Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Oregon is rich in Independent Retail Nurseries…

Whenever I drive south, be it on Interstate 5 or a side road, I look around at the countryside I find myself filled with such pride to live in a region with so many growers, wholesalers and nurseries. I am actually driving along in my car grinning from ear to ear at the idea of it…they are everywhere; we are plant rich here in Oregon!

For week two of my “Support Your Independent Nursery Month” posts I want to highlight the hundreds of nurseries all over the state of Oregon. The Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) publishes a map which shows the location of member retail nurseries (not all Oregon retail nurseries are OAN members). I’ve got a couple of these in my car, just in case I have a nursery emergency (they can happen!). If you’re visiting the state and you want to arrive with your own copy you can get one, for free, by clicking here. They also have an interactive map on their website here and a list of public gardens in the state, here. Go OAN! Several of these wonderful nurseries have already signed up as contributing nurseries on plant lust, someday we hope to have them all on board! I would have loved to get out on the road and visit some obscure places to report on the nurseries, but lack of free time, and the fact that my car has been in the shop, kept me from doing so. Instead below I offer you an index of my previous Oregon independent retail nursery travels, in alphabetical order and linked to my most current post on that nursery. Meanwhile these photos were all taken at Cistus Nursery, where they’re having their annual “tough love” parking lot sale, with incredible prices, I had to go! (borrowed my husband’s car). The sale goes on all through the fall and as they say…go early and go often!...“Clearance sale highlights include: Everything! Our now traditional purging of odds and ends, excess crops, and various creatures slightly bruised and battered... some not so slightly... most interesting, many useful, and all very inexpensive! The sale begins on Saturday, October 1st at 10am and will continue through the fall as we'll continue to add to it throughout the course of fall cleaning. Come early and often!"
Get the idea this is a sale not to be missed? You're right!

Now on with the nursery visits...click on the name of the nursery to go along on my most recent trip to that nursery. Some of these are from my early days of blogging (April 2009), and some from just the last couple of weeks...
Al's Garden Center - Woodburn
Bauman's Farm & Garden
Bovees
Cistus
Dancing Oaks
Dennis 7 Dees - Cedar Hills
Dennis 7 Dees - Powell Blvd
Farmington Gardens
Fry Road Nursery
Garden Fever
Gossler Farms
Greer Gardens
Hughes Water Gardens
Joy Creek Nursery
L & S Gardens and Little River Nursery
Larsen Farm Nursery
Marbott's
Means Nursery
Oxalis
Pomarius
Portland Nursery Division Street
Portland Nursery Stark Street
Rare Plant Research
The Gardener's Choice
Treephoria

They say fall is a great time to plant (gives those roots a chance to get established when the ground is still warm and there is plenty of moisture ahead). So if you're in the Portland area please get out there and support these nurseries!

Here are a couple more photos from around Cistus the day of my visit (these plants are not part of the Tough Love sale)...

12 comments:

  1. Oregon has such a wealth of organicness. Thanks for the link. I have sent it to a young friend who leaves Bozeman Montana for Eugene, Oregon this week. I gave her the message to go to Oregon and grow.
    nellie

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  2. You truly are fortunate to have so many independent nurseries (and all those growers) to choose from. You have posted about a LOT of them over the years. This post will be a great resource for gardeners in your area.

    Thanks again for joining in Support Your Independent Nursery Month.

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  3. You are indeed very lucky to have lots of independent nurseries to choose.

    I can only think of a handful that I have visited in Scotland and most of the other nurseries only stock mainstream plants or are from the larger chains and as a result the plants are mega-boring!

    However, there are quite a few decent nurseries that offer a pretty good mail order service, but nothing beats visiting them in person and having a good old look around at what they have for sale and what they are also growing in their beds.

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  4. Very nice selection of indie-growers! Sounds like your selection of microbrews, but I digress...

    Great plants in that "tough love" sale - clever idea!

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  5. I forgot to add that those Eryngium (?) flower/seed spikes are wonderful!

    What variety are they? Could I grow them over here in the central belt of Scotland?

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  6. You are so right, we are unbelievably lucky around here. There are so many nurseries I've not been to yet...must rectify that soon :-)

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  7. WOW! That's a lot of Indie Garden Center posts! I can see why you love Cistus -- lotsa spiky plants. Funny, here in Central Texas, they say fall is the best time to plant because it's not as warm as our spring season.

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  8. I will never forget the first Retail Nursery Guide I was given. It was back when I worked in Silverton many moons ago and was commuting all the time. It fell apart and I actually had to tape it back together! I put a lot of milage on the old car that year!

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  9. We are so lucky here with all our independent nurseries. I finally got to Fry Road Nursery this past month and what a fun visit. I'm determined to get to a few more out-of-the-way nurseries over the next year.

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  10. BMG, Yay! Glad I could help.

    Pam, we are lucky! I realize that..and I do hope those wondering about where to go here in Oregon happen upon this post.

    Adam D, mail order is wonderful...and that's what my post next week is all about! I'll find out about the Eryngium (yes!) and let you know.

    DD, ah yes...beer and plants (and wine!) we've got it all (except the sun).

    Scott, I see a stay-cation in your future, that it all about nurseries!

    Caroline, spring around here is long and cold and wet. It's one tease after another, and we all fall for it, every year.

    Ann, ha! I love it. I remember seeing my first and realizing I was in heaven...that many nurseries, within driving distance...oh ya!

    MulchMaid, what did you buy at Fry Road!?...

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  11. I requested this yesterday morning and it arrived today. Nearly instant gratification!

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  12. Oh man, that tough love sale would be the end of me... I'd be haunting it every weekend, grabbing up great deals. I love that sort of bargain/gamble.

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