A Grower Perspective

Today is the 28th of April, midway through an unpredictable month of spring coming and then reverting back to winter. We actually had hail today. At the nursery we are creating a crazy quilt of wonder. The quilt is what we call GroundWorks. GroundWorks is front and center in the nursery, it is the ‘see what we have' spot, the place where gardeners and landscapers can walk around and play pick. It is part of my job to create it but the more I try to do it the more it seems like it is a place of everyone's input and creation. We line the aisles with flowering trees, we stitch in smaller evergreens, we patch together the grasses and daylilies. What won't fit here will be lovely there and so on. It sounds like a mess but it carefully and naturally comes together and looks unbelievable. String is laid out so every plant is placed in a very orderly way. As we sell plants others must fill in and it doesn't always go in a planned way.  That's what makes it crazy and unpredictable and gorgeous, especially looking out the second story window. A lot of flexibility is required laying out plants, some give and take between the ‘designers', and an observation of what is ‘looking good'. Come look, all the Rhodendrons are just starting to bloom now and soon we will be glowing in living color.