Trip planning to Lancaster County Nurseries

I see a few Mid-atlantic DG'ers are interested to make a trip to Lancaster County nurseries. Trying to include as many people as I can, how many would be interested to go on Saturday, April 26, say meet at the Shady Maple and hit some nurseries, then go back there for lunch & hit a few more before going home. These are Mennonite nurseries, the price & selection are GREAT and from what I understand, there are more nurseries I haven't even gone to in the area. Saturday April 26 is good because they will have received most of their plants, including tropicals. Please let me know who would be interested & I will post closer to the time. Thanks, Buttoneer

FYI: These nurseries are Amish or Mennonite-owned. Lots of great plants at low prices. I always find plants I can't get locally (I am from Carlisle, PA). The nurseries are relatively close together so you can hit two or three or maybe more, depending on time constraints. The highlight is that we will be having lunch at the Shady Maple Restaurant that has two 300-foot food bars with all homecooked Pa. Dutch cooking and the desserts are many & yummy. They even have desserts for those people with diabetes (sugar free cake, etc). Please let me know if there is any interest in this. End of April is a great time to stock up on plants for your garden, greenhouse, house, etc . Thanks. Buttoneer

Folks....I know that restrurant. Forget the flowers and just come for the restrurant experience.

If this tour materializes count me in on April 26th. I would consider this day just for the luncheon. Anyone between Williamsport and Carlisle could more than likely bum a free ride with me if they wish.

Dwaine docgipe

hmmmm, that sounds like fun....may even be a good day trip for the whole family
i have been needing to get back up that way to get an amish quilt for my son....i have one for each of my daughters


we used to live in martinsburg wv, but now are down in strasburg va....still not too far away

There are a few Mid-atlantic DG-ers interested so I put this thread in several forums. I do see this trip materializing.

Geese..........it is to early to project but hopefully my bride will be able to make the trip. I'll try to keep an eye on the developments here. I definately will make that trip save the unexpected defeating illness we all deal with from time to time.

Oh...........I wanted to ask. Have the Dutch greenhouses and garden centers come up to credit and debit card acceptance. If not we need to know that cash is or has been the way of life there as a matter of fact.

Buttoneer, the guy who works at one of the nurseries here, retired from owning his own nursery and just works part time, has told me about a place where he used to get some of his plants. Says they sell retail too but great plants and great prices. I can't remember the name, just that it was a funny name. Would it help if I asked him again for the name?

I'm thinking it was in Lancaster area or somewhere nearby.

After reading the earlier posts, I decided to do some research. I read on another garden forum about a sale a couple of years ago up there in PA, so I wrote to the Lancaster Co. Extension Office to inquire and thought I should share their reply. Here it is for those of you who might be interested.

Shirley: Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Master Gardener Annual Plant Sale. The date of the event is Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Farm and Home Center Auditorium, 1383 Arcadia Rd., Lancaster. The plant sale features: Prices from $2.00; Native and Drought-resistant Plants; Gardening Items for Sale; Soil Test Kits available; and Information Desk for Gardening Problems. Hope you are able to make this event.



Marilyn Jones

Lancaster Cooperative Extension

1383 Arcadia Road, Room 140

Lancaster, PA 17601

717-394-6851

717-394-3962 - FAX

mzj2@psu.edu

http://lancaster.extension.psu.edu/

Rob from robsplants.com is having his sale on the same day. I don't really know where this is but it's in PA. His sale looks wonderful. He had over 200 varieties last year.

http://www.robsplants.com/sale/

Rob is north towards Allentown, if I am thinking of the same person. I had planned to go last year for the first time, but in the end, I could not. He grows many things from seed and has a website. I will see if I can find it for you. He had many plants that were out of the ordinary.

hart: If you think of the name of nursery, I will be able to tell you how far it is from the luncheon point and also the directions to get there.

larlienda: There is at least one quilt shop in that area that I am familiar with and I am sure I can find you more, if you would need help with this.

I can try and put the nurseries on a map for you all, and get the addresses of them for you that may have navigaters in your vehicles.

Being from the area, if anyone any other special needs or wants that I can find out prior to the trip here.

Mother's Day weekend is the one that has the Landis Valley museum's Herb Faire. They have much more than herbs. That is the historical museum that Oprah Windfrey filmed her movie there, but I am sorry the name escapes me.

docgipe: Black Creek takes charge, and some nearer to me do too. I can't speak for all, but I would try and find that out for you as I find others.
RatherB

I know where Rob's website is. Where do you think I found the info on his sale this year? LOL

Ok, FYI this is a Lancaster County shopping trip only. We will not have enough time to hit Berks County. If we go to 2+ (we could hit 3 or 4) and have lunch, the whole day will be shot. I can personally tell you that May is THE month for plant sales in PA. Here's a link: http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/aboutus/plantsaleandevents.html
I can tell you that the Cumb. Co. Ext Office Sale is 1st Saturday in May. Also the Manada Hill Native Plant sale. The 2nd Saturday is the Hershey Garden Club Plant sale & it goes on & on, but I want to primarily hit the Mennonite nurseries in Lancaster County on April 26. If you guys & gals want plant sales, Google them & go in May because that is when they occur. I know, last May, I went to one every weekend. I was broke but happy & look at all the exercise I got planting them.

