We visited a strange nursery yesterday, what do you think?

14 years ago

We were planning a trip to a nursery we have visited a number of times in the past and to make things more interesting I looked up nurseries along the way to try something new. This new nursery which will remain nameless, was an interesting place to visit. Attractive setting, interesting items in the g*ift shop, healthy looking stock. I bought a couple of small items but didn't come h*ome with what I thought I was going to buy.

They had a website showing photos of gorgeous succulents, cute topiaries and a gorgeous mophead h*ydrangea that I wanted. I didn't see prices on the website. Turns out they were what I consider expensive, more than expensive. I noticed a dark lilac which I have been looking for, it was $75. The succulents were the large ones that look like r*oses. They were $20 a piece, which may be usual. But the topiaries!! Wow! The three tiered ones were $125. They were small. I swear they were in an 6- 8" pot and were just myrtle. I wasn't considering getting one once I saw the price, but I did ask about growing conditions. I'm looking at these tiny pots and thinking how would you keep them watered outside? I have part shade over a lot of my yard, so I thought maybe you could put them in part shade. The employee said that even 4 hours seemed like too little sun for the myrtle. So why do they put them in tiny pots that you would have to keep watering? Were they thinking they were destined to be h*ouseplants?

I was drooling over the photo of the h*ydrangea on the website, turns out it was not hardy to my zone and they were in a zone colder than I am. I was very disappointed. So I left it there. I came home with a couple of vegetable seedlings and a hose nozzle. [g]

But I did learn a lesson. Look over the website more carefully and call ahead and ask questions about what you want to buy.

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Comments (16)

a2zmom_Z6_NJ
14 years ago
Wow! Sounds like like a place for people who don't know better.

I had the opposite experience on Saturday. I was in a part of New Jersey that I usually don't frequent, so I went to a nursery I had never visited. It was small, but the owner was very knowledgeable and the prices! I bought 6 annuals for $20, including a castor bean for a dollar! When's the last time you got anything for a buck? My other purchases included a basil, 3 coleus and a bush salvia which, with a little love, should be hardy here.
rusty_blackhaw
14 years ago
prairiemoon2, you forget to spell v*egetable correctly. :)

What was the dark lilac variety you're looking for (I just received four nice lilacs by mail order, two of which are dark purple-flowered varieties)?
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How nice to see a post from you, PM - even if it was inadvertent, LOL.... that was surely an odd nursery - but I find just like catalogs of plants, photos can be deceiving and nursery websites equally so. If you think about it, even shopping for a new house online -- photos are meant to be the very best presentation of what exists -- with plant photos one seldom sees the full plant and you're lucky if you see foliage - it's often just the flower (which could in reality be 1/2" size, LOL)....and we won't talk about reality of color for plant photos... what a huge disparity! I recall stopping at a NE nursery years ago whose website I loved and had ordered mail order from - but I was shocked to find out how truly tiny the place was upon visiting it - and I drove about 2 hours out of my original destination to check it out - you just never know..... Thanks for the best wishes re the pup - I will miss my Chloe forever, but hope to have a new character in the house and to share in August sometime. Wish u the best of health and fun in the garden and rest of your life! Keep checking in with us, please. -cindy
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arbo_retum
14 years ago
pm2, no reason for you not to mention the name of the nursery. would inform us all more. it helps all of us to know good and bad things about nurseries etc. maybe someone would even want to offer a different take on that place.
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mxk3 z5b_MI
14 years ago
I wouldn't say it's a *strange* nursery, just an overpriced, not very good one....

Sorry you didn't enjoy your visit, hopefully you at least enjoyed the day trip :0)
forestwench
14 years ago
I'd like to know where that nursery in NJ is? I drive for a new nursey and good prices... =) Plus I didn't start my castor beans yet and a dollar sounds great.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
a2zmom, sounds like you were able to find some plants that made you happy and $1. for a plant is a nice deal!

Eric, I have just started looking for lilacs. I ripped out some very old, very pale purple lilacs that were covered with mildew every year. I am going to see if I can find a variety that is mildew resistant. Not sure if there is such a thing. My kids have all commented that they miss the lilacs so I'm working on it. [g] We noticed a ton of lilacs while we were driving yesterday. My daughter had not noticed the darker blossoms before and there were a lot. My favorite. Which did you get?

I suppose it doesn't hurt to post the name of the nursery. I just didn't want to complain about them after one visit. I thought it was possible that I don't get out enough. [g] I think as much as the prices seemed very high to me, I was also perplexed with some of the decisions they made of what to sell, like the topiaries in small containers and hydrangea that were not hardy. It was a place in Maine. Snug Harbor Farm in Kennebunkport. It had animals and decorative birds. Some espaliered fruit trees, decorative g*arden pieces. Plant material looked healthy enough. They also had some succulent arrangements in hanging baskets that were nice but they were $65. One of the white hydrangea at the bottom of the webpage is the one I liked, but is not hardy.

mxk3...well, it was strange to me, because I had a hard time figuring out who they were selling to. I imagine they must have a clientele. I thought maybe someone here might make more sense of it than I did. I'm just a curious person...lol.

