Each Little World

Flower Factory Forever

First it was Roslyn Nursery, then Heronswood, then Seneca Hill Perennials — poof! Here for years and then suddenly gone. I still have plants from all of those memorable nurseries. But they were "paper" places; I read their catalogs but never shopped in person at any of them.

They were coastal destinations, not friends and neighbors like Nancy and David Nedveck, hands-on owners of The Flower Factory, down the road from Madison. You run into them at local garden events as here at Olbrich Botanical Gardens before we all went inside for a talk by Fergus Garrett of Great Dixter in the UK. 

The first plants that I bought for my very first garden, a rather simple affair located behind my apartment, were from the Flower Factory at Madison's original downtown Farmers Market. To a new gardener, stopping there was a weekly slice of heaven. These days I can't remember the last time I went downtown on a Saturday morning and socialized with David; now I always drive out to the nursery so I can bring home a heavy haul.

I usually go out to the nursery a couple of times a season. I always sit a minute in my car anticipating what fun I am going to have shopping here. 

Then I meander along the incredible flower border running the length of the adjacent hoop house. 

Next I turn around and walk over to take a closer look at the plantings across the parking lot. Just a glance at those bright pink Dianthus carthusianorum told me why mine are not as happy as these. Mine are in soil that's too rich and moist: A garden lesson learned and I haven't even left the parking lot! Hasn't that always been one of the benefits of buying locally? We can learn just by looking, let alone consulting Nancy or David and their staff. 

This little green-roofed building always makes me smile. 

I save the Hosta houses until last. That way I don't bang up those big leaves while I shop. 

I peek in but don't stop. (photo below from April, 2010)

If the weather looks threatening, I wear my hooded rain jacket leaving the umbrellas for those who need them! I usually look like a gardener when I go to FF: boots, jeans and an old T-shirt, gloves, a hat. Now and then people have asked me for help because I looked like I must work there.  

Most of these photos are from 2016/17 and don't begin to show the kinds of container plantings and inspirational displays that abound at Flower Factory these days. I've been seduced more than once by plants that were unfamiliar or just so beautifully grouped into a display that I had to take some home with me. 

Even though I always bring my FF catalog and have a specific plant shopping list in hand, I don't think I have ever managed to get away without at least one impulse buy. 

I started filling an index card with relevant information (including source) for each plant I purchase beginning in the late 1980s and still do so. Thus I know I bought my first Japanese painted fern at FF in 1989; my first Toad lilies in 1996 and Geranium macrrohrizum in 1998. These are stalwarts in my garden.

More recently I started taking a photo of my plant purchases before I leave the Flower Factory or as soon as I get home. It's a great visual record of what I bought when.

These wagon loads are from early spring, 2010.

August, 2016

August, 2017

June, 2019

September, 2019

I would not be the gardener I am nor have the garden I do if not for Nancy and David. The incredible variety of plants they offer each year (2,500 in 2019) is only one small part of what they've given us. On-the-spot plant identification and advice no matter when or where I run into them. Presentations to garden groups large and small. Their catalog has a page of general gardening information in the back and they provide an entire alphabet list of uses for their perennials ranging from drought and salt tolerance to plants that like it wet or are fragrant and on and on. 

In my gardening heart-of-hearts, I've known that one of these days David and Nancy would retire. Why wouldn't they? Lots of us did it years ago, which is why we have all this time to garden. Running a nursery on the scale and complexity of Flower Factory is a job that never stops and rarely slows down. It is a business that is subject to the vagaries of weather and the whims of the gardening world. Those of us who live in Dane Country and the Upper Midwest have been luckier than most American gardeners to have such a rich source of plants and pleasant nursery folks right on our doorstep. Best wishes to David and Nancy as they take this next step on their journey.

Whose idea was this?

"Stupid, stupid, stupid" was Mark's suggested title for this post. Lucky for me he was laughing as he said it. All the rain we've had this autumn had me indoors looking at end of season sales on my favorite nursery web sites. Of course I fell prey to temptation when I looked at Song Sparrow Nursery. I've been buying plants from them forever and they never disappoint. This is part of my spring 2019 haul: Helleborus 'New York Night', Epimedium x 'Royal Flush' and Heucherella 'Brass Lantern'.

Song Sparrow may be gone next year as their future is very uncertain. Seemed like the sensible thing to order a bunch of shrubs and easy care perennials to help in lowering maintenance in the garden. Look what showed up at my house less than 48 hours after I placed my order online!

I know many gardeners complain about the cost of shipping when ordering plants online. I think it's just a case of getting what you pay for. Since this was the end of the season, the plants were large and healthy. Epimediums and dwarf conifers were layered in this larger box. 

Individual plants were encased in little "houses" with a cardboard door flap that opened outward. 

There was a wide strip of tape across the bottom for extra stability, but it was super easy to remove the plants from their container without breaking anything.

