Nurseries Caroliniana Plant Sale and Talk

"Come help us celebrate our 36th Anniversary.
Lots of trees and shrubs are 25% off, so take advantage of the cooler weather and recent rains and start planting.
Sale runs through November 7th.

Please join us on Saturday November 7th at 10:30 AM to hear Ted Stephens speak on some of the new and unusual plants we are introducing. There will be a some rare new plants available for sale, for the avid collectors."

Here's the full scoop:
50% off Bengal Tiger Canna, Gardenias and Grace Hendrick Phillips Boxwood
25% off Aucuba, Abelia (some), Holly, Hydrangeas, Boxwood Winter Gem and Green Beauty, Tulip Poplar, some Japanese Maples, Osmanthus - orange, Blue Leaf Isu, Chinese Pistache, Cleyera, Crape Myrtles, Arborvitae, Bamboo Rivieriorum, Banana, Green Liriope, Maples - Chalkbark, Trident, Southern Sugar, Palms, Weeping Mulberries, Yucca, Knockout Roses.

Book Review: The Passion for Gardening

The Passion for Gardening by Ken Druse is not a must read but a mildly entertaining read. I may be doing it an injustice, following hot on the heals of The Brother Gardeners and Planthropology, but it did not have the appeal of either of those books and I was a little disappointed. At one point rather preachy, and generally rather wordy, I got the feeling "so what" after 30 or so pages. The photographs were good, but not as stunning as those in Planthropology by the same author.

Book Review: The Brother Gardeners

The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession by Andrea Wulf is a wonderful book. It tells the story of a group of men who changed the plant world and made England the center of horticulture in the 18th century. Starting with Thomas Fairchild and his nursery, the author then introduces us to Peter Collinson and John Bartram and their lifetime correspondence and exchange of plant material between England and North America. Also included is Philip Miller, the head gardener of the Chelsea Physic Garden and author of the Gardeners Dictionary which was the first book written for the average gardener and listed all the plants currently grown in England. Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who introduced the binomial nomenclature, Jospeh Banks and Daniel Solander come next. Banks and Solander were responsible for introducing new species from Australasia, as part of the Endeavour expedition. The history of these men and their interactions, and the details of the plants they introduced are fascinating.

Layman's Plant Sale

The prices had dropped this week - perennials mostly $2 each - and they are staying open for one more week - Wednesday to Saturday October 14 - 17.

Nursery Tour

Betsy and I went on a trip today - buying plants. First stop was at Gary's Nursery in Greensboro, GA. I got a cute dwarf holly (Ilex x 'Rock Garden'), a Juncus effusus 'Spiralis' for the wet area by the fountain and a very nice pot (on sale for 25% off). Gary's is a great place to visit - lots of plants and also accessories - pots, fountains, bird baths etc.

Next we went to Evergreen Nursery which is a wholesale nursery where I have bought a lot of perennials and groundcovers in the past, when doing business in North Carolina. This time we picked up Muhlenbergia capillaris, Liriope muscari 'Variegata' and Acorus gramineus 'Ogon'.

The final stop was Thyme after Thyme, where I purchased a Foxtail Fern (I had been looking for one all year) and Euphorbia x 'Blackbird'.