Nuccio's Nurseries' famous camellias survived the Eaton fire. But with no water, what now?

After 90 years of breeding and selling uncommon camellias and azaleas to customers each implicit the world, Nuccio’s Nurseries successful Altadena is expected to adjacent by the extremity of 2025. But the ongoing Eaton occurrence and its ashy aftermath don’t look to beryllium offering the ending the nursery’s owners had successful mind.

The Eaton occurrence swept into the Chaney Trail Road vicinity sometime aboriginal connected Jan. 8, leap-frogging immoderate homes and gutting others. The nursery’s aged household location burned to the ground, arsenic did respective woody outbuildings. The tiny location was wherever Tom Nuccio, 77, who co-owns the nursery with his member Jim, 75, lived.

Tom Nuccio was successful the infirmary for non-life-threatening issues erstwhile the occurrence erupted. Their 92-year-old relative Vicky, who besides lived successful the house, was safely evacuated.

Miraculously, the occurrence hardly touched the country of the nursery wherever thousands of potted camellias and azaleas were acceptable for merchantability nether a breezy wood-lathe model covered by shadiness cloth.

A fewer of the plants adjacent the burned structures were singed, and galore successful the nursery’s shadiness country were pushed implicit by upwind gusts reportedly approaching 100 mph. But the nursery’s monolithic oak histrion and galore of its gangly camellia trees appeared unscathed.

In a December 2024, photo, Jim, left, and Tom Nuccio basal successful beforehand of 1 of the nursery’s ramshackle wood retention buildings and a profusely blooming heavy pinkish camellia known arsenic Dazzler, a assortment developed by the Nuccio family. Neither the gathering nor the works survived the fire.

(Jeanette Marantos / Los Angeles Times)

The occupation present is water. The camellias and azaleas were past watered Jan. 7, and the blistery adust Santa Ana winds suck moisture from adjacent well-hydrated potted plants. Jim Nuccio figures that their plants, which are easy worthy astatine slightest tens of thousands of dollars, tin past possibly different week without water.

He’s been capable to sojourn the nursery lone doubly since the occurrence began, erstwhile by sneaking on backmost roads Jan. 8 earlier officials curtailed entree to the burned areas, and again for a abbreviated sojourn implicit the weekend.

During the second visit, helium was capable to drawback astir 125 of the rarest varieties for 2 botanical gardens, Descanso Gardens successful La Cañada Flintridge, which has 1 of the world’s astir celebrated camellia collections, and the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens successful San Marino.

“We wanted to bash this anyhow [donate their rarest camellias] due to the fact that those gardens person been customers for years, and we thought, ‘There’s nary amended clip past present portion the plants are inactive alive.’ People won’t beryllium capable to bargain them, but astatine slightest they’ll beryllium capable to spot them.”

Donating the plants isn’t a large deal, helium said, laughing: “We haven’t made wealth successful 90 years, truthful wherefore commencement now?”

Two days aft the Eaton occurrence raged done Nuccio’s Nurseries successful Altadena, the country is inactive smoking. Many trees, shrubs and astir each its potted camellias and azaleas survived unscathed.

(Jeanette Marantos / Los Angeles Times)

The nursery went up for merchantability successful 2023, and it had a prospective buyer, Pasadena’s Polytechnic School. However, the schoolhouse pulled retired aft months of assemblage absorption to its program to make an diversion analyzable connected portion of the property. The Nuccio household began talks successful December with the Trust for Public Land, but the Eaton occurrence has enactment negotiations connected hold.

Jim Nuccio said he’s been inundated with calls from radical wanting to help. A longtime lawsuit successful San Diego, Kathy Liu of Joey’s Wings Foundation, started a GoFundMe leafage for the nursery with a extremity of $18,000 to assistance screen expenses.

The Nuccio brothers “are the kindest radical I cognize of,” Liu wrote connected the GoFundMe page, adding that her instauration has been moving with the nursery for six years to merchantability camellias arsenic a fundraiser successful the Bay Area and successful San Diego.

“The past fundraiser with the nursery was conscionable past period successful December, 2024,” Liu wrote. “We sold implicit 1,000 pots of camellias successful [the] Bay Area and San Diego. The brothers drove 2 trucks of camellias each the mode from Altadena to the San Francisco Bay Area and they refused to fto america wage for immoderate cost, including the camellias.”

Tom Nuccio walks nether a towering oak histrion and a enactment of gangly planted camellias successful 2023. The nursery’s trees and potted plants astir them escaped harm successful the Eaton fire.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Jim Nuccio brushed that praise aside. He and his member are grateful for the fundraising, helium said, but determination are others successful Altadena with acold greater needs. (Jim Nuccio’s location successful Altadena was spared; helium and his wife, Judith, person been evacuated since the occurrence began.)

For now, the Nuccio brothers are hoping that they’ll get a accidental to upwind down the nursery connected their ain terms, but that volition necessitate getting h2o to their thirsty plants precise soon.

“A fewer of our azaleas are already starting to wilt, but astir of the camellias are good nether the shadiness cloth, astatine slightest for now,” Jim Nuccio said. “I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll get a accidental to reopen. Hopefully, they’ll get our reservoirs replenished.” And, helium said, he’d heard reports of imaginable rainfall aboriginal successful the month.

Then helium trailed disconnected abruptly and sighed. “But I’m not banking connected immoderate of that.”