Piccadilly Farm

March 4 & 5,2011 10am to 4pm- Hellebore Days at Piccadilly Farm! ALSO...here is the new offical website: //www.sites.google.com/site/piccadillyfarm/

Posted on May 8, 2008, updated January 22, 2011 Picadilly is one of my two favorite nurseries in "metro" Atlanta, both of which are always worth the trip outside the perimeter and then some. Sam and Carleen's plants have never failed me. They sell area appropriate material, all tested and proven in their gardens. You can get lots of bargains on fabulous trees, shrubs, especially rare conifers and dwarf trees, things you'd be lucky to find anywhere locally or be willing to spring for inside the perimeter. It's a must for hellebore fans, rhodea fans, and there are always plenty of hostas and ferns available too. Picadilly has even now posted prices of the competition to show what regulars have always known. The grounds are beautiful, and you're welcome to walk them too. Lots of expertise is available, all served with passion that gardeners adore. Why haven't you gone yet? I'd be there once a week if I lived closer.

Well worth the drive if you live in the area (or even within a few hours drive). Unfortunately they don't have a website but than as Sam says, he'd always be at the computer instead of in the garden. You're supposed to hire somebody else to run the internet business, Sam (a true southern gentleman who only sells plants that "do well in the piedmont"). Everything I ever brought from him is still alive and thriving. If you catch him on a good day you might even get a tour of the property. Piccadilly has a pleasantly uncommon variety of plants and pleasantly good prices on flats of hellebores and rhodea.

Shipment of 25 hellebores arrived on time, all plants had great root systems and are healthy. I have also made the trip to Piccadilly Farm -- while it's about 90 minutes from Marietta, GA (home), it is well worth the time. Many unusual selections, great prices, great folks! Both mail order and purchased plants bloomed first season after planting.

In addition to Hellebores - which are fabulous the early part of March - Piccadilly has a marvelous conifer display garden. Some conifers can be tricky in our hot, humid south, so Piccadilly limits its sales to plants that are suitable - and the garden is proof of it. They also stock some great natives and unusual woody plants. Prices may seem high when compared with average garden center prices, but they are actually very reasonable when compared to the same cultivar in other catalogues - in other words if you want a leyland cypruss - don't make the trip - if you want an Arizona Cypruss "Blue Smoke" or Pinus Strobus Wolfani or a .... - you get the idea.

Piccadilly is a real treat. Most of their plants are home grown. The nursery is really just a house in the country where they sell plants in the spring and fall. They have a terrifc walk through garden making it a fun visit even if you don't buy anything. While most of their plants are good quality / slightly high price, you can get some good deals. Last spring, during "Hellebore Days", I picked up one of their flats of 25 hellebores for $75. The downside of this deal is that you don't know the variety, but all of them have done great and I now have what should be a great shady / late winter garden area. They have cross-bred some of their own hellebore varieties which you may see being sold at other nurseries. (For instance, Plant Delights nursery in North Carolina offers a bear claw hellebore dubbed "Piccadilly".) Piccadilly does sell a few things that you don't see at your average local garden store. It's quite a drive for me, over an hour, but I will probably try to go there again this spring.