Recently I posted about the closing of Ellen Hornig's great nursery, Seneca Hills Perennials. This morning this was in Tony Avent's newsletter from Plant Delights Nursery.

"Following Ellen [Hornig] out the door is Barry Yinger's Asiatica Nursery in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania, which will close its doors in mid-summer. The wake has officially begun and will continue until last rites are administered on July 30, so if you're in the area, drop by (call first) and pay both your plant invoice and respects. Barry has been involved in the nursery industry for years, first with Hines Wholesale Nursery before starting his own mail

order nursery in 1996. We wish Barry the best of luck in his next adventure and would like to publicly thank him for his enormous, often behind the scenes, contribution to the world of horticulture. Barry is also accepting

job offers, hopefully in the botanic garden world, so pass those our way [to Plant Delights Nursery].

"In yet a third mail order nursery tragedy, we regretfully report the untimely death of Robert (Bob) Popham, co-founder of New Jersey's Fairweather Gardens on May 9. Bob, 63, was recovering from a broken ankle when a blood clot apparently formed, resulting in a pulmonary embolism. Bob

and his partner of 42 years, Robert Hoffman, published the first Fairweather Gardens mail order catalog in 1992 (the same year we published ours). Over the ensuing years, we were fortunate to have visited each other's garden/nursery. The two Bobs had created a wonderful nursery that became an important and well-run resource for great plants...primarily woodies. It is our hope that Bob Hoffman will be able to continue with the nursery, but

losing a lifetime partner makes it hard to make quick business decisions. If you have a pending order with Fairweather, I'm sure Bob will appreciate your patience and understanding."

These three nurseries are (were) among the very best in the country. There are no replacements lined up that I'm aware of. I, myself, depended heavily on Seneca Hills and Fairweather, along with Rare Find Nursery that suffered the sudden death of its founder/owner Hank Shannon last fall but which has managed to continue operation. So sad for the gardening world.