LeFevre Gardening Roots Grow Deep.

Bud LeFevre

Spanning Four Generations

Bud's horticultural genes trace back to the early 1900's when his grandpa, Edwin William LeFevre tended the private gardens of both the Benson and Bittorf's, families that started National Mfg in 1902. Edwin was also in the first crew at National

1st Generation

He raised a family of four including sons,
Charles and William.

2nd Generation

Edwin's influence on young Charles "Jink", 21, and William "Red", 18, was evident when they started their horticulture careers in 1929 at Sterling Floral Company.

At the time, Sterling Floral Company was one of the largest and oldest floral companies in the state of Illinois.

Sterling Floral Company was started in 1871 by Mr. Mangan and then purchased by Robert Lundstrom in 1904.

 In 1933 Robert Jr. took over and ran it until he left for the service in 1942, later reopening in '46 after the war ended.

In the 50's he changed the name to Lundstrom Florist and Greenhouse.

For thirteen years, Red and Jink honed their skills at Sterling Floral Co / Lundstrom Florist.

In 1942 during the war, while Robert Jr. was away serving, Red and Jink, left to venture out on their own and start up Sterling Floral "Shop" in downtown Sterling, Illinois.

It would be 30 years before another LeFevre worked at Lundstrom Florist.

The two brothers also had the corner on the market with fresh produce they sold to area restaurants.

Red and Jink successfully operated their business for 17 years, from 1942-1959, the year that Jan "Bud" LeFevre was born.

On the other side of Bud's family, his Great Uncle Vinny Oehl was a founding member of the Dixon Men's Gardening Club and very active in the Dixon Farmer's Market.

With all the interest in horticulture it's no wonder that one of Red's two boys picked up where he and Jink left off.

3rd Generation

Red's youngest, "Bud", grew up learning at the knee of his dad and uncle about flowers and vegetable gardening.

In 1973, at 13, Bud started working for Lundstrom's Florist.

He was the second generation LeFevre to work for Lundstrom's.

Lisa's grandmother, his neighbor, Mary Higby, and the person who gave him his nickname, "Bud", got him the job.

In 1980, Bud received a degree in Ornamental Horticulture with emphasis in greenhouse and garden center management from Kishwaukee College in Malta, Illinois and then went to Swartley's Greenhouse in Sterling as a grower.

In 1985 he ventured out on his own freelancing, and, like his grandfather, also worked at National Mfg.

He did this for the next twenty-two years.

In 1992, the fourth generation of LeFevre's to work in horticulture, Quin Allen LeFevre, was born.

Later in 1999, Distinctive Gardens opened in Dixon, Illinois.

Bud's son, Quin, started working with his dad at 8 years old.

To present, Quin is still working at Distinctive Gardens after graduating from college.

For Bud, he feels very fortunate to do a job that he loves while working with his family at the same time.

4th (and maybe 5th) Generation

Fast forward a couple decades and well look, Quin is all grown up and a dad himself.

Today we are blessed to be able to work with our son and, maybe... just maybe, the 5th generation, Mr. Wiggles, here in a few.

Here's to working with family!

Cheers!

DISTINCTIVE GARDENS

2020 Lowell Park Road

Dixon, IL

815-285-0014

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HOURS
By Appointment

Curbside Pick Up
Apr 1- May 31
Nov 15 to Dec 17 
Wed, Fri & Sat 10:00 - 5:00

Delivery Year Round

 

FAQs

  • Curbside Pick Up

    There are 8 tables that are assigned after your order is placed. We send out an appointment that details your time and table for pick up. Confirm this appointment.

    Look for two emails:

    1. Order Confirmation
    2. Appointment Email

    Appointments offered in 30 minutes appointment blocks. 1:00p, 1:30p etc.

    We try to get as close to your preferred Pick Up time as possible. Please confirm by clicking "Confirm Booking" link in your Appointment Email.

    If you need to change your appointment please call or message us on Facebook. Thanks!

  • Delivery
    Order Online. During checkout select "Delivery". Select your preferred date/time. Bud calls everyone to confirm. If you need a special date/time he'll take care of that request during the telephone call. Hope this helps!
  • Redeeming Gift Card
    During online checkout fill in the 16 digit number on the back of your gift card in the field that says, "Enter Gift Card Number"
  • Redeeming Loyalty Points

    Make sure you log in to your account in order to see and use your points.

    Loyalty points show up during check out. If you have any to use you will see, "Pay Through Loyalty Point. Current Point Balance Is..."

  • Ordering Online

    We offer online shopping for curbside pick up or delivery depending on time of year.

    Check out Instructions

    1. Select Pick Up or Delivery.
    2. Select preferred date/time.
    Look for two emails:
    • Order Confirmation
    • Appointment Email
    Confirm your appointment.

    ----------- TIPS --------------

    Limited quantities. If you put multiples of an item you want and we only have one in stock an alert will pop up on the desktop site telling you it is out of stock. That means the quantity you selected is higher than the available inventory. For example, Tufa Troughs are all unique. There is only one of each. Each week we take an inventory and add back products that might show as sold out. We’re doing this so we don’t oversell by mistake. So our product availability will change weekly.

    iPad shopping. We learned that the pop-up screen where you enter your credit card info was a problem for some. At times the credit card fields were way at the top of the screen and some could not see where to enter their information when shopping on an iPad. This happened especially when they had big orders. If you have problems please message our Facebook Page. We’re learning right along with you and want to help.

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  • VIP Pricing

    Special Pricing. Every now and then we run thank you specials for our loyal customers. When we do, special pricing will show only for you once you log in to your account. This special is unique to you.

    Instructions

    How To Access Special “Thank You” Pricing

    • Click “LOG IN”
    This will gain you access to special pricing.

    Or…

    If you didn’t create an account when you shopped,

    • Click “Forgot Password”
    • That will allow you to set up a password and create your account. Then log in. This will gain you access to special pricing.

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