In addition to the Epimediums, I bought pairs of plants: dwarf conifers (Picea abies 'Tompa' ), small scale Hydrangeas (H. quercifolia 'Pee Wee'), and Orixa japonica. The only "onsie" is a dwarf sand cherry (Prunus pumila).

The Orixa japonica will get cut back somewhat in the spring to promote side shoots as they are almost at their mature height of four feet!

The Orixa grows in shade and has beautiful glossy foliage.

When I wondered whose idea it was to order plants on the last day of September, I was worried about how wet it had been and how much rain kept appearing in our forecast. I was concerned the plants might rot before they could settle in. One Orixa was put in its new home but every thing else went into any empty spots I could find.

We haven't had a killing frost yet and everything seems to be doing fine in their temporary locations. All the plants but the Epimediums have been caged to protect them from marauding rabbits. Now I will have the coming cold season to think about how I want to use these new plants to reduce maintenance — and what else I might need to add to the mix!

I should also note that I used a lot of the cardboard as inserts between pieces of framed art in our new basement storage rack. 

Plant spree

I recently bought 20 plants at my favorite local nursery, Flower Factory, and managed to get all but one of them in the ground within 48 hours. I bought 2 to 5 plants of each variety except for three plants  that were onesies. Even those were joining their siblings in the garden so I felt that, though I bought a lot, I was very focused and didn't stray from my list. 

I added ferns (Dryopteris australis, Polystichum makinoi, P. polyblepharum), Lizula (wood rush) and Asaram splendens all to the Turtle Mound in my ongoing effort to stabilize the slopes that can no longer grow grass because of the shade. Dryopteris australis (Dixie Wood Fern) is a tall workhorse fern. I've been planting them for that last few years and they've come through every kind of winter and summer weather. 

A few fancy plants: Another hardy Begonia to hide another summer bare spot left by one of my dormant Trilliums. Heuchera 'Silver Gumdrop'; this summer marks my first venture into this Heuchera color. Tricyrtis 'Samuri', a shorter toad lily with gold-edged leaves and dramatic flowers for the front of the border. 

I've had a love/hate relationship with both native and European gingers (Asarum canadense and A. europaeum) because they proved to be almost invasive in my garden. But given the fact they are colonizing the Turtle and Buddha Mounds, I've made peace with them. Not only am I letting them spread to their heart's content, I've added A. splendens — the variegated beauty in the lower left corner of the photo above.

We've had a four day dry spell this week so I got out in the garden and worked, worked, worked as next week looks rainy again. Since it's the end of August, I plunked two shrubs and a small tree into holes in the border where they will sit until Spring. I hope by that time I will have decided where they should permanently be sited.  

August lilies

Hosta plantaginea is more romantically known as the "August lily" because that's when it blooms and its flowers look like small lilies. It is also one of the few Hostas that is fragrant. I grow ‘Royal Standard,’ a hybrid introduced in 1965, whose flowers are a crisp white. It's easy to ignore these Hostas since they don't have fancy leaves; but they flower just when my garden needs them most. 

For Hosta drama in August, nothing beats H. 'Spritzer'. First, this Hosta has pointed, downward drooping leaves making it a great plant for a slope. But the flower buds are explosive.

There are few Hostas that are as visually interesting in bud and early bloom stages as 'Spritzer'.

'Royal Standard' and 'Spritzer' are among the few Hostas I grow whose flowers I leave in place. 

Though it was Klehm's Song Sparrow nursery that suggested planting H. 'Spritzer' on a slope, I bought my original plant more than twenty years ago at Flower Factory and I see that it is still listed in their catalog. 

'Splendide' indeed

I am growing seven different Thalictrums. They range in size from Thalictrum kiusianum aka Kyushu meadow rue which is about 4" tall. This spreads slowly, can take some sun and nothing seems to bother it. 

Thalictrum rochebrunianum 'Lavender Mist' usually tops out around 6'. The stems are sturdy and stay vertical unless they get hit with a severe wind storm. This has always been the drama queen of my meadow rues — until now. 

I bought Thalictrum 'Splendide' from Digging Dog Nursery in 2016 and this summer it has done its third year leap if you know that gardening mantra. This plant was discovered as a seedling between T. elegans and T. delavayi by famed French Heuchera breeder, Thierry Delabroye, according to Digging Dog. You can see its foliage behind me in the image below. 

This plant is listed as getting about 2' wide which is the width of mine and 5-9' tall. The tape measure I'm holding below marks the top of the flower stalks at 10.5' tall! Except for a few stems which have bent downward, most of the flowers are lost in the tree's leaves. The tree is helping to stabilize this tall plant so I shouldn't complain that it's hiding the flowers. 

At this height there really isn't another location in the garden where the same thing won't  happen. Despite buying 'Splendid' because I loved the idea of a really tall Thalictrum, I never believed it would reach the sky. 

Summer pots

The deck is currently home to a plethora of potted plants; all waiting for me to have enough energy to dig holes and get them planted. Most of them are shrubs and trees like the two below. These two are spending their second summer in pots. Eventually they'll get planted in the ground, but I'm enjoying being able to see them up close for the foreseeable future. This is Ginkgo biloba 'Sky Tower' which will be about 20' tall and 6' wide at maturity. 

