Garden Gate Plant Shop
by Alda Krinsman, Plant Shop Manager
Alda Krinsman, Garden Gate Plant Shop Manager. Photo Credit: Fred Blott.
The Garden Gate Plant Shop opened for in-person shopping this spring on Saturday, April 16th.
Our hours this year will be 9:30 to 3:00 Monday through Saturday and 12:00 to 3:00 on Sunday. Because the Plant Shop will be open 7 days a week, we will no longer be offering phone-in/curbside sales nor will we be posting our current inventory online weekly; however, you are always welcome to call us if you have a question regarding a certain plant.
As in past years, our early spring inventory will include a nice selection of camellias from our grower in North Carolina, Cam Too Camellia Nursery. We will have a selection of early spring-blooming varieties as well as late fall/winter-blooming varieties. We will also have some peach and pink-colored flowering quince (Chaenomeles) and a nice selection of spring-blooming plants, including woodland phlox (Phlox stolonifera and Phlox divaricata), foam flower (Tiarella), Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginiana), woodland poppy (Stylophorumdiphyllum), columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), crested iris (Iris cristata), and wild geranium (Geranium maculatum). As spring progresses, we will be adding more plants to our inventory including several coral bells (Heuchera) species, wild ginger (Asarum canadense), Baptisia, and great ground covers such as golden ragwort (Packera aurea) and green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum).
For a short time, we will offer a selection of kales, lettuces, beets, chard, and Calendula, all of which are not only ornamental in spring containers and gardens but also edible! In late spring we will also offer a selection of culinary herbs and in mid-to-late May a selection of warm weather herbs such as basil, and a small selection of tomatoes that are suitable for growing in containers on balconies and patios.
As spring moves into summer, we will have a large selection of perennials to choose from, including mountain mints (Pycnanthemum), bee balms (Monarda), swamp milkweed (Asclepiasincarnata), and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). We will also offer a diverse selection of shrubs ranging in sizes from young shrubs in quart-size containers to larger shrubs in two- and three-gallon containers. As always, we will have a good selection of hydrangea, both smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) and oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), and other flowering shrubs such as Viburnums, Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica), and sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia). We still have a small selection of witch hazels (Hamamelis)-call us if you are looking for a particular specimen-and we expect to be able to offer more for sale in the fall.
Happy spring and happy gardening. Here’s to a great growing season!
Garden Gate Plant Shop. Photo by Laura Strecker c.2022
