In 1958 Harold and Ethel Sumida founded La Sumida Nursery on upper State Street. Their dream was to provide the Santa Barbara area with superior service and high quality plants and garden supplies.
In 1972 they opened the Milpas Street Branch and in 1978 another dream was fulfilled with the opening of the Patterson Avenue headquarters.
In 2007 we decided to concentrate our efforts under one roof to better serve our generations of customers.
Under the leadership of Harold and Ethel’s son, Hilton Sumida, and his nephew, Travis Weber, La Sumida Nursery continues to be a Santa Barbara tradition.
At La Sumida Nursery, we grow many of our plants ourselves. Our rose field, open from Spring to the start of Fall each year, is stocked with beautiful roses grown from bare-root on our grounds. Our huge selection of fruit trees is also grown from bare-root.
On any visit to the nursery, you’ll find blooming, colorful, hanging baskets and cache-pots of Geraniums, Fuchsias, Begonias, Dipladenia, Scaveola and more. We also grow pesticide-free Milkweed popular with local butterfly enthusiasts.
The Sumida family employs twenty experienced and very knowledgeable staff members. Some of our employees have been with us for over twenty years! We take great pleasure in helping our customers beautify their outdoor living spaces and strive to provide great value for your patronage. At La Sumida, there is always someone on hand to provide helpful and reliable information.
One of our favorite parts of being in business in Santa Barbara has been getting to know generations of our customers; we have seen the children and grandchildren of customers grow up and return as customers themselves.
Hilton Sumida remembers a time, while working at the State Street store as a young man, when a couple of boys were playing around the pond and one fell in. Hilton rushed over and pulled him out. Years later a very tall man came in the store and said, “ Mr. Sumida, you will not remember me, but thirty years ago you pulled me out of the pond.” Of course Hilton did remember him!
The Sumida family attributes the success of the business to our loyal customers and our continuing dedication to providing the Santa Barbara area with quality products and superior service.