Yes, we did have a very enjoyable day trip! We had perfect weather, perfect company. Came h*ome with some plants I was looking for and got to the ocean. It's nice to visit different nurseries, even if they seemed strange to me, since for the most part I rarely do that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snug Harbor Farm
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Kaveh Maguire Garden Design
14 years ago
Sounds like ones that is leaning towards garden "boutique shop" and less nursery. I think they can be pleasant to walk around in but ultimately unsatisfying as a true horticulturist.

They always strike me as more a place for rich people to buy housewarming gifts or decorations for a party.
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
14 years ago
forestwrench, it's Amberg perennial farm in Scotch Plains. Not a huge place, but great prices on annuals.

Where are you in Jersey? Because up north where I am, there are a lot of great nurseries.

Prariemoon, finding anything for a dollar is pretty amazing nowadays!
rusty_blackhaw
14 years ago
I think I've driven by Snug Harbor a bunch of times but never gone in, because it mostly looked like a place that specialized in expensive garden accessories. There are a lot of folks with money passing through the area, so they haven't necessarily had to depend on George and Barbara Bush.

That part of coastal Maine (along routes 9 and 1) is pretty slim pickings for gardeners these days.

Due to spousal demand I've added a total of four more lilacs to the garden. The new dark purples are Charles Joly (an old-time hybrid) and Yankee Doodle. I don't know if they're supposed to be mildew-resistant but I haven't had a problem with that here. I'm having to do major rejuvenation pruning of our two largest specimens, which have big woody stems going about ten feet and which are being removed over a several year span to encourage fresh, bushy growth.
hunt4carl
14 years ago
a2zmom: thanks for posting the name of the nursery in Scotch Plains. . .I'm
a nursery addict and have been known to drive a hundred miles just to satisfy
my appetite ! There are some pretty wonderful nurseries all OVER this
state. . .I'm in Monmouth County. . .in the past two weeks alone, I've hit Fairweather (far south), Pope's (mid-south), Rarefind and Sickle's (central) and Well-Sweep in the northwest corner. We should compare notes !

Carl
ladywindsurfer
14 years ago
We have one of those nurseries in my area, surrounded by homes of the Rich and Famous, replete with private golf clubs, tennis courts, etc., etc.

Their indoor sales area is about as large as the outdoor garden sales area and features hundreds of potted tropical & houseplants, every conceivable size and design of ornamental pots and garden knickknacks, plus a bookstore, stocked only with garden related tomes.

Outdoors, there is a large garden railroad and a huge Koi pond, which, during the summer season, is decorated like a jungle.

Huge selections of annuals, many trees & shrubs, but slim choices for the perennial gardener.
They have an affiliated company, that performs landscape design, installation & maintenance, so I suppose they stock what is mostly used in that business.

Within the building, there is a large conference room, that will accommodate about 100 people, which is available, free of charge, to garden clubs and plant societies.

Aside from attending many meetings there each year, it's always a treat for me to browse through the sales areas, while munching on a bag of popcorn, which is also free, from an antique popcorn machine.

They offer discounts to groups that meet there regularly, but even so, everything is still terribly expensive, except when they have a clearance sale.

The company has been in business for more than 100 years and started as a seed store, later branching into a catalog mail-order business, which was terminated several years ago.

I suppose, that in certain locations, there is a niche market for that type of business, but it surely isn't a mainstream nursery that most gardeners would frequent!
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
clematisintegrifolia, I just looked at the website again and I should have had a clue from the description 'Plants for Connoisseurs' and 'Imported' terra cotta. [g]

Eric, they had that Charles Joly and it was $75.

Kennebunkport is a resort area so it shouldn't surprise me that the nurseries would be higher, I just thought the $125 topiaries of myrtle was a little over the top. [g]

Eric, have you ever visited Blackrock Farm? It's very close to Snug Harbor. We passed it but didn't have time to go in. They were set back from the street making it difficult to see what they were about.

ladywindsurfer, 100 years in business, sounds like they have a large clientele.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
clematisintegrifolia, I just looked at the website again and I should have had a clue from the description 'Plants for Connoisseurs' and 'Imported' terra cotta. [g]

Eric, they had that Charles Joly and it was $75.

Kennebunkport is a resort area so it shouldn't surprise me that the nurseries would be higher, I just thought the $125 topiaries of myrtle was a little over the top. [g]

Eric, have you ever visited Blackrock Farm? It's very close to Snug Harbor. We passed it but didn't have time to go in. They were set back from the street making it difficult to see what they were about.

ladywindsurfer, 100 years in business, sounds like they have a large clientele.
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
Original Author
14 years ago
Sorry for the repeat, I hit the back button and it posted again. If I 'tried' to post twice it wouldn't let me, so how did that happen?
nancyd
14 years ago
I'd say they won't be in business for very long. Any savvy gardener will stay away.
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
14 years ago
Carl, I'd love to compare notes! I don't want to hijack this thread, so if you want, e-mail me.

We visited a strange nursery yesterday, what do you think?

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