Established in '91 to introduce local gardeners to the less usual mainstream perennials, as well as having some of the more normal material for novice gardeners.
The motto is "Beyond the Usual", which describes not only the plant selection but also just about every darn thing around here. Part of the Unusual is that I won't sell a plant that I can't keep growing here. I'll also tell you how to grow anything I sell you.
It was initially set up for on-site sales, but being a bit off the beaten path and in bug territory, and given that our rural roads'o'potholes are such a joy to drive on, mail-order has become a logical extension — by evolution, not by initial design.
I believe in providing information with my plants, none of that buyer beware stuff. So I've researched them to the extent possible in my books (not exactly a huge library, though), and on the Internet where the books came up short. I then added my own observations. I present a fair bit of the result here on this site and also did so in my printed catalogue (since discontinued). A more detailed printout of everything in my database is provided to customers, about their plant purchases.
For newcomers, the nursery is situated in about a 1 acre partially-cleared corner of my almost 4 acres of wilderness, with one small neighboring property and surrounded on this side of the highway by about 1000 acres of woodlot (60% clear-cut in ‘94/95, more in progress from time to time but they say they're switching to selective logging), while across Highway 1 is the undeveloped end of the 2 square miles of the Uniacke Estate Museum property. So you will understand that there is lots of wildlife of all sorts, from plants to insects to frogs to deer. (Also many “wildflowers” trying to get their seeds into the nursery beds and pots, where they become weeds or bonuses, depending on your point of view.)
In addition to the wildlings, there was for several years a commercial bee hive on the property, well out of the way, but the residents were happily at work in my flower beds. They were actually a very docile hive even when being handled by their keeper, and have given no problem. The hives were in decline for awhile, which we believe was because of increased pesticide use as "lawn care" companies with a penchant for indiscriminate spraying attempting to move their commercial base out of reach of the HRM anti-pesticide bylaws by pursuing new business in other municipalities. Then following a year of improvement the remaining hive was killed by the winter of 03/04 (as were many others throughout NS). I hope to get another hive in a few years when the bee keeper builds up his numbers of hives again.
While the plants are fairly well organized here in the web catalogue, it's a different story at the nursery, where it's necessary to put them wherever there's room. Since the potted plants are spread out in small groups all over the place (believe it!), if you know some of the plants you want, please ask us. I have coded lists which should point me at the right group of pots to find what you want (but nothing’s perfect...) I’m going to try to organize all the grasses together. I hope (still hoping). Ferns and Hostas have now been gathered into separate groups. Apart from that the only organization theme will be most of the shade plants together in the wooded area, but some of them end up elsewhere too. I’ve finally gathered all the shrubs and trees into a single area at the edge of the woods.
Name tags of plants in my display beds are somewhat in disarray (still) and disappearance; I’ve finally decided how I want to deal with that problem and will be getting at it as time and funds permit. No progress yet...
Recycle Your Pots Here: I will happily re-use 1 gallon and larger pots, in good shape, that you bring with you. I am particularily in need of pots of the 3 to 5 gallon sizes, as I have a lot of peonies to pot and nothing smaller will do.
Special Order: I regret that I don't really have the resources to deal with special orders for plants that are not already in my stable.
Some Words About My Plants: As before I continue to seek out interesting material which is not readily or inexpensively available from other sources, and worthy plants that deserve to be tried in our climate. When I grow plants from seed I usually do not thin them out to individual plants (except with expensive seed). So when you buy a pot you get a small colony of the plants. This is especially useful with biennials, because some of them will be stunted by the faster-growing plants and will wait with flowering until they get some time in the sun, which will be a year or even 2 later.
While the adage “you get what you pay for” is certainly as true for plants as for other things, I strive to give you more than what you pay for by selling mainly overwintered mature plants in good soil at rather modest prices. You will see some pretty small, and sometimes even sad looking, things here but these are plants that are really meant for later sales or even next year or the year after, and have to be put somewhere while they grow on. Rather than be continually moving plants around even more than is already the case, I intermingle them with more sellable plants.
The Search for Better Labels: I think I've licked the problem of labels being shorter-lived than the plants they belong to, for the most part. At least until some intelligent folk decides to make a small change in the formula of the glue or material used, as has happened with more than one formerly good product in the past.
