George’s Plant Safari
June 10th, 2014
Where do you take a plant geek for his birthday?
Inside Black Creek Greenhouse in East Earl… one of the stops on George’s Plant Safari.
Well, if you’re this plant geek, it’s on a plant-hunting expedition.
I’m not a shopping fan, but the one product line (other than food) that gets me into a retail environment is a cutting-edge shrub or a cool, new flower. And if the prices are bargains – like $4 perennials and four-packs of annuals for $1.19 – that’s double delight (which, by the way, happens to be the name of a very fragrant hybrid tea rose).
For my birthday this year, my lovely wife, Sue, took me on a daylong adventure into one of the biggest concentrations of bargain plant places in the eastern United States – our own Lancaster County.
The southern and eastern sections of Lancaster County (i.e. Pa. Dutch country) are crawling with greenhouses, plant farms, nurseries and small garden centers.
Most people know nothing about them because they’re A.) small, B.) often open only seasonally, and C.) run mainly by Amish and Mennonites who aren’t into billboards, websites, Facebooking and similar marketing methods.
It’s pretty much word of mouth.
That’s how plant geeks sniff them out, and it’s how Sue and I ended up going on my “birthday plant safari” there.
I have to admit that despite growing up in Lancaster County and being a reasonably informed plant geek, I had no idea what a plant treasure is a mere hour drive from Harrisburg.
Every now and then, gardeners would tell me about Groff’s Plant Farm or some “Lancaster County Amish greenhouse” that they couldn’t even remember the name of.
But what really piqued my curiosity was an article that fellow garden columnist Ginny Smith wrote last spring for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She followed this group of Maple Glen Garden Club ladies on their annual trek to Dutch country to suck up incredible plant bargains at a string of hidden-gem plant haunts.
I did some research and found another helpful list – the Lancaster County Garden Club’s member-favorite plant places.
Using those two resources, I mapped out a route that took us to five places – plus lunch at a Pa. Dutch restaurant.
Our favorite was Groff’s Plant Farm, a small village of greenhouses way out in the boonies south of Solanco High School at 6128 Street Road, Kirkwood.
This place had every imaginable annual and perennial… the latest and best varieties, too. And at prices 25 to 40 percent less than what I’m used to paying.
Tomatoes and peppers in single pots were 79 cents.
I got four-packs of bedding ‘Titan’ vinca, ‘Rhea’ blue salvia and ‘New Look’ dusty miller for $1.19, and jumbo four-packs of New Guinea impatiens for $2.49.
George sniffing out geranium bargains.
Perennials in 4-inch pots were $2.49. Even a gallon-sized ‘Neon Star’ dianthus that I bought for the back yard was only $4.99, and a beautiful silver sage (Salvia argentea) was $3.99 in a 6-inch pot.
Groff’s also has a good selection of shrubs and dozens of choices of hostas and daylilies.
The quality is good as well. Plants were groomed, watered and fertilized.
Sue and I ended up staying more than 2 hours and filling practically the whole car for about $100.
For trees and shrubs, check out Conestoga Nursery, which is in East Earl Twp. near the Chester County line at 310 Reading Road.
It’s got some perennials, but the woody-plant offering is as big and varied as some of the best large garden centers that I’ve seen.
A nice bonus is that Conestoga Nursery often carries the same variety in two or three sizes, giving you the choice of being patient for a real bargain or paying $200 to get that 8-foot collector Japanese umbrella pine.
I came away from there with a ‘Jewel’ black raspberry plant for $12.50 that I’d just seen 2 weeks before at a Pittsburgh garden center for $25.
Most of the 1-gallon shrubs were priced at $12.50.
Again, the quality was excellent, refuting the usual notion that you “get what you pay for.”
Sue and I also liked Black Creek Greenhouses at 211 E. Black Creek Road, just down the road from Conestoga Nursery.
This one is more like a small garden center, carrying a few fertilizers and bagged goods in addition to the bread-and-butter annuals, perennials and a few small shrubs (plus a few Pa. Dutch baked goods).
The prices were similar to Groff’s. I checked off the remaining few items on my list, such as $2.69 for a few of the new interspecific ‘Caliente’ geraniums and a ‘Chicago Hardy’ fig to replace my ‘Brown Turkey’ that died in the brutal winter. That was the priciest thing I bought all day at $25, but it was 3 feet tall and in a 3-gallon container.
Another of our favorites, especially for annuals — Briar Rose Greenhouse.
I should also mention Briar Rose Greenhouse at 1581 Briertown Road, East Earl. It was neat, clean, had great quality plants (mostly annuals) and the same prices that most of these places charge – levels that I thought disappeared back in the 1990s.
Take cash and checks because most of these places don’t accept credit cards.
Don’t try to go down on a Sunday, because almost all of them are never open on Sundays.
Do homework to get accurate directions and hours, because most are out in the country and close at 5 p.m. (and sometimes Monday or Tuesday as well).
A few have websites and blogs, but online searches for “Lancaster County nurseries” or “Lancaster County plants” will yield other sites that feature listings.
While you’re down there, enjoy the countryside. It’s a great place for a drive through farmland and peaceful settings that aren’t dotted with fast-food places and 400-home housing developments (yet).
You’ll see the wash flapping on clothes lines and lots of meticulous large vegetable gardens.
And if you’re really hungry, the Shady Maple Pa. Dutch smorgasbord is right in the heart of all the nurseries.
You can get a piece or two of cake for your birthday there.