Brown Booger days are HERE!!! :-)

Hi Kylee
You aren't all that far yourself - get on I-90 and head east - you're probably 2.5 hours? Not sure. They are in Madison up on the lake. There is nursery after nursery after nursery up that way in Madison and Perry - its worth a day to go drive around. I think Lake County Growers Assoc has like 400 members.
Let me know if you're going by and I'll go along with you.

Lowe's...hmm. there is a Lowe's Garden Center thats family owned on Rte 306 / Chillicothe Rd - either a Chesterland or Chagrin Falls address. I really don't know how much they grow themselves. The Griff family owns it - Jeff Griff is the son who is running it right now. I like to buy annuals at Auburn Pointe Greenhouse as Louise Reiling grows everything herself and always has interesting things. She has great colors of Lisianthus etc. Other than that I hope somebody slaps me silly if I buy anything more this year than what I've already Wintersowed. In the last 2 yrs I've planted 2 Cornus Florida, 2 Washington Hawthorn, 1 Kohlreuteria, 2 dk red crabapples, 1 Paw Paw, 2 viburnum Blue Muffin, 1 kolkwitzia, 3 clethra, 3 itea, 2 Kalmia Sarah, 1 Kalmia Olympic Fire, 3 clematis, 4 buddleia, 1 pink Pieris Valley Valentine, 1 witchhazel Jelena, 1 magnolia Jane, 1 Heptacodium miconoides, 1 Rhus, 2 very large River Birch, rescued a wild Mapleleaf Viburnum and rehabbed it, 2 Tree Peonies, 3 Hypericum Albury Purple, 1 Fothergilla Mt Airy, 1 Sambucus Black Beauty, 5 Blue Princess Holly, 3 Buxus Green Mountain, 2 Buxus Vardar Valley, 3 Caryopteris, 1 Leptodermis, 3 flowering Quince - 2 Jet Trail and 1 Cameo, a white pine, 1 Rhododendron Purple Gem, 1 Rhodo Nova Zembla, Forsythia Fiesta, and a lot of bulbs and perennials I couldn't keep my hands off. And thats just what I can remember doing. Most of these things were quite small to start with but thats half the fun - growing it. My husband came out one day last year and said - do you keep buying things or are you just moving things around? I thought it best to laugh and suggest we eat lunch.

So this year... I'm not doing anything else - I've got some oriental and asiatic lilies to get in the ground, and all my WS containers and that is IT! Except for seed potatoes and whatever other veggies we decide to buy.

But I'm always up for a trip to Bluestone ! Its fun to walk thru the greenhouses and look at all those plants - and they are a lot less expensive in person than on the net. Last year after June the perennials were $1.50 and shrubs and hellebores were $4. They have a giant sale in June every year - I've never been to it but I think they knock like 75% off their prices. Its a big deal I've heard.
And there are also things that aren't in their catalog. So does it sound like I'm recommending it for a day outing? I hope you get to go. But if not you should try going the other direction up to 2 places I'd love to visit in MI - one is Old House Gardens - heirloom bulbs and the other is Arrowhead Alpines. I could just get lost in both of those catalogs. But.... of course I'm not interested in buying anything...

That's the Lowe's I'm talking about. Chagrin Falls. They were at the Cleveland Flower Show and that's where I got my passion flower that has done so well for me. They had such nice things. And yeah, I know they have so many nice nurseries up that way. Lake Erie just tempers the climate so nicely for growing things. Sounds like I DO need to make a trip up there! My mom would probably love to do that, too. I'll talk to her and I'll let you know if we decide to do that, so you can go, too! :-)

Kylee

I'm so envious - living close enough to Bluestone to visit? That would be a wonderful vacation for me - too bad that for the rest of my family it's a huge yawner!! I'm drooling - have fun for me, too - Dax

I would be in trouble, because I would run out of space.

I'll hook up the trailer....

Well, I have instructions from my mama to plan the Ohio Nursery Tour 2006. LOL.

The perfect cross country trip see the USA nursery by nursery. I wonder how long that would take.

How many of you remember the song "See the USA by Chevrolet"?

I do! Actually, I think it was "See the USA, in your Chevrolet."

oohhhhhkkkkkk
I know I'm gonna regret this - but lets do it! Just please please don't let me buy anything.
If you're coming over this way we have to go Homestead - the Ruh's hosta farm in Gates Mills, and then up to Bluestone and maybe MacKenzie's wholesale nursery supplies for 50lb bags of Osmocote for $65. There are tons of small tree and shrub growers up that way we can look up. There is a guy who grows all kinds of rare Japanese maples and conifers - he is a wacko character but has great plants - I got my Pieris Valley Valentine from him.

Actually now that I think of it why don't you come over for the Northern Ohio Perennial Society's private tour of Bluestone by the Boonstra family themselves. They are taking the group through the greenhouses and talking about their business. Plenty of time for shopping I'm sure. Its on May 20. If you want to come I have already checked and NOPS is glad to have guests join the group that day - they are hoping to add to their membership through this kind of event. They are meeting there at 10 am. We could take our own car or even meet there if that's better. http://www.nopsweb.homestead.com/ here's their link. We can talk.

NOPS meets at the Cleveland Botanical Garden and does private home tours in summer and educational programs in winter - that seems to be the basic schedule. There are some fairly experienced gardeners in the group. Bobbie Schwartz had several pics of her perennial combinations in Fine Gardening and Richard Huff I think is President of the US or maybe its the International Clematis Society. You should see his clematis collection.

kbaumle, you're right thanks for the correction. I can't go though. I have a Toyota.

alyrics sounds like you have your bags packed.

LOL @ zenpotter!

No bags this year, I am burned out on plantaholism due to over indulgence in the past and this years successful WS. But I'd be very pleased to do a bit of hostessing if someone wants to come to the Bluestone tour. I've enjoyed the DG friends I've made. And I've thought about a hedge of clethra in the woods to block the view of my woodpile when the leaves are down.

While you guys are shopping, you may want to stop at Middle Ridge Gardens, just down the street (west) from Bluestone. Very nice annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, and people. Okay, the people aren't for sale, but they'll help you. You could also catch Bremec's Greenhouses down the road (north) from Lowe's. In fact, I could keep adding nurseries to your list and you'd be stuck in Lake County for quite a long while.

Also keep in mind the big Bluestone sale usually starts the first Thursday in June. People line up for it to open every year. I usually go in the afternoon on that Thursday and the crowds aren't too bad, but I also don't mind if a few things are sold out.