Of Wildflowers, Weeds, and Volunteers: Things have a habit of seeding into the pots despite the mulch I put in to help reduce the numbers (of course this happens at all nurseries). I usually try to pick out the obvious weeds from time to time but don’t always have the chance when its needed. I also don’t often get at deadheading the ornamental plants after they’ve flowered. So some of the “extra” plants growing in the pots are not weeds but are ornamentals from the next row over, called volunteers. These I will often leave in (and sometimes even give an extra label) unless they are in danger of overwhelming the intended inhabitant of the pot! Consider them a free bonus; the happiest of companions.
Most of the plants are now grown in pots, although some may spend some time in a nursery bed first. The standard pot here is 1 gallon: about 6” diameter x 7” high (and, yes, top-heavy!). Some plants are in 2 gallon (large) pots. Larger shrubs or treelings are in 5 gallon pots. The plants overwinter in their pots with no particular extra protection except for a berm of leaves around the outside of each pot group, and some shadecloth for a bit of protection from early sun.
Potting soil is a good mix of topsoil, sand, compost and bark in proportions which vary depending on the needs of the plants. This is heavier than the soil-less mixes used by many nurseries (especially mail-order) and doesn’t allow for as much top-growth while potted (leaves and stems are shorter and smaller) but the root growth is superior and the plants transplant much better because of the similarity to the soil they are being planted in. Chemical fertilizers are administered only in special cases, because I want to avoid forcing the plant to a size inappropriate for the rootmass and pot. I have also found that by avoiding chemical fertilizers, by using this soil mix and by treating the pots as I do, few require any irrigating even in dry summers. I allow the plants to go gradually and naturally into drought-induced semi-dormancy, which they recover from when water is again available: next rainstorm or on planting out. It has quite amazed me to see this happening.
Pricing: Prices are individually shown in the catalog. HST is not charged, due to the modest sales volume; this is within the rules. Here, a $5 plant is $5, not $4.99 + 13%. Payment on site: cash, or cheque. I am no longer able to take any credit cards, due to the ridiculous new fees levied by the providers of that "service".
Some Things You Can Find at the Website:
Plants are listed in alphabetical order by botanical name, because many have several common names and still others have no common name at all. In addition there is a separate listing for each of Grasses, Ferns, and Trees & Shrubs — these too are alphabetically by botanical name.
Common names are listed, though, so you can use your browser's Search or Find function to look for a common name on the page you're at. And similarily for botanical synonyms.
For each plant, the following information is usually presented, generally in the order below: General description (usually including geographic origins), then Cultivation recommendations (usually including native habitat), then a bit about the Foliage if it is noteworthy, then description of the Flower, and finally some suggested uses. Once you see how an aspect is phrased, you'll be able to search for that phrase. Please note the Uses are not all-inclusive, and especially with regard to ecological issues absence of recommendation does not mean the plant has no role; for example, a plant not showing Honey Bees or Hummingbirds as some uses does NOT mean that these critters don’t enjoy the plant, it only means that I haven’t myself seen them going after it and none of my books or internet sites I've checked have mentioned it either.
Mainly, the catalogue is short on a description of the visual impact of the plants and flowers; I just haven’t been able to force my brain in that direction yet!
If select plants specifically to attract butterflies (and even
if you don't), be kind to your butterflies. Remember the reason the butterflies
are attracted to your plants: they're either there for a quick meal or to lay
eggs on a specific type/ species of plant which will host their caterpillars.
So please don't go all squeamish when the caterpillars show up, and definitely
please don't go for the insecticide or declare war on them. They are there so
that you will have butterflies again in the next year or in a few years, depending
on the life-cycle. Host plants are usually quite capable of surviving even the
loss of all their leaves to the caterpillars, it is part of their role in the
eco-system. Bottom line, if you can't stand to see caterpillars on your plants,
it's best not deliberately to plant anything attractive to butterflies.
