The other nursery we visited last Sunday was Magnolia Garden Center in Seattle. I had never been to this nursery and was quite excited to go. We needed the aid of the GPS unit to find the place since we don’t frequent the Magnolia area.
I was surprised to see the place as we drove up. We had just been at Swanson’s and Magnolia was such a change of pace. Much smaller and as we walked in we were greeted immediately. It was just a “good afternoon,” but still a greeting.
We did a little browsing and they had a nice selection of edibles. The layout of the nursery was rather confusing as there is nursery material on both sides of the nursery with the gift shop in the middle.
The gift shop portion of the store was nice with a friendly lady who greeted us and chatted with our son. We quickly browsed the nursery stock, but weren’t in the market for anything large so we mostly skipped that part. We made our way into the garden center shop and were greeted with the familiar smell of chemical fertilizers. This was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I do understand that it is the norm in nurseries. Once again the staff was friendly and that was rather refreshing.
On our way out I took one last browse around the annuals and perennials area. As I was looking I noticed a small hanging basket. The price on the basket was $49.99. I was shocked. The plant was barely cresting the edge of the pot. It has 1 small bloom on it. I hadn’t really been paying attention to the other prices in the store, but this one was enough to make me not want to return. I’ve never seen a nursery with such grossly over priced hanging baskets before.
Will I go back? Likely no. It may be nice if I lived in the area, but it isn’t something I would make a special trip to.
When we went to Seattle last Sunday we decided to have lunch at our favorite fast food joint (Dick’s). While there my husband mentioned something about there being a Sunday farmer’s market in Ballard. One of the nurseries we were going to visit was in that area and I do love a farmer’s market so why not stop.
As we entered the market I was ready to put my house up for sale and move to Ballard. My Swedish husband was not opposed to that idea. Don’t worry, we aren’t moving, but if I ever moved to Seattle I’d park my butt on Phinney Ridge and frequent the Ballard area.
The Ballard farmer’s market was amazing. There were plant vendors, vegetable vendors, meat, cheese and food vendors. Soaps, art… everything. If we lived in that area there we would need very little at the supermarket.
The best part about the market is that it is opened year round. There are very few markets in the area that are open in the winter.
We didn’t walk out with anything, but my husband tried to purchase a summer sausage from Skagit River Ranch. Sadly they were out. If we had more money I would have completed my weekly shopping there.
Will I go back? Heavens yes. I would go weekly if I could.
It is nursery season and once again I’m out an about. This year I have less time to get out to visit nurseries because I spend half of the weekend in one. You would also think that since I work in a nursery I would 1) have no need to go to other nurseries or 2) would be so sick of them that I wouldn’t want to go. On the contrary.
The nursery I work in is small and although we can order just about everything it is fun to go to other nurseries. I also love to garden. We are talking looove. It is what I do. Hell, I visit the nursery I work in on my days off.
This week you’ll hear about two nurseries we visited over the weekend. Both were in Seattle and very different from each other.
The first is Swanson’s Nursery. This ranks right up there with Molbak’s in size. Not quite that large, but enough to get lost in. I’ve never had the opportunity to spend more than an hour in Swanson’s simply because by the time we get up to Seattle, have lunch and get to the nursery I’m already tired. Today was not different. The fact that it was cold didn’t help either.
Like I mentioned, Swanson’s is huge. They have a lovely little cafe, many indoor shopping areas and it seems that every time I visit there is a new structure that has been built over the winter. Their selection of plant material is vast and this trip we focused on tomato plants, herbs and veggies. They had at least 15 different kinds of oregano alone. It was a little much.
Overall, I love Swanson’s. It is something out of the ordinary since none of the nurseries in the Tacoma area are quite that large. It is closer to us than Molbak’s and in a part of Seattle that I love visiting anyway. The nursery is clean and the quality of the plant material is top notch.
