Designing with Native Plants Follow Up – So now what?

This past Tuesday, on my Garden Designers Roundtable post, I discussed “Designing with Native Plants” by showing

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) on Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

you a few examples of native plants that you most likely already know, but might not know are native. I hope I have stimulated you enough to want to learn more about native plants, but you might be thinking; “Yeah those were great examples, but now what do I do?” Fear not gentle reader, for through this post and moving forward, I will attempt to guide you into the wonderful world of native plants, using them to make your landsape come alive, and maybe even establish a sense of place (genius loci). Let’s get started!

The first place you should turn, obviously, is to the posts of my fellow Roundtable designers. You will find a great deal of insight in their sharings.

Next, read my review of Doug Tallamy’s wonderful book “Bringing Nature Home” (then buy and read the book).

Finally, when you have finished with these, try visiting the following links for more examples (and sources!) of native plants. In future posts we’ll be looking at a few more books on this subject, as well as further uses of native plants, and a few design tips. For now, enjoy these sources, and please feel free to leave questions or comments below, or even better, continue the discussion over at our Facebook page!

All the best, Scott!

Connecticut Botanical Society – Learn about, and what’s in your CT backyard!

Project Native – Non-profit native plant nursery in Housatonic, MA

Native Plants & Wildflower Gardens – Carole Sevilla Brown’s excellent blog on ecosystem gardening!

Wildflower.org - Native plant database.

Plant Native – Directory, database, and tips.

Garden Designers Roundtable: Garden Tours!

If your like me, then you are always looking for someplace beautiful to visit. Scenes from movies, magazine articles, and travel books, all provide inspiration. There is a misconception though, that all the lovely places on earth, are far off destinations, requiring exorbitant travel budgets. Thanks to The Garden Conservancy, finding a garden to visit, is as easy as becoming a member, for with membership comes the Open Days Directory. The directory is a list of private gardens, that are part of the Open Days Program, who open their gates to visitors, for just a day or two during the year. It’s arranged by state and date of opening, so it’s very easy to plan a trip to a local gem that you might not otherwise get to see!

Thanks to The Directory, I found a garden worthy of many visits right here in Connecticut , Hollister House. From the website we learn the following:

Hollister House is owned by George Schoellkopf and Hollister House Garden Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the house and garden.  In 2005, George Schoellkopf entered into an irrevocable agreement with the Garden Conservancy and Hollister House Garden Inc. to donate the entire property, including house, garden and twenty-five acres, either during his lifetime or through his will, to Hollister House Garden Inc. 

Hollister House Garden is an American interpretation of such classic English gardens as Sissinghurst , Great Dixter and Hidcote, formal in its structure but informal and rather wild in its style of planting. 

That’s right, this beautiful garden has been given to us, the garden visitor, to enjoy for many, many years. It is a wonderfully stimulating garden, and an amazing gift. And, since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll let the garden speak for itself.

Click here to begin a slideshow of Hollister House!

Once your done visiting Hollister house, please visit my fellow bloggers this month to see what they have in store for you!

Fern Richardson : Life on the Balcony : Orange County CA

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque NM

Great Plant Places! – Logee’s

“Great Plant Places!” is a new series of posts here on Blue Heron Landscapes, profiling great places to find plants and garden accessories. We’ll be visiting local and regional nurseries, and providing you our readers, with a review. If you your a plant geek like me, you won’t want to miss a single post! If you would like to recommend a nursery for this series, please feel free to send me an email and let me know about it.

This past Tuesday, I met a few Connecticut Garden Bloggers in Connecticut’s quiet corner, that’s the northeast corner of the state for those of you keeping score. Our trip began with lunch at The Vanilla Bean Cafe, a Zagat rated gem in Putnam, CT. After a delicious grilled cheese with smoked provalone, canadian bacon and apple slices (YUM!), we headed off to Logee’s Tropical Plants, in Danielson.

Logee’s has been selling plants since 1892. Yes, you heard that right, 1892! They have been around a long time, and sell over one thousand varieties of tropicals in containers for the home and garden. The front entrance of Logee’s is very unassuming, and belies the wonder to be found within.

Logee's Entrance

Once inside however, you soon begin to feel transported magically through time and space to a world that is more storybook than present day commerce. The main room just inside the front door, is welcoming and has the feel of an old barn. Vines cling to almost every surface, and droop from the ceiling, mimicking a tropical forest. A cashiers table is to the right, and a potting table to the left where customers can pot up their newly purchased tropical plant before leaving, with potting soil that is compliments of the house! That’s right the soil is free with the purchase of the pots and plants (Garden centers take note!).

Staff at Logee's is friendly and knowledgeable

Vines on the ceiling, a tropical forest!

Free Soil!

A steep narrow set of stairs leads you from the main room down into the greenhouse. There are several greenhouses, each with several rows of plants crowding over the pathways giving the impression that the visitor is trekking through a dense jungle, stumbling upon rare and wonderful blossoms. There is fruit in the forest also; Lemon, Kumquat, Grapefruit and more!

Narrow paths lead to exciting discoveries!

The highlight of our trip was to see the beautiful Turquoise Jade Vine (Stongylodon macrobotrys) in full bloom. A rare treat indeed!

Turquoise Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys)

Turquoise Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys)

Turquoise Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys)

A place this old is not without stories, and Logee’s is no exception. When asked why a Kumquat grew right in the middle of one of the paths, we were told that it had been delivered to a woman in the 1930′s,  and been returned, as she did not want it. It was set down on the greenhouse floor, and there it stayed until the roots grew through the pot and took hold. The pot soon broke apart and now some seventy odd years later it towers over the benches, full of fruit. Funny how sometimes plants don’t seem to care where they grow.

 

Left behind, this Kumquat has survived

A plant will always find a way!

Doesn't seem to be suffering

At Logee’s wonder wait round every corner, and half the fun of visiting is the excitement of discovery. Sharing what the great plant explorers of our time must have felt on their treks to new and exotic places. That is rare experience for a New Englander, but thanks to Logee’s, it’s one that can that can be had all in one day. Many thanks to my fellow explorers this day, Joene Hendry from Joene’s Garden, Cindy Cromwell from Gardening Asylum, and Layanee DeMerchant from Ledge and Gardens. And a big thanks to the Logee’s Owner’s and staff! They were very gracious and knowledgeable.

If you find yourself in Connecticut’s quiet corner, are looking for an exciting day trip, or simply are a plant geek like me, you’ll enjoy a visit to Logee’s! For those of you too far to make the trek, you can find their offerings on their website.

Please enjoy this slideshow with many more pictures of our trip!

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Been to Logee’s, or know of another nursery, garden or garden center that would be perfect for “Great Plant Places!”? I’d love to hear about it, please leave a comment!