Looking for Conifers

I have been wanting to visit this nursery in Boyds, Maryland, for awhile, and this weekend we finally made the trip.  Susanna Farm Nursery specializes in dwarf and unusual evergreens and Japanese maples. I heard about it from a gardener  here in town who has some really unusual conifers from this nursery. It's about a 45 minute drive, but through a beautiful part of Maryland and we really enjoyed the drive.  We even took White's Ferry across the Potomac to get into Maryland. Pretty amazing that a ferry like this is still operating. There used to be 100 ferries operating on the Potomac and this is the last one. It's been in use since 1786!

The nursery itself is part of a huge piece of property, acres and acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, a pond, the nursery, and several homes. They let you use little golf carts to get around, so that was kind of fun and easy to see the whole property.

I don't know the names of all these plants, a lot were spruces as it seems I gravitate towards those the most.

And the Japanese maples were of course gorgeous. I've never seen so many varieties, and absolutely beautiful specimens. If you want a Japanese maple, this is the place to come.

I really liked this variety (below) so much that I wrote down its name,  Acer palmatum 'Tsuma-gaki.' The colors were so beautiful.

And just look at the color on this maple.

One of my favorites conifers is the dwarf hinoki cypress. I love that wavy form and the color.

It was a little overwhelming, especially if you don't know much about conifers, but if you are looking for something specific this is the place. I did buy three small plants, all evergreen, a dwarf hinoki cypress 'Verdoni,' a dwarf oriental spruce (Picea orientalis 'Tom Thumb'), and a Daphne 'Rosetti.' Now I just need to find a place to plant them.

Oh Henry's!

Every time we go to Lancaster County, we seem to find a new favorite place. This time, our friend Evelyn told us about Henry's greenhouse (about 40 minutes away) that she thought we would like. It is only open a few weekends in the spring because their main job is growing plants, which they supply to big institutions like Longwood Gardens. They were only open 8-12 on Saturday, and Evelyn suggested getting their right when they opened, so Eileen and I were up and on the road by 7 am, stopping first at Weavers for a chai latte. As soon as we drove down a windy country road and parked in the field,  we knew we had found a treasure. It's a big farm,  with a house, several barns and a greenhouse and lots of land.  It was just our kind of place.  Outside the greenhouse was a huge windmill with a chicken coop beneath, surrounded by all kinds of garden art and plants. We walked around that in a kind of daze, there was so much to look at.

The greenhouse was filled with plants, both annuals and perennials, very nice quality and lots of unusual stuff, including the best selection of specialty begonias I have ever seen. But what we loved the most were all the crazy containers they had planted--in pots, baskets, picture frames, and in a whole array of vintage containers.  The containers were hanging everywhere, on the walls, from the rafters, and in the middle of the tables filled with plants. There was an old push lawnmower planted with grasses. There were even old gutters hanging in the greenhouse, planted with succulents. Loved those.

Everywhere you looked there were little vignettes of plants--even the tiniest container like a pepper shaker contained a succulent or fern. I particularly liked these planted meat grinders!

Seeing potted containers like this little ceramic donkey made us want to go home and look for all those tchotkes we have laying around our houses that we could plant up. You can even plant an old toaster!

They had lots of these planted frames that you can hang or lay flat.

And lots of cool garden art, including this colorful peacock made from recycled metals.

We loved the way they combined plants, including even veggies in their containers.

We bought a few things, some unusual plants and we each bought a planted container, but mostly we got some great ideas. While we were there, we talked to several people from out of state who told us they come here twice every year, in the spring and at Christmas, which all said is just amazing. Guess  we'll be taking a day trip at Christmas time...

The enamelware bowl planted with succulents that I brought home

Garden Visits: Vermont

Phlox Fest at Perennial Pleasures

While in Vermont last week, JoAnn and I visited several nurseries and gardens, including Perennial Pleasures, in East Hardwick, Vt., which grows over 900 varieties of flowers, herbs, and shrubs, and specializes in heirloom plants. We were there during their annual Phlox Fest,  two weeks in the summer when most of their 137 varieties of phlox are blooming, a good time to see and smell all the many colors, sizes, and fragrances of phlox. We took an hour long tour of the garden, which the owner Rachel began more than 30 years ago behind her family home.  The gardens are the main attraction, but there are also plants and herbs for sale, a gift shop, and an outdoor tea room. They do a big mail order business too.

Phlox Collection

Old fashioned hosta

Delphinium

Delphinium

Cimicifuga

Tea in the garden

Another day we went to JoAnn's favorite nursery, Cady's Falls, in Morrisville, Vt. I have been to a lot of nurseries, but this was seriously one of the best. The gardens are beautiful, filled with unusual plants and garden art. Everywhere you turned it seemed there was something more interesting to look at--plants, sculpture, ponds, conifers, containers, trees. These are my favorite kind of nurseries, which are really gardens that happen to sell plants too.  This nursery specializes in weeping conifers, and I have never seen so many unusual specimens of trees and shrubs. The nursery itself has beautiful herbaceous and woody plants, and I saw my first Itoh peonies. I kept trying to figure out if I could stuff any plants in my carryon bag...it's not easy to visit such a quality nursery and leave empty handed. But I left with  lots of ideas and inspiration.  And really, there's nothing more fun than to visit a beautiful nursery with a gardening pal.

Great containers

Shady gardens around the house

Bog gardens

Girl under tree

Art everywhere

Loved this pile of stones planted with sedums and moss

Hostas

Loved these troughs, but boy were they heavy