Like every nursery there are a few drawbacks. Their prices are a little high for my taste. They charge $3.99 on average for a 4″ plant and most perennials are more than that. Their 3″ tomatoes were 3 for $12 and gallons were $6 each. Heirloom or not. That is too high, so I stuck with the 4″.
The other think I don’t care for at Swanson’s is their customer service. It seems rather impersonal to me. While the store was rather busy when we were there we were not greeted by a single employee and the cashier was not warm and friendly. This is the trouble with the larger nurseries.
Will I go back? Of course. It is a fun trip up north and worth it. However, next time I go I will go on a warm day and plan to go when I can spend a good amount of time (and have some money).
Last weekend my husband and I returned to Windmill Gardens for their annual Salsa Festival. It was killing me to have to wait to purchase my tomato plants. I nearly broke down and loaded my wagon full of them at the Farmer’s Market last week. I was good and mustered my patience. It is true that sometimes patience is worth the wait.
We arrived at the nursery fairly early (10:00 ish) and it’s a good thing we did. When we arrived the nursery was fairly quiet. We beelined for the tomato section and were greeted with a plethora of plants to select from. Sizes ranged from 4″ to gallons and prices from $1.99-$3.99. The $3.99 was for the gallon size. I was stunned. That is the best price we’ve seen on heirloom tomato plants in a very long time. I came armed with an idea of what I wanted to purchase. Ok, it was more of a number of plants. If I didn’t have that in mind I would have gone overboard causing me to have to build more raised beds (oh darn). I was a good girl and stuck to the plan. My husband, on the other hand, had free reign.
Like my son, I try to get my husband involved in vegetable gardening. He loves seeing the fruits of my labor, but I often have to cajole him into assisting me with prepping, planting and care. However, he recently read a few books by Michael Pollan that had changed him into a bit of a local food nut. I could think of worse things. He also understands that the food we grow ourselves tastes so much better. This year I tasked him with peppers. He loves a good pepper and Windmill Garden had a selection to rival all other nurseries. I didn’t give him a limit on how many he could purchase. I said, ” have at it, I’ll make room.” Have at it he did.
We walked away from the nursery with 7 tomato plants, 6 pepper plants, 2 Thai Basil and 2 Mexican Orange. Here’s what we got for tomatoes and peppers:
Tomatoes
Paul Robeson
Purple Calabash
Azoychka
Juane Flame
Mortgage Lifter
Pink Girl
Snow White
(we also had Black Russian, Brandywine & Cherokee Purple on hand)
Peppers
Bulgarian Carrot
Corno di Toro
Golden Bell
Long Red Slim Cayenne
Mohawk
Purple Bell
(the hot peppers are Heirloom, the sweet ones are not)
I was leery of planting them outside. Our nights have been quite cool and on the nights I’ve left my greenhouse door open my fuchsia has shown signs of some cold damage. I didn’t want to risk it. Finally, this week the weather has warmed up enough that I felt it was time to put the plants in. Yesterday afternoon I tilled the old tomato bed and started planting. The few extra days in the greenhouse really helped. Most of the plants I put in already have flowers. I’m just hoping that the temperatures stay warm at night so the flowers don’t drop. We had a terrible early spring last year and tomatoes didn’t come until mid-late summer. With any luck things will be better this year.
Today has been marked on my calender as a special occasion for months. Today the Downtown Tacoma Farmer’s Market opened. Last year my son and I made it a weekly excursion. We would ride the “train,” wander through the market, pick up lunch and mini donuts and head home. By mid season my arms would get tired from carrying my basket it was so heavy with treasures I would find.
Our market isn’t the biggest in the world, but it is growing. When we lived in downtown Tacoma it was a seldom visited little market with more craft vendors than actual produce. Today it is over flowing with the bounty of spring. Sure there are a few handmade goods to be found, but there is more food.
When I told my son that today was market day is first response was, “can we get some fish?” He is referring to Rolf’s Smoked Salmon. We indulged and purchased a package that will likely be consumed mostly by me (only because I hoard it).
