I’m a planner. I love pouring over gardening catalogs all winter long dreaming up raised garden bed plans, flowering combos, hardy perennials and edible shrubs. While I implement many of these plans, my black thumb and sandy soil cancels out many of my efforts. This annual kill-off provides the perfect opportunity to frequent some of my favorite Greenhouses each spring.
Some of my favorites include shopping for succulents at Big Brook Greenhouse in Cable. Each year I lovingly look at the turtle shaped plants thinking someday I’ll be responsible enough to keep one alive. For now, I just keep adding to my favorite succulents of all – Hens and Chicks.
When it comes to edible shrubs, Blue Vista Farm in Bayfield is an all-time favorite. I struggle to keep blueberries alive, even though I live in perfect soil conditions and wild blueberries grow all around me. Go figure. But wandering this farm provides a glimpse of sheer summer fruit perfection. I prefer picking wild blueberries but now with Jake in-tow, some summer picking sessions here might be a must do.
Peterson Greenhouse in Iron River is perfect for my vegetables and annuals, in part because of its proximity to my house. It never fails that you plan and plan but once you plant, you need just one more plant. After several rounds of this, I either run out of time or in many cases money to answer that call. Anyone who has gardened before knows what I’m talking about.
While it is too early in the season to be shopping these favorite hot spots, this past weekend marked my favorite greenhouse experience. The annual perennial sale at Hauser’s in Bayfield generally starts on May 1 each year. Perennials are awesome in the sense that even the most frugal gardener (as in me), feels each plant is a worthwhile investment because of its ability to keep coming back. Perennials are like the energizer bunny, they just keep going and going until you need to divide them and double your investment. Sure, they might not have the sassy bloom that an annual brings to the table. They tend to be a bit subtle in their summer display, but I think that’s one of the things I love about them most.
Shopping the barn sale to me is like the Barney’s Warehouse Sale in NYC. Any perennial that has a chance of growing in the north woods is dug up and thrown in endless rows on display. Holding the bare root in your hand, it is hard to conjure up what joy this can bring to one’s life. My husband often shudders as the total is rung up. But by mid-June, many of these bare root plants are thriving in my sandy soil.
In addition to the barn sale, Hauser’s has provided me 3 apple trees, 2 pear trees and a beautiful cherry bush (at an amazing price) that continue to thrive despite multiple years of drought like conditions at my sandy hotspot in Iron River.
This year was extra special because I got to bring Jake along. He certainly had no clue what was going on. To him, the bare root plant served as a new and exciting chew toy. But, the mama in me knows he has a black thumb and gardening soul like me. I cannot wait for us to pour over the plants together as we plot out his garden. Plus, daddy will have a lot harder time cringing at the price tag when someone so cute is involved.
Afterwards, we hit up one more Greenhouse that I absolutely love but given it is 40-minutes from my house, I rarely stock up on annuals. I do however take advantage of their Mother’s Day basket sale. Tetzner’s Greenhouse (which is conveniently located down the road from Tetzner’s farm and my favorite ice cream sandwich), is several hoops and houses of beautifully blended flowers looking for the perfect home. They also have an awesome $10 Mother’s Day basket sale that we take advantage of annually. This year, I got to buy 2—one for my mother-in-law and one for me. Life doesn’t get much better than that.
If time and money weren’t an object, I’d spend countless days and dollars shopping. But for now, I limit myself to these few favorites (and an occasional drop-in at others when nobody is looking). To my gardening followers, happy spring!