pandemic we all isolated, but we texted and emailed almost daily. Like so many others, our family get togethers were few and far between. When Mom fell ill in 2022 we put our heads together and decided to build a house for them at VVN. He could continue growing things in greenhouses with the added bonus of teaching Bess everything he knew. With Digger and Mom on the property, he could continue propagating woody plants and we could grocery shop and provide other care for them. It was a difficult time for us all as we focused on figuring out how to take care of Mom.
Our hearts were broken when Digger eventually moved back to Memphis shortly before Mom died, but we understood how excruciating it was for him for so many reasons. We also knew his daughters and their kids deserved to have some quality time with him since we had hogged him for 30 years. Since he’s been back in Memphis not a day has passed that somebody didn’t quip one of his famous quotes (“Green side up!”) or pass by the many plants in our landscape that he grew, remembering how each came into our possession.
Ken “Digger” O’Dell always cheered us on enthusiastically, whether it was cooking a turkey at Thanksgiving or coming up with a new idea for the nursery. He was the greatest plant salesman I’ve ever known, not only because of his love for plants and animals, but because he was a true people person. We got the news that Bah passed away on June 4. We will never forget him, and we will carry on with the plant work using all of the skills and knowledge he gave us. More than anything, we’ll remember all of the good times we had and heed his traditional email sign off to “Take care, be careful, be kind….”.
—Amy A