In addition to our fish we picked up a few herbs (including 2 cinnamon basil plants), Walla Walla Sweet spring onions, asparagus, 2 kinds of cheese (from 2 different vendors), baby lettuce and a bowl of West African Peanut Soup (for my lunch). My son opted to not have lunch at the market, but was sad when I didn’t get him soup. Next week baby.
I was quite excited to see the variety in the produce available. There were more plant vendors than usual and the choices in prepared foods has grown as well. My favorite Indian place (Gateway to India) even has a booth.
To make life easier we were gifted a beautiful new wagon over the winter. This will make hauling my produce from the market to the car much easier. I apologize if I run over any toes.
Mother Nature has been very accommodating, using her maternal senses to water my flourishing garden. Yay!
The recommendation of planting in square foot gardening, two to three seeds per hole is the only thing I’ve found that wasn’t deemed necessary. Buying seeds from a reputable nursery seems to be the key component to successful gardening. Purchasing in previous years from a grocery store rack, I can truly attest to the importance of where you buy your seeds.
My wonderful husband put up the copper poles and netting as my beans and peas have fully awakened. It is with great anticipation I wait for the first harvesting. Of course I might be jumping ahead of myself… the battle of bugs and critters has yet to unfold, but most certainly a war will rage. One of the prices of living in the country.
I’d like to add that my nursery tours with Lisa have been delightful. We have walked quite a few, each offering something different. As far as favorites? All rated high on the scale, but any mother will attest that a day with there daughter is magic in itself! Now I’ve got some planting to do…
Mother’s Day is the time of year that you will find most local nurseries fully stocked with plant material. I always dreaded Mother’s Day weekend when I worked in the nurseries. It was our busiest weekend, we were often sold out of the most popular items (Pink Dogwoods) and people were cranky. Despite the 300 hanging baskets we had to select from none of them were good enough for people’s moms. It is like working in a flower shop on Valentine’s Day. Since I no longer work in a nursery and I am a mother I like the day a little more. I also take a little more pride in finding gifts for my mom and mother-in-law. However, in recent years I’ve joined the masses and started buying hanging baskets for them. This year my MIL did not get a hanging basket as her son was in charge of finding her gift. I had grand plans for my mother. I was going to take her to a nursery that has some of the most beautiful hanging baskets in the area, let her pick one out and call it good. We like to visit nurseries together so it seemed like a great opportunity.
The nursery I selected was Windmill Gardens in Sumner, WA. I’ve visited this nursery a few times, but always in the off season. That is no way to experience a nursery for the first time. The best way to see what a nursery is like the first time is to visit them during the height of the season, between Mother’s Day weekend and Memorial Day weekend. We hit the nail on the head by visiting yesterday afternoon.
We arrived at lunchtime and since we were toting a 4 year old along with us, as we often are, we needed to feed him, and me. It just so happens that Windmill Gardens is also home to Windmill Bistro. Handy. I looked up their menu online before deciding to eat there. I wanted to make sure we weren’t getting ourselves into something that would turn out badly (poor food, nothing for the 4 year old or very expensive). Much to my delight everything was reasonable. It was the lunch rush when we got to the nursery and the restaurant was full with a 20-30 minute wait. It just so happened that it was full of retirees and those that were waiting were complaining about the wait. My response was, “well there’s a whole nursery to look at while you wait.” They didn’t like that very much.
We put our name on the list and took the opportunity to look around the garden and a small part of the nursery. We returned to have our lunch and I was quite impressed. They had a children’s menu for my son and a nice selection of dishes to choose from. I found a nice salad, mom had a sandwich. My son’s fish and chips was just the right amount for a child. Well done Windmill Bistro.
After lunch we returned to the nursery and stopped at The Tea Madame tea shop where I could have spent a small fortune. I would have browsed a little longer had it not been for that pesky 4 year old.