If you people know any Mennonite Nurseries I have not mentioned, by all means, please share the name & location & we'll see what we can do. I have a large list of nurseries & I can give everybody a copy or I can try to see if I can scan it & save it & email it to you all. Mrs Martins & Black Creek BOTH accept credit cards & unlike the typical Mennonite nursery that is open only from March 1 to June 30, these are open all summer until Dec 31.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2008 8:06 PM

Buttoneer, I would love to have your list!! Hubby and I have been talking about visiting the area for quite some time. We went to the Kitchen Kettle Village a fews year back. Are the nurseries near that area? Thanks. Did you want to post the list here or email it or what?
I could send you a SASE if you needed.
Shirley

Let me see if I can scan it & send it as an attachment. BRB

Ok, it's way too long. I would have to have you send an SASE. You can send it to Judy Showers, 1050 Cranes Gap Road, Carlisle, PA 17013 & I will make a photocopy & send it to you. That goes for anybody else who is interested.

You guys are talking about my neighborhoods! I absolutely love
Black Creek Nursery, right by Shady Maple. And there's a number
in the near area. Rob lives about an hour + away in Allentown. I
bought a bale of promix from him last year.

There are a number of good plant sales in May. Tylor Arboretum and
Morris Arboretum e.g.

Tam

Yes, In May. Don't try to suggest too many. Future trips. Never get it all in one day. Maybe someone should start another thread on future trips.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2008 9:14 PM

I can envision a wonderful day shopping the area around Lancaster County.
And Shady Maple does have a wonderful array of food. I love their roasts -
turkey, beef, pork etc. All kinds of great food. Yep. One day would easily
be filled shopping for plants in the area. :-)

Then, another trip on another thread, to other places (say Berks County, for instance) could be planned.

Thanks Buttoneer! I will mail out one tomorrow. I really do appreciate it.
Shirley

Very happy to help you out. I had a lady from Baltimore call me and send me a SASE for "the list." She wants to meet us there & go along.

Even though I am here in Lancaster, I will send an envelope to you too.

Not to get off the topic of the greenhouses again, but if anyone is a crafter (but also much to see for other items), the Flower and Craft Warehouse is right in Blue Ball behind the Fire Company on Rt 322. They have a very small greenhouse, but I think that they have some unique things for the garden.

Judy, if you have the list, that is great. I was going to try and put something together, but you have it all done. Whew!

If anyone was planning to stay the whole weekend, all the little greenhouses are closed on Sundays here. You would need to come on a Friday to Saturday. If you would do this, I could you other things that are local of interest for you. Just thinking of all of you coming a distance.

Personally, I am looking forward to seeing Mrs. Martin's as I have never been there myself.

Does this make everyone's life a little easier?
http://www.plantsourcedelval.org/?page=Search&county=Lancaster%20County

Hmmm, found this too on the Mid Atlantic Hardy Plant Society's webpage

Saturday, April 26, 9:30 a.m.
Lancaster County Nursery Tour - Tender Perennials SIG
Join us for this annual self-directed plant shopping tour of outstanding nurseries in Lancaster Co. We meet first at HPS member Marian Martin's nursery, then receive a detailed list of directions and a map to stops at exceptional nurseries in Lancaster Co. This tour is free and open to all HPS members, however, you must register to ensure your copy of the nursery list. RSVP to Christine vandePol, cjvandepol@comcast.net. Directions to Marian's will be sent to all registrants.

http://www.hardyplant.org/calendar/april.htm

Hart, the list you mentioned is the one I have. Same one. I forgot about the flower & craft warehouse but we can definitely top there because it is right there where we are going. Their nursery is small but they have some neat things. Last year, I bought a Fuschia plant and the leaves are red, yellow, orange & green. I wintered it over in my greenhouse & it is growing now, absolutely beautiful. The flower & plant warehouse is a large craft shope. It is worth your while to stop there, if you love crafts, artificial flowers, etc. Their gift shop on the 2nd floor is wonderful. I am no longer a member of the Mid Atlantic HPS because it was expensive to join & I never got to all their plant sales in the Delaware Valley. I did participate in their extensive seed exchange, though. We will probably run into them on our tour. I will try to get an updated list of nurseries. This is getting very exciting & I am really looking forward to it. If you have English trough gardens, and even if you don;'t, Marion Martin sells the troughs unplanted & also planted & the tiny alpines to put in them. I have two, one I made & one I bought & have neat little plants in them. Bring your cameras along. You will see Amish buggies, Mennonites on bicycles, and one time, I saw a Mennonite picnic & the men & boys & older adults were over by the barn & the picnic tables and the young ladies were sitting on the ground in a circle under pine trees & I was so enchanted by the pristine beauty of it. I tried taking pix but I didn't want to offend any of them. Let's all hope & pray it is a sunny day, but even if it isn't, umbrellas work & the plants love the rain. Bring a box along to put your plants in & by all means, bring your plastic money.

I admit to being new here. My question is am I reading about one or two different trips? This thread started out by Buttoneer seeking interest in what is described in her post again today March 8 at 8:50 AM.