Detailed Cultural Data Provided for Each Plant Bought: I produce a printout from my database for every plant as it is sold whether it is described in the catalogue or not, as a significant part of the receipt. It includes almost all the data I have on the plant, and is more detailed than the catalogue entry, although perhaps not as grammatical! These printouts are built by gluing together computer phrases and boxes so although it might read like a bad translation sometimes, the info is all there. (Better than the assembly instructions for do-it-yourself kits, at any rate!)
The following are the Uses which are assigned to plants; you can use any of them as keywords when looking for selections. Note that Berries or Fruit does not necessarily imply edibility. Also I don't get into herbal or cuinary uses for plants; those are best left to herbalists and chefs. There are several sites on the web devoted to herbal uses of herbs which a good search engine should be able to find for you, using the botanical name.
Accent, Borders and Beds, Designs, Dry Walls, Edgings, Focus, in Shrubbery, Specimens, Foliage, Groundcover, Mass Planting, Cut Flowers, Dried Flowers, Decorative Seed Pods, House Plant, Hanging Baskets, Herb Gardens, Kitchen Herb, Alpine or Scree garden, Rock Gardens, Containers, Boggy areas, Ponds or Water Gardens, Waterside, Foundation plantings, Screen or Hedge or Windbreak, on a Wall or for Espalier, attracting Beneficial Insects, Butterflies and/or caterpillars, Honey Bees, Berries or Fruit, Hummingbirds, Songbirds, Erosion Control, Steep Banks, Wildflower, Naturalizing, Naturalizing Meadows, Naturalizing Woodlands.
There’s More at the Nursery Than You’ll Find on the Website: I have many varieties of plants in very small quantities which didn't get onto the list here. There are always small crops of seedlings coming along from last year’s plantings, or even this year’s, the availability of which I can’t even attempt to predict at this time. These are released without fanfare as they become large enough through the summer; I like to give newly potted plants about 6 weeks to get their roots under them, but I can allow them to be sold earlier for those preferring not to make another trip. A list of the “few only’s” should be available on request by e-mail. As usual most of my plants are my own seed-grown things, selected from some extensive and varied seed-lists. Often these are unfamiliar species well worth growing in our perennial beds. As always I continue to seek out and trial interesting plants that are not traditionally considered hardy here, with interesting results. For example, the peonies.
These are roughly in order of most to least useful and significant for me,
although some near the end of the list are better for limited specific purposes.
Data gleaned from these books is always modified or confirmed by my own observations
specific to this climate, although it sometimes takes several years of waiting
for conditions.
“Low Maintenance Perennials”; R.S.Hebb; 1975
“The Random House Book of Perennials, Vols. I and II”; R.Phillips
and M.Rix; 1991
“The Random House Book of Shrubs”; R.Phillips and M.Rix; 1989
“Gardening With Trees and Shrubs in Ontario, Quebec, and the Northeastern
US”; T.Cole; 1996
“Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Perennials”; E.Phillips
& C.C.Burrell; 1993
“Roland’s Flora of Nova Scotia”; rev. by M.Zinck; 1998
“The Simon and Schuster Pocket Guide to Garden Plants”; H. Johnson
& P. Miles; 1981
“A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs” (Peterson Field Guide Series);
G. A. Petrides; 2nd Edn, 1972
“Peonies”; A.Rogers; 1995
“The Genus Paeonia”; JJ Halda with JW Waddick; 2004
“Greer’s Guidebook to Available Rhododendrons”, 3rd edition;
H.E.Greer; 1996
“Ornamental Grasses and Grasslike Plants”; A.J. Oakes; 1990
University of Guelph “Course Notes for the Horticulturist I, II and III”
1992 revision
“Reader’s Digest Guide to Creative Gardening”; British Edn, 1984
“The Colour Dictionary of Garden Plants”; R. Hay & P.M. Synge;
Compact Edn, 1969
“The Perennial Encyclopedia”; J. Kilmer; 1989
“The Photographic Encyclopedia of Wildflowers”; T.Farino; 1991
“Atlantic Wildflowers”; D. Griffin;1984
“Spring Wildflowers”(NS Museum Field Guide Series); A.E. Roland &
A. R. Olson; 1993
“The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs, Their Medicinal and Culinary Uses”;
ed. S Bunney; 1984
“Ontario Weeds”; J.F.Alex; 1992
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