The rumors were correct about Windmill boasting some of the most beautiful hanging baskets in the area. They grown their own and that is often a sure sign of good quality. Along with the high quality baskets came a high price. The least expensive basket was $44.99. That actually isn’t a bad price considering the size. The most expensive I found was a $149 moss basket. It was so large it would have ripped the hook right out of the soffits of my house.
Their selection of perennials was outstanding. Several varieties of each item and some unusual ones to boot. Shrubs were plentiful and the rain kept me away from inspecting their tree stock. Always a favorite past-time of mine.
Prices were very reasonable (given the exception of the hanging baskets). However, I did find a 1 gallon Oriental Poppy marked at $29.99. My belief is that it was either mis-marked or it was a rare variety. I was unfamiliar with that particular poppy, but I do have a very old and rare Korean Poppy in my garden that would warrant such a price if it were still sold in stores.
I was also impressed at their selection of heirloom tomatoes. The weekend of the 23-24th they are having a salsa fest where they will put out more varieties of rare and heirloom tomatoes, but I was able to pick up 3 plants on my list. My little treasures cost me a total of $9.
The nursery was spotless, the staff was friendly and overall we had a great experience. The nursery is located out in Sumner so it is a little too far for me to drive out there on a regular basis, but it makes for a fun afternoon outing. Despite the fact that my mom did not walk away with her Mother’s Day gift we had a lovely visit.
I apologize for the lack of handy information this website was created to give. It seems as if a plague has been ravaging my house faster than the creeping buttercup is taking over my side yard despite its (almost) daily mowing.
Last week (while I was still somewhat coherent) my son and I took a trip across the Narrows Bridge to visit a well known nursery, Peninsula Gardens.
I first visited Peninsula when I worked at Boulevard Nursery. A co-worker and I went with the then Boulevard Nursery owners to a WSNLA meeting. The Peninsula owners were very gracious and gave us a lovely tour of their facility. We learned a little of the background history of the nursery and the building (much of which I now forget). What I do remember is their vast selection of indoor plants. They rival Watson’s on their selection of indoor tropicals.
Since that encounter with Peninsula I’ve been back a few times. Not many, but a few. The main reason for my lack of exposure is because of the bridge. First, there was that whole building the new bridge thing. Traffic to the peninsula was terrible and I hate traffic. Now that the new bridge is operational getting across is not problem. However, I have a horrible fear of suspension bridges and both the old and the new are just that. I can count on one hand the number of times I have personally driven across the Narrows.
Last week I was on a mission to find a tool that I was sure Peninsula had. I loaded up my child and faced my fear. Besides, it was a lovely day and we needed something to do outdoors. As always, Peninsula was immaculate. Their displays, indoors and out, are stunning. They take great pride in the quality of their plant material and how that is showcased to the customers. I appreciate that. It used to be my job after all.
While there I picked up a few fuchsia starts, a new dahlia tuber and a gorgeous Fantastica Rhododendron (to replace my former one that died from neglect). My son and I strolled through their limited selection of nursery stock and this is where my magical Peninsula experience started to go downhill.
I have worked in the nursery industry for 10 years now. Granted, most of that time was in the local independent nursery of the smaller sort, but they were nurseries nonetheless. I have never seen a nursery as high priced on their nursery stock as Peninsula. They were selling, what appeared to be last year’s potted up, Dogwoods for upwards of $150. I was shocked. Upon further inspection, the large majority of their tree stock was similarly high priced. I understand that the economy is in turmoil and businesses are trying their best to turn a profit, but by gouging the heck out of customers? It doesn’t seem to be a prudent business move.
In addition the the outrageously priced items I found, I encountered cold customer service. When I checked out the ladies were not warm and friendly like in other nurseries. They seemed more interested in the job that they had to do (setting displays) rather than talking with (one of their only) customers.
I have to say despite these circumstances, I still walked away with a few plants for my collection. I will go back, but with serious doubt. I think Peninsula can do much better than this.