Right above this is something that looks entirely different on the same day. This if different sure does add confusion because it is on the same day. One tour sounds like a group tour with Buttoneer with lunch together. The other looks like a self directed tour and lists other activities on other days. This sure raises questions in my mind. Will someone please sort this out and make a clear post as to what is going on. Whom to respond to . Costs and neccessary facts. I have positive interest in the original post by Buttoneer. My initial concept was to meet up with a group in the Carlisle area, move to and from two or three greenhouses and or garden centers and to have a luncheon Dutch Treat inroute. Has this concept grown into the self directed tour or what?

I posted the info on the other nursery sale because I thought you all would like to know there would be another group touring on the same day. I'm sure these nurseries are large enough that it won't make any difference but thought you'd like to know.

I posted the link to the nursery list because some people had asked Buttoneer to mail them a copy and I thought it would save her mailing.

In other words, just posted for information. No one has discussed any other tour other than the one Buttoneer is planning.

The brochure is a very good one clearly advertising for attendence....same day, same type of activity, same destinations. The bucks that went into the brochure purchased an excellent form of communication. You entered it into the thinking of all who took the time to open it. There in is where the confusion was created.
.........I spoke up. I wonder how many just remain silent...just did not understand and are now possibly getting this sorted out in their minds. As far as not mentioning another tour...........well you just did again as well as the brochure advertising does also. Perhaps it would be best to just let Buttoneer go ahead and organize her group with out further input to confuse the readership.

What?!!! Be glad to.

Yes, I agree. I suggested above that if anybody wanted to visit any other place, say in Berks County, another trip another day would be better. Allentown, Pa is too far from Lancaster to try to visit in one day. I spoke with Marian Martin & explained we would be there at the same time the other group would be there. Because of that, , we could meet at the Shady Maple, then to to Black Creek and then to Mrs. Martins and then to the Shady Maple for lunch or we could have lunch after Black Creek, then go to Mrs Martins, the Flower & Craft Warehouse & Nursery & anyplace else time permitting. That way, we would not be there at the same time as the HPS MAG group. I think meeting at the Shady Maple at 9:30 or 10:00 am should suffice. Any other suggestions, please let me know. Incidentally, I looked at Harts link & you have to be a member of the HPS MAG group to get that list but I already have the list & will make photocopies of it to hand out to everybody or with a SASE send it to them.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 10:03 AM

I think to stagger when we are at the various nurseries with the other group sounds very good planning, Buttoneer. It will make it easier for you all to shop.

If I can assist you in anyway, just let me know.

RatherB, Are you planing to go if your feeling up to it? I could make this date for the nursery tour. I really want to visit your garden, too. Maybe since I'm so close I could come down on another day to visit your garden?

Oh Holly, I was hoping you would join us. If you want to ride along with me, let me know. I have the van with plenty of room for plants. All I need now is money. Ha ha.

Buttoneer...now that is the harder part...LOL

Holly, I am going to plan on it. You are certainly most welcome to come that day or another. Let me know. I would be so excited to meet you and so many others that I know by name only. What a great bunch of people!

This sounds like fun!

I'm especially glad to get a contact number for Stauffer's of Kissel Hill... lost track of them when they closed a location that I used to go to occasionally with a friend... Hart, thanks for posting those links! There's lots of great info there about places we'd be going that day and more besides.

(RatherB, you just Dmailed me some info about SKH... which location is the Lititz one listed on the brochure? Is that the one near That Fish Place or the one north of Lancaster?)

The 24th is our 10th anniversary, so I'm not sure if a day of nursery hopping fits into DH's idea of a celebratory weekend, LOL... but with his work schedule lately, we may end up postponing some of the celebration and taking a trip the following month instead... we'll see what happens! :-)

Here is a link to the Shady Maple http://www.shady-maple.com/smorg.html
The entire basement is one HUGE gift shop with gifts from everywhere. You could spend an hour there, if you want to. I'm leaving it up to the group. I was thinking meeting at the Shady Maple at 9:30 am sharp in the Parking Lot to the left of the building, to allow people from areas further away to get there. If you D-mail me privately, I can give you my cell phone number & I can get yours so we can keep track of where everybody is on their way to the Smorgasbord. Directions here: http://www.shady-maple.com/directions.html. If these directions don't work from the direction you are coming from, let me know & I can get you there.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 7:39 PM

You're planning to back there for lunch, right?

I think gathering at the same place for lunch in the middle of the day is brilliant... gives everybody a chance to catch up and regroup, in case there were any stragglers between one nursery and another.

Absolutely, Critter. Never go to Lancaster County without stopping to refuel at Shady Maple. We will probably stop there for lunch after Black Creek & before Marian Martins. There are people selling homemade quilts all around route 322, there is a pretzel factory on 322, there are yard sales all over the place, and, of course, the nurseries. It is such a beautiful place to visit, farmlands all around with colorful Mennonites & Amish dodging the cars. Am really looking forward to this trip.

P.S Bring your camera. Thanks.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2008 7:41 PM

This message was edited Mar 10, 2008 3:06 PM