MN Venero Gardens & Nursery, 5985 Seamans Drive, Shorewood, Minnesota 55331 http://www.venerogardens.com/ (hostas, perennials) Baldwin Lake Perennials Inc., 6110 Baldwin Lake Rd, Lino Lakes, Minnesota 55014 http://www.baldwinlakeperennials.com/ (hostas, perennials) Knechts Nurseries and Landscaping, 1601 Hwy 19 West, Northfield, MN 55057 http://knechts.net/ (hostas, perennials) Hidden Springs Flower Farm, Spring Grove, MN 55974 (hostas, perennials, Peony) http://www.ricecreekgardens.com/ (formerly Rice Creek Gardens in Blaine - maybe reopening in '10) Chaska Farm & Garden, 3240 Chaska Blvd. (Old Hwy 212), Chaska, MN 55318 http://cfg.kevinconnection.com/index.htm (hostas, perennials) Paul

i am familiar with all the gardens recommended by other posters but i assure you that you will not find any more beautiful gardens than those at Tranquil Lake Nursery in Rehoboth Ma. It's only 30 min from new bedford. very large property; the nursery specializes in daylilies and iris, but the extensive display gardens are filled with thousands of unusual perennials and shrubs, vines and trees. the co-owner is a well respected garden designer. they are very relaxed and friendly there. you could bring a picnic lunch and eat under the trees and/or down by the pond. After Tr.Lake, and close to you , I would also second the rec. for Blithewold gardens, not far from you, in Bristol R.I. Lovely views out to the water as well. Next to Blithewold is Green Animals, a very interesting/unique display of topiary. I would not send you to Garden in the Woods this time of year. It is really best in the spring, when there are lots of their woodland things blooming. Summer can be a very dull time there plant wise. Tower Hill is a very extensive botanical garden that is filled with display gardens of many many types, and a fascinating conservatory. It is definitely worth the trip, but it would take you about 1 1/2 hrs.to get there from NB. Once there, you would want to allow yourselves at least 3 hours to see it all. they have a cafe on site. If you enter Tower Hill in the GW search box, you may be able to find a great photo album of Tower Hill, done by sue last fall. best of touring, Mindy Here is a link that might be useful: tranquil lake nursery

Oh, Marcy, don't you love the fragrance of Munstead. That was the lavender I first grew, the one on the clay hill and has always been my favorite of all the varieties. Ok, here is the list of some of the varities I have grown. Keep in mind, that I'm no expert, but just someone who likes to try new plants and these are my experiences with them. These are the varieties I've found around here although sometimes you have to just stumble across them. English lavender(lavendula angustifolia): They seem a little more finicky than lavidins. I have more winter die back of some branches and they get a dark grey color in the winter so they have a dreary look, sometimes. MUNSTEAD: The best flavor for cooking to me. It grows well and is compact. HIDCOTE: About the same size as Munstead but with darker flowers. The flavor and scent is a little sharper to me. ROSEA (AKA Jean Davis): Pink flowers. I've bought this mutiple times and it never does well for me. Doesn't die, doesn't grow. Just stays a grey lump with a few flowers in spring. Maybe I just don't have the touch. ROYAL VELVET: Another one that does Ok but doesn't thrive. Lavandins(Lavandula x intermedia): Stays a good silver color during winter and has little die back. It has a higher camphor percentage, so it tastes and smells slightly medicinal. Good landscape plants. PROVENCE: the best and easiest to find GROSSO: A little larger and blooms about a week before or after Provence, I can't remember which. DUTCH: I can't tell the difference between it and Grosso. FRED BOUTIN: Another I bought several times and they all died, until last year. This one seems to be doing well but is not old enough to tell about it. I told my husband that everytime I bought Fred, he commited suicide when he got here so I renamed this one Joe and he's doing well. Spanish Lavender(Lavendula stoechas): I grow this as a short lived plant. Its borderline on hardiness down here. It wouldn't have survived ths winter, but it does fairly well as an annual. Any variety seems to do about the same as any other. I like the plain unnamed plants best. OTHER: GOODWIN CREEK GREY: I grow it as an annual in a pot. Never been able to overwinter it so it looks good the next year. French lavender(Lavendula dentata) Another one I grow as an annual in a pot. Dainty green flowers and foliage. Hope this helps. Loretta

Hi Emmerick - Such a neat little light setup you have there in your office. And I like the orchid in front of the window. What is to the left of the orchid? Interesting varieties. I looked up Ruby King Red pepper and Seed Savers has it. I like that company. Have you grown it long? I’m always looking for a new pepper variety. I’m growing Jimmy Nardello, Carmen, Odessa Market, and Gilboa. They’re all new to me this year. Nice to have a greenhouse. Yellow onion of Parma - another Seed Savers. I had forgotten about that company, actually, since discovering FEDCO, but I’ll have to check them out again. Your onion seedlings look great! Red Mammoth is a nice cabbage. I tried a miniature last year, called ‘Gonzales’. There’s only two of us at home and I am the one that enjoys cabbage. I loved it! They only took up about 10 inches of space, and were the size of softballs. One cabbage made one large bowl of cole slaw with no leftovers. I’m growing it again this year. I wish I could find a miniature red cabbage. I love Concord grapes. It reminds me of my childhood, we had a neighbor who grew them. They make great jelly. Potting up babies, is something I never do, but since you have gardening clients, I can see the advantage of that. I love the idea of dividing and increasing what I have, and it always goes on my to do list for spring, but I have too many jobs on the list and dividing seems to always be a lower priority and I don’t always get to it. I have a small collection of epimedium that I hope to divide this spring. I would love to double the number of plants I have. It will be a higher priority this year. I haven’t tried potatoes yet. One of these years I will. I’ve heard the fingerlings and the purples are great. Love the names of your varieties. You are already in gardening mode, indoors? Do you still have snow?