Our local community hosts a variety of Farmer’s Markets. The most popular being the one in downtown Tacoma on Thursdays. Unfortunately the Thursday market doesn’t start until late May making it nearly impossible for us to get some of the yummy early produce that is so prolific in Washington State. The really good Rhubarb comes from my Grandmother’s garden (and on tiny little crop from my own). Local Asparagus can be found at our vegetable store, but you often pay a bit of a premium for it. I have to wait until May for delicious salad greens, fresh snap peas and a host of other tasty treats that either grow in my own garden or that are available at the market.
This year is a little different. The fine folks at Proctor Farmers Market decided that it would be beneficial to close the market late last year and open it a little early this year. Or so it seems to me. Proctor (or N. 27th Street actually) opened it’s doors a few weeks ago to the tune of rave reviews. Last year we visited the market on opening day and were sorely disappointed. Not this year. It took us a few weeks to find the time to make it down to the market, but wow, were we surprised. This year we saw an increase of vendors selling none other than… food. We aren’t talking just prepared food (although there are more of those and that’s great for that after hockey practice lunch). We mean produce; meat, veg and cheese. In our (reuseable canvas) bag we brought home breakfast sausage links and ground beef from Cheryl the Pig Lady, fingerling potatoes and a wonderful little cookbook from Leftfoot Organics, Valley Girl Tomme from River Valley Cheese and asparagus from a vendor that I cannot recall the name of.
The asparagus was on the menu for that night’s dinner. The cheese topped my husband’s salad the next day for lunch and the rest… well it will we made into fine lunches and dinners for my family.
I have to say I was so impressed with the Proctor Market. It is a great family activity for a Saturday morning or early afternoon and best of all, I got to shake the hand of those who fed me. Doesn’t get better than that.
Spring rolled into the Northwest on Friday a nasty rainy mess. It was as winter had a tight grip on its dominance and was reluctant to give up. Although, the people on the Kitsap Peninsula are probably saying, “what is this Spring you speak of?” Winter relented (somewhat) for the weekend allowing me to get a few things done.
First and foremost, I squeezed in the Tacoma Rose Society Plant Sale. The Rose Society works in conjunction with Metro Parks to tend the rose garden at Pt. Defiance park. If you’ve never visited the garden I highly suggest that you take a moment and do so. Just don’t do it this afternoon. Unless you like looking at thorny twigs. I suggest sometime in the summer.
This is the first year I’ve attended the sale and I was rather impressed. It is not a gigantic plant sale by any means. However, if you want some beautiful roses $8.00 a piece will get you quite far. I have a tough enough time managing the ones I have so I admired their shapes and skipped straight to the buckets of perennials. So many perennials need to be divided and what in the world do you do with all of those divisions? If you are me you let them rot in your garage and then cry when you have to compost oodles of Dahlias. If you are the Rose Society you sell them. And on the cheap. Most things were selling for $5 or $10. Good sized divisions that really can be divided yet again. While I was waffling about how I wanted to spend my allotted $20 the nice lady informed me that everything was 1/2 off… wait? did she just say these huge divisions are now $2.50. Damn! I brought the Bug and not the truck. Needless to say I walked out with only $15 worth of plants. But for that $15 I purchased 2 Hosta, 2 Red Hardy Lobelia (which I later divided 1 of), 1 Bergenia and 1 Daylily (of an unknown color, my luck it will be orange). Not bad.
I sweet talked my husband into helping me plant my treasure Sunday afternoon. In addition to the planting I dug up both of my Sword Ferns and transplanted them to new locations. I divided one of the ferns, planted most of my new plants (including a double Hellebore and 2 Primroses) and now my shade garden is nearing completion. It was a lovely feeling.
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In bloom this week: Heath, Tete a Tete daffodils (and a few other varieties), Pussy Willow, Snowdrop, Forsythia, Christmas Cheer Rhododendron, a blue flower that I forgot the name of, Primroses and Pansies.
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