When we first bought our country property - which we did mostly because we wanted more space for gardening - we grew a lot of perennials and native plants from seed to populate our large gardens. Then my husband got into rock gardening and started growing a lot of alpines.
Of course, growing our own, we ended up with lots more plants than we needed, so we started having an annual plant sale, which lasted about four or five years.
At the time I was toying with the idea of starting a small boutique nursery of choice perennials and native plants, but a friend of mine, Doug Green, a former nursery guy turned garden writer said flatly: "You're crazy." I listened and I'm glad we didn't go that route.
Anyway, we gave up the plant sales when they got to be too much, and don't miss them because the sale days were always in May when we were also busiest in the garden. I know I'm not the first country gardener to fall love with plants and dream about starting my own nursery.
If that sounds like you, here's an interesting post on the topic by Trey Pitsenberger, who runs The Golden Gecko Garden Center in Garden Valley, California, and who calls himself the original blogging nurseryman.
And if you're serious, here's the book to get, So You Want to Start a Nursery, by Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery. You can buy it through this link from the author himself.
© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener
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