What’s different about our plants?
We began our business by starting a lot of our plants from seed and growing them out to understand best the full practice of propagation. We continue this practice of growing many perennials from seed. The term vernalization, in reference to plants, refers to the practice of keeping stock through at least one full year. All of our seeded plants at the nursery follow this practice, allowing us to offer strong, well acclimated plants. These hardened plants will often flower well the first season in the ground.
Introducing for 2024
Plants for the shade and woodland garden
As we’ve developed our nursery we have found our site well suited to growing woodland and shade loving plants. The brook that runs along the property and an Eastern orientation keeps the nursery and gardens cool. This has allowed us to develop a unique collection of shade loving plants from around the world. We are excited to introduce our collection!
A quick peek at some of the shade plants we are excited to have for 2024…
Glaucidium Palmatum - Woodland poppy
I first spotted this beautiful and uncommon woodland plant at Cady’s Falls Botanical Gardens in 2017. I gathered seed and planted them that fall. I learned why it is so valuable and uncommon in the horticultural trade. It has taken five years to produce sellable plants from this slow growing and not often dividable plant. It requires light shade and good rich soil. It flowers in the early summer with pink, and sometimes white, papery flowers on 2ft mound of beautiful palmate foliage that persists all summer and produces nice seed pods in the fall. I guarantee you will not find more robust specimens of this Asian plant.
Daphne Mezereum
This spring flowering shrub is well known popping up here and there on the edges of woods and fields here in the northeastern US. Though not a native plant, it has naturalized sparingly in the landscape and is a welcome sight early in the spring. The light purple flowers appear before the leaves and can have a strong scent. The glossy leaves persist nicely all summer and are accented with red berries. The plant and especially the berries are poisonous to humans, but are enjoyed by our local birds. Grows nicely in dappled shade and rich soil. May benefit from added lime. We have some nice plants we propagated from wild seedlings.
Species peonies
Another plant I have been collecting seeds from at Cady’s Fall Gardens. The species peonies are an earlier blooming, single flowered species from the peony family. Peonies have been cultivated in China for thousands of years. And the process continues, creating new, colorful, floriforous and patented varieties. The varieties we have been collecting are closer to the wild form, and not being a double flower, it produces seeds in the fall from a colorful and ornamental seed pod. I have come to really appreciate these woodland species not just for the ethereal flowers that don’t flop over and the strong and persistent foliage, but again, the idea of propagating from seed. So fun! I collected my first handful of seed from Cady’s Falls in the Fall of 2019 and have continued each year since. We are excited to have several varieties and species to offer in 2023, including the Chinese medicinal species Lactiflora. So, be sure to check out this unique collection!
Fall gathered peony seed heads from Cady’s Falls Gardens. These seeds often take two winters to germinate!