FrizzHome Gardens

On Sunday I took a ride to southern New Hampshire for an annual get together with garden friends that has come to be known as the "Thumb Your Nose at Winter Party".  Originally this party was a February event, but when winter decided to thumb it's nose back at us a few times too many, we took our licks, conceded defeat then moved the party to March.

On the party agenda this year was a field trip to FrizzHome Gardens in Bedford, NH.

 


Why FrizzHome?

A couple of years ago my friend, Deanne (hostess of the annual "thumbs" event) reported during her spring hunt for unusual annuals that she had discovered a few hard to find plants at a small nursery not too far from her home in Nashua.

For plant collectors like us, the discovery of a new nursery is akin to finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.  Although I haven't noticed a decline in the number of nursery businesses, over the past several years I've definitely noticed much less variety in the mix of plants many nurseries are offering.  I certainly understand the reasons.  In a business with razor thin margins, struggling business owners are reluctant to take on the risk of being left with an excess of unsold inventory.  So they stock up on the common bedding plants that appeal to the average buyer and are much more likely to sell out.

Although I don't recall her ever referring to the nursery by name, when often asked where she obtained various plants Deanne's answer increasingly became, "I got that at Howard's." followed by,  "Some day I'm going to have to take you to Howard's".  After a couple of seasons I was beginning to wonder if there really was a Howard.  Would it be too far fetched for somebody with an extreme plant addiction to create an imaginary friend who owns a greenhouse?  I think not.

On Sunday Deanne finally put my fears to rest and brought us to Howard's.  Howard Frizzell is the owner of FrizzHome Gardens, a business he started in 1986.  For close to 20 years he ran the nursery on evenings and weekends all while working full time for the City of Nashua.  Since his retirement in 2005, he has been devoting all his attention to the business.

Last fall Deanne somehow coerced Howard to allow her to store many of her large tropical plants in one of his greenhouses for the winter.  In return, she would assist with nursery chores as needed.  And assist she has.  Deanne may not be maintaining her blog these days but that's because she's been too busy playing with plants and chasing the winter blues away by basking in the splendor of Howard's tropical house.  Winter activities have included the making and planting of hypertufa troughs.  A selection of these will be available for purchase at the nursery this spring.

 

Casting and painting concrete leaves was also part of the program.  Deanne is a professional decorative painter by trade so this is the perfect medium for her to experiment with painting techniques and create some beautiful garden art in the process.  Some of these beauties will also be offered for sale.

Deanne is also assisting in the design of container combinations and display vignettes throughout the greenhouse.  Customers will hopefully be inspired to try something new and get creative.

Long view of the tropical greenhouse at FrizzHome Gardens in Bedford, NH

Many of the items Deanne has created such as the Bromeliad tree below have been purchased for her own garden which will be open in July through the Garden Conservancy Open Day program.

Plant perusal can be serious business.  Fortunately a selection of wine and cheese was brought to the greenhouse to sustain us.

As the season approaches and the plant delivery trucks start arriving, Howard brings more of his greenhouses on line.  In total, Howard has eleven greenhouses which for the most part are tended to and maintained by himself, one full time employee and some seasonal help.

Upon arrival back at Deanne's house we wasted no time breaking out the food and drink.  Howard eventually joined us for dinner but not before the watering and other necessary greenhouse chores were done for the day. 

Perhaps I'm preaching to the choir and if I sound like a broken record I don't care.  My point here is to encourage you to support your local Howard.  By doing so you can help insure the continuance of independent nurseries, greenhouses and garden centers.  As an incurable plant collector who is always on the hunt for the unusual, I want to see the Howards of the world not only survive, but thrive. 

If you live within striking distance or happen to be in the neighborhood of Bedford, NH, check out FrizzHome Gardens.  In addition to a wide variety of unusual tropicals, annuals, and succulents, this spring Howard will also carry a selection of cutting edge perennials from Terra Nova Nurseries.  If unusual plants are not you thing, not to worry.  FrizzHome Gardens has plants for every gardener.

In May Deanne will be offering a container garden workshop at FrizzHome.  Deanne's container gardens have been featured many times on Fine Gardening's Photo of the Day.  She also has written articles for Fine Gardening and is well known and in demand as a speaker by Nashua area garden clubs.  If you've been looking to bring your container gardens to the next level, you won't want to miss out on this workshop!

FrizzHome Gardens opens for the 2013 season on March 30th.  Perhaps I'll see you there.

Sue~

Joy Creek Nursery

While I anxiously await for the nurseries in my area to reopen for the season, I thought I'd share some pictures from nurseries I visited during my trip to Oregon and Washington this past summer.   Joy Creek is also well known on the east coast as a reputable mail order source.  After my beloved Chalk Hill discontinued the mail order side of their business, I used to order Clematis from Joy Creek.  Lately I try to get everything from local sources so it's been a few years since I've ordered from them but if they had something unusual that I couldn't find locally I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again.

On this trip (as much as it killed me to do so) I didn't buy a single plant.  Flying is such hassle as it is that I prefer to simplify and not bother with extra luggage or carry ons.  Joy Creek had what appeared to be a well stocked sales area but rather than tempt myself, I focused on what had to be acres of incredible display gardens located on the property.

Some of these pictures were taken with my phone because I was running out of memory card room in my camera.  Even though the camera on my phone has more megapixels than my "real" camera the phone camera doesn't capture color very well.  When posted side by side, the differences become even more obvious.

Soon I will be replacing the Canon G6 that I purchased in 2004 for some newer and hopefully better model yet to be determined.  Although I seriously doubt this investment will improve the quality of my pictures, much to the dismay of my photog friends, I will no longer be fodder for jokes about cameras that should be donated to the Smithsonian or memory cards that are no longer available for purchase.  Ha!

Hydrangeas were well represented in this garden.  Hydrangeas were well represented in just about every garden we visited on this trip but they were particularly well represented at Joy Creek.  Only in my dreams could I grow them this well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one item I did check out in the sales area-the resident flea bag.  When compared with the one who rules the roost around here I noticed many similiarities.

 

 



Hang on-spring is coming!


Sue~

A Glimmer of Hope

Over the weekend I ventured out to my first garden shopping trip of the season.  Natureworks, a small independent nursery located in Northford, CT opened for their annual event, Seedy Sunday.  Throughout the growing season I pop down to Natureworks occasionally when in search of some cutting edge perennial or to check out the small but well designed display garden.  Owner Nancy DeBrule is a talented garden designer who has an eye for creative plant combos and tends to stock her nursery accordingly.  Nancy also maintains a blog Natureworks...it's all about the plants.

Due to the blizzard last weekend Seedy Sunday was rescheduled to this past Saturday.  Like most nurseries in the area, Natureworks is closed in the winter but opens just for this sale.  Although growing from seeds is not my thing, Seedy Sunday is also the time when Natureworks closes out garden decor from the previous season.  Last year I scored big at this sale and scooped up a couple of unique glazed blue planters, one in the shape of a foot and the other a fish (seen at the lower left of the third picture).

Although I didn't really need anything, I also was reluctant to take a chance that something I couldn't live without would be on sale.  Sale items (including the rusty tulip sculpture to the left of the sign) were both outside and tucked away in the greenhouse and the shop.

One of the first items to catch my eye was this self contained glazed blue water feature.  For $79 it included the pump.  Cleaning it up would be fairly easy.  But where could I put it?  I already have two fountains in prominent spots.  In order to tuck it into the garden somewhere I would need to have a level surface and a power source.  Hmmm...  

Fairy and miniature gardens seem to be all the rage but they don't float my boat.

A few plants were scattered here and there.  February is way too early for me to think in terms of new plants.  At this point I've barely perused the 2013 catalog offerings.  And let's not forget all the plants on my lists that will need to be dealt with.

The small terracotta planters and plaques were intriguing, especially the piece with the sweet little pair of birds.

A square shallow planter would be perfect to re pot a bowl of mixed succulents I planted last season that have outgrown their current container.

Only a few items were scattered around outside.  No surprise that the Patron Saint of Curmudgeonry was on sale.  For someone who allows or perhaps even encourages scowling in their garden he would be perfect.  Mr. Happy Sun is more my style but he did not appear to be part of the sale.

In the end I decided to pass on the water feature.  To get power where I need it would require the assistance of an electrician.  All of a sudden a $79 fountain becomes a $500 project and I didn't love it enough.  I also passed on the terracotta bird plaque.  In the shop I mulled over a few glazed birdbaths but passed on those as well.  By my standards I walked away relatively unscathed with just the square shallow succulent planter.

When it comes to the garden I find it's easy to fall into a trap of buying things I really don't need (plants included) just because they're on sale under the assumption that I can find a place for them somewhere.  On Saturday I was not in a buying mood but honestly nothing screamed "buy me" either.  Trust me I'll make up for it in May when it comes time to start designing the containers.

So cold zone gardeners, are you anxious for your local nurseries to open?  Thursday marks the start of the Connecticut Flower and Garden Show weekend, another harbinger of spring for us winter weary CT gardeners.  I'll be among the maddening crowd on Saturday morning.  See you there!


Sue~