Its been a wonderous summer for me, traversing the landscape looking for nurseries, and in this instance a plant farm. Located west of Mount Forest, Ontario, Wild Things is a wonderous adventure for anyone who loves field and woodland surroundings, (amazing fields teeming with perennials; and a woodland display of trilliums and other shade loving plants) and an immediate rapport with the friendly knowledgable staff. I was intrigued when I discovered it was called a "plant farm" but soon learned that many of their perennials are grown in a field, where left to the elements, they either thrive or perish. From the appearance of the cascades of colours as you drive towards the retail area, it is evident that most have thrived. Its colder and they have more snow than the GTA, but this hasn't stopped them from growing spectacular perennials! The benches have the staple perennials as well as some total eye-catchers like an Indigo Kirilowii that stuck out worse than a green thumb, so much so that I simply had to bring it home and then investigate what exactly I had purchased. So tiny and delicate with her bright leaves. There is something for the most discerning or gardeners, as well as new and exciting selections for the greenest of new gardeners like myself! I was thrilled to have the owner remember me on only my second visit and was soon engaged in a conversation that was both genuine and inquisitive. Its nice when someone wants to know your favourite plants before deciding what will look good in your garden. I was witness to the annual Labour Day Monster Plant Sale, and judging by the number of people who seemingly appeared out of the fields, this is an event that is eagerly anticipated towards the end of the gardening season. I came home with more plants than I have room for, and after planting them I decided that in preparation for future visits to Wild Things Plant Farm, I will have to create new gardens for the treasures that will surely await me next year!

Beautiful blooms, Ronda! DD is a phototropic rose. That means the color changes with the temperature and the amount of sun it gets. Mine can be any where from nearly snow white with very little red to nearly all red with some deep cream/almost yellow at the base of the petals and anything and everything else in between. This is the same bloom over the course of about 24 hours. And then the next day. But this is how I like it best.

Actually, La Trinidad is a S. microphylla. This has heart-shaped leaves and is a big plant. Greggii forms have narrow, linear to elliptic leaves with smooth edges. Big Pink and Dwarf Pink are two common pink greggiis.

I think rather than that consumers "pushed" nurseries to sell own-root roses, nurseries opened up and promoted own-root roses as an alternative to budded roses -- because that's what they were set up to produce. That people have come to prefer many -- but not all -- that way indicates that the change had some merit. Personally, I think that own-root makes for a better growing most garden roses -- note I'm not speaking of HTs for showing, or other more "finicky" roses. I mean your average "flowering shrub" rose, either modern or old. Areas with particular climate and/or soil conditions which dictate preferences for particular rootstocks would be better served by specialists. If your "average rose" is budded, will that "average rootstock" be the one recommended everywhere? Nope. So if you're in a specific region where 'Fortuniana' is what needs to be below the surface, own-root would be just as inappropriate as one of the other rootstocks. If the big producers put everything on 'Dr. Huey' as a default, you're just as out of luck as if the default was own-root. So perhaps the answer would be more smaller nurseries set up for those regional specifics. Anyone willing to learn custom budding could become very popular with their local ARS chapter. :-) ~Christopher