A couple of weeks ago, Teresa, a dear gardening friend, called. “Let’s take a field trip to Greenfield Plant Farm,” she said. The next day we went. Greenfield Plant Farm grows all sorts of annuals and perennials, and sells them direct to the public and also to other retailers. Many of the plants sold at local garden centers are grown there.
I had never been there, as it is a little out of the way. Greenfield is located at 726 Stephens Road in Maineville, Ohio. They grow over 2000 different perennials, and also herbs, annuals, shrubs, and ornamental grasses. When we got there I was impressed by their display gardens, which are attractively and imaginatively designed. I was dazzled by the variety and quality of their plants. Teresa, an employee of a local garden center where I used to work, was dazzled as well. We both wanted “one of everything.” OK, so since we don’t live out in the country or have bottomless bank accounts, we had to narrow it down a bit.
The visit there has created a whole new interest for me that I look to develop further this summer, after my summer classes are over. There was a whole section there devoted solely to alpine plants and miniature versions of other perennials to grow in troughs. Here is just a partial list of the miniature versions of standard plants – Baby’s breath, Columbine, Dianthus, Eryngium, Delphinium, Artimesia, Coral Bells (Heuchera), Yarrow, Campanula, Delosperma (Ice Plant), and many others. The troughs, in various sizes, were sold there as well. Now I want a trough and some miniature plants to go in it. As troughs are rather pricey, I looked up how to make my own on a couple of sites on the internet. I will be attempting to make Teresa and me both our own troughs. (yes, she loved the minis too – who could resist?) There were also miniature versions of evergreen shrubs – one I looked at reached twelve inches in 10 YEARS! I will report to my readers on my trough project in a few weeks. I have one container that is a “trough” of sorts, and it is planted with some small plants. I will have to make another, as it is charming,
I f you are a sedum fan, they definitely have a sedum (or three or ten) for you. I counted more than 25 varieties of sedums, which are so perfect for hot dry locations. Houseleeks, hens and chicks, or sempervivums were also in this area – I saw six varieties. I need a Cobweb houseleek now (yes I do!) to go with my “ordinary” houseleek.
Red wagons and other wagon types were handy to carry selections made. Rows and rows of vigorous perennials tempted us at every turn. Some of the polyhouses had a great selection of unusual annuals. Then there was a row of roses, and I added a climbing Eden to my wagon. Eden is a Romantica Rose, bred by the Meidilland family of France with huge blossoms packed with cream/pale pink blossoms. Add disease resistance, heat tolerance, and ever-blooming – and then you know why I had to take it home. It will grow to eight feet wide and five feet wide. Ah, well, I don’t need to plant tomatoes in my garden next year, do I? That’s what my big containers are for! Two hours later we wheeled our carts to the checkout booth and assessed the damage to our financial situation. We decided we could still lunch at LaRosa’s on the way home.
If you love plants and are looking for the unusual and unique – this was definitely worth the trip. We are already planning to go again. After all, we need to use our $5 coupon we got last time. For more info and directions, hours of operation, etc. see www.greenfieldplantfarm.com.
Tomato hint – be sure to plant marigolds around your tomato plants. It looks pretty and deters harmful predators and pests in the soil. Other good companion plants for tomatoes are borage, dill, and horehound. I have marigolds and borage around some of mine. The borage is a lovely herb with pretty true blue flowers that self seeds and comes back every year. More about borage next week. The easy to grow and tasty herb basil is also good to plant near your tomatoes. I love basil, tomato, and sweet onion salads with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing – oops, getting ahead of myself here – the tomatoes have not even blossomed yet! I can wait.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment