Favorite Nurseries

The winter is when I look through all the nursery catalogs that come in the mail, read gardening books for inspiration, and make my lists of plants I want to purchase. Thus far I haven't ordered many plants by mail (bulbs being a notable exception). I like to visit nurseries in person in order to see the actual plants to make sure I actually like them, pick the healthiest ones, save on shipping costs, and have the opportunity to talk to nursery staff. Here are my favorite nurseries:

Perennials: The Flower Factory
This nursery has reasonable prices and an amazing selection of herbaceous perennials. In fact, that's all they sell. It's a quick drive down Hwy 14 from Madison. Their catalog is very organized (though it has no pictures), as are their plants.

Dwarf conifers and other interesting trees: Stonewall Nursery
This nursery is just past the turnoff to Flower Factory. It's a little hard to find anything or know what they have, but if you're just looking for something interesting, it's a wonderful place to browse and the owner is highly knowledgeable.

Annuals: Klein's
Located at the intersection of East Wash and Stoughton Rd, it's a bit of a hike from my house. But I go there at least once a year to buy many of my annuals. They have a wonderful selection of coleus, lantana, alyssum, snap dragons, and other annuals. They also have a decent selection of common shrubs, with a list posted on their website. I think their perennials are pricey and nothing special.

Bare root trees: Jung Garden Center
I get very excited when Jung's bare root room opens in about late March. I've been known to make an impulse fruit tree purchase here. I make my list from looking at their colorful catalog, though the garden center doesn't always get everything that the catalog lists. If you go and they're out of the tree you wanted, come back at a later date to check again because they do restock to some extent.

Seeds: Jung Garden Center
Go early to make sure they don't sell out of something you really wanted. I also buy a fair number of seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. You can either order from them by mail or buy from nurseries that sell them, such as Bruce Company. They also have a store at their farm in Iowa.

Bulbs: Brent & Becky's
I buy just about all my bulbs from this mail-order catalog. They do have a store and beautiful show gardens, but it's in Virginia so I probably won't ever make it there. You get a discount if you order early (by about July for fall-planted bulbs and by about March for spring-planted) and let them charge your credit card at the time of ordering. Daffodils are their first love and Brent wrote a lovely book about them.

Vegetable seedlings: The Dane County Farmers Market
I start most of our tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants under grow lights in our basement now, but before I did this we bought most of our vegetable seedlings from various farmers market vendors. You can find interesting heirloom varieties there that a nursery like Jung doesn't carry. And you're supporting local farmers.

The Last Flower Standing

Each year I look forward to the very last perennial that blooms in my yard: Chrysanthemum rubellum 'Venus'. It doesn't bloom until October and then stays in bloom until after frost. It starts out light pink and then gets darker as it ages. It responds well to cutting it back by a third in June (though that probably makes it bloom even a little later). It is a slowly-spreading clump that gets about 24" tall.

This year we've really only had one light frost and it's already mid-November. My zinnias are still alive and while the dahlias weren't quite dead, today I finally pulled them because the blooms didn't look great anymore. There's certainly more fall cleanup I can do, but for one thing I have a baby whose naps are of unpredictable length and for another, my compost bin is already overflowing. :)