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Thowell' is a dwarf Hinoki cypress with a naturally narrow undulating form, according to Avant Gardens where I purchased it online. The brick was a gift because it almost spells my last name. 

My pair of Hostas on the deck look about the same as they do every year. But they are the limit to my flowering plants in containers.

Flower Factory Foray

Is there any treat more delightful than a gift certificate to your favorite local nursery? Not to my way of thinking. I went out to spend my Flower Factory gift on a cool and cloudy Sunday afternoon. I was very good and only bought two plants not on my list. I stayed so focused that, as usual, I forgot to take pictures of their beautiful displays of potted plants ready to take home. I snapped these few images on the way from where I parked my car over to where I picked up one of their red wagons to use while I shopped. Loved these brilliant poppies surrounded by what I believe is Dianthus carthusianorum.

A coral tinted Peony sparkling from the early morning rain. 

The Peonies were in front of one of my favorite garden sheds, complete with a green roof.

I was mesmerized by this huge swath of Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis). 

I've always grown a few in my garden because of the electric lime color of the flowers and the way its pleated leaves capture raindrops. Seeing it at Flower Factory convinced me that the big group of Lady's Mantle in my garden had not gotten out of control. It was in the process of turning itself in a swath and I realized I was lucky I did not pull out most of the plants before I visited Flower Factory. 

I always have a stack of empty pots but never know who takes what. Now I am going to rinse down all the containers from this haul and take them back to Flower Factory when I go out there next. 

Here's my latest haul. I could barely managed to pull the wagon; it was so loaded with plants. 

I had a list of plants, the number I wanted of each and their location to make shopping easy. I also brought my catalog with me. But what I really appreciate is the fact that Flower Factory uses a scanner and so my receipt lists all my plants by name. Since I make i.d. cards for them and keep track of what I planted where, this is a real boon to my record-keeping. 

I mainly bought more of the plants that have been doing well for at least a couple of years or more in my garden. A week later and all but two plants are in the ground and looking good. 

FERNS: 3 Dryopteris australis (Dixie Wood Fern); 1 each Osmunda claytoniana and Polystichum makinoi

GENERAL PERENNIALS: 3 Heuchera 'Lava Lamp', I each Heuchera 'Blackberry Crisp' and Heucherella 'Brass Lantern'; 3 Verbena hastata, 1 Geranium 'Dragon Heart', 1 Origanum 'Norton's Gold'

GRASS: 9 Carex rosea, 5 each Carex Pennsylvanica and C. davillariana, 1 Sesleria autumnalis (Autumn Moor Grass)

Expert advice

When someone in the know offers a clue as to the best way to site a plant, it is foolish not to take their advice. I know I don't always do it, but the times I have done so resulted in such beautiful displays that I need to remember to be open to expert advice when it's offered. 

I've been growing Epimedium grandiflorum 'Waterfall' for eight years. The breeder gave it a name that says how the plant looks as well as telling you where to put it: Someplace where the waterfall effect will be obvious, if not emphasized. I put mine on a gentle slope above a low wall where its cascading leaves provide a striking display all season. I underplanted it with Hosta 'Rhythm & Blues,' not realizing how well the Hosta foliage would add to the downward flow visually.

Slightly to the right of the above group and a bit lower down is Tricyrtis macrantha. Gene Bush, of the late Munchkin Nursery where I found this plant, calls it the "King of Toad Lilies." He also said to "give it a rock, log or edge of a bed to flow down and over." In my case, I gave it a rock edge of the bed and it flows like a dream. 

Both the Epimedium and the Toad Lilies have become stars of my garden because I let someone else tell me what to do; a much-needed lesson for this control freak!

Market finds

I love Foxgloves but only the peach colored varieties which are always in short supply around here. I almost ordered some from the East Coast but decided against it. So I was thrilled to discover Digitalis 'Dalmation Peach' recently at K&W in Janesville. I was even more thrilled to discovered a vendor selling them at the local West Side Farmers Market last weekend. That color is perfect with Berberis 'Orange Rocket'. 

I don't buy many annuals other than herbs like Basil. But the same vendor was selling Salpiglossis plants, an old variety that is rarely seen these days. I fell for it and bought three of them. The colors range from dark red to almost black with wonderful purple-striped variations in between. The variety is 'Royale Mix'.

When is a fern not a fern?

That's the phrase that caught my eye when I saw this charmer on the Far Reaches Farm website last year. Pteridophyllum racemosum is a Japanese plant that looks like a fern that flowers.

It made it through its first winter and bloomed! I am thrilled as it is even lovelier in person than on-line.

I planted it by this mossy grindstone thinking that the growing conditions would be right; but it turned out to be the perfect photo backdrop as well. Far Reaches is not offering this plant at the moment, so I am even more pleased that I splurged last year.