Back to the Nursery…It’s Planting Time!

It’s only early April, but global warming has given me a serious case of spring fever. It started last week when I knew I was going to give a speech to the Pennsylvania Land Conservation Association, about 10 minutes away from my favorite nursery, Waterloo Gardens, in Exton, PA. The speech was Friday night, so I took my truck to work with me and tried my hardest to get out of work in time to get to the nursery before I had to be at the event. Well, I got a bit of a late start, and halfway to Exton I realized I wasn’t going to have enough time to go to Waterloo. The sadness I felt driving my truck home later that night—empty—was enough to make me find an excuse to get mad at my husband and mope around for the next 24 hours.

My husband calls me a plant pig, and he’s right. I just can’t get enough plants. Yes, I love to vegetable garden, but my true love is landscaping—creating and even painting with plants. I love to interact with nature over time, see what takes and what doesn’t, and watch with surprise as nature always improves on my ideas.

Sunday, I finally got to two of my favorite local nurseries, Herbein’s and Kuss Brothers (neither of which is organic, unfortunately; nor is Waterloo). My husband had taken the truck to church with the kids (it’s a car seat issue), so I had to take my Prius for both food shopping and nursery shopping. By the time I was done, the car was filled front-to-back with plants and food.

Fortunately, after a long spring nap on the couch outside and two strong cups of organic coffee, I planted all the plants, got good clean dirt under my nails, and made trout on the grill (fired with wood).

That’s a good day!

I love this time of year. It’s a lot of work cleaning up the yard from the winter. But it’s good work—the kind that makes you a bit sore the next day and even stronger the day after that.

Next week, I’ll tell you about the special garden I planted for Lucia!

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12 Responses to Back to the Nursery…It’s Planting Time!

  1. Michelle April 14, 2010 at 9:49 am #

    My favorite perennial nursery Point Phillips Perennials opens today and I have plans to go Friday! My husband calls me a plant junkie, and has made the rule that no there is no buying new plants until the ones in pots have gotten planted. He prays for rain so I’ll stay inside and work indoors, and has been known to invite dinner guests so I’ll cook something, lol!

  2. Jennifer April 14, 2010 at 9:52 am #

    Oh how I LOVE this time of year! I’ve planted a bunch of new perennials and am chomping on the bit to plant annuals. I love Waterloo Gardens, used to live just around the corner from there. If you’re ever in Lancaster County, try Groff’s Plant Farm. They have a huge selection (annuals, perennials, shrubs, veggies, etc) and the best prices around.
    http://gypsymare.blogspot.com/

  3. Maria April 14, 2010 at 9:55 am #

    Ha! I love the rain because it means I don’t have to water.

  4. Donna in Delaware April 14, 2010 at 10:05 am #

    Oh to be outdoors in spring! Especially when you have loads of plants that you’ve been dreaming about all winter, just waiting for the last frost date to pass to get digging. I’m in pots again this year, but next year it’s all about the new raised beds, fenced and gated in and full of beautiful, healthy, and clean composted soil from a great nursery around these parts. Not cheap, but health and healthy food is everything! I’ve potted my lettuces and they have taken well. Should be able to eat them in 2 to 3 weeks. Other things will have to wait until I get back from Europe in mid-June because there is no one to water my pots. I don’t want to inconvenience others, so……. Let’s get planting!!!

  5. Joyce April 14, 2010 at 11:43 am #

    On Thursday I was digging up the soil and planting seeds on our small PA farm, teaching my brother-in-law how to care for them when they sprout. That night, I was on a flight to join my husband where we now live in Europe. On Friday my heart ached with the memory of the rich Pennsylvania soil under my fingers, the place I visit feeling so much like home and my home feeling so foreign. Skype communications with that wonderful brother-in-law confirm that the peas are going wild and the seeds we started indoors need to be pinched back. I’ll be back in June and am looking forward to what Mother Nature and my brother-in-law develop in my absence.

  6. janet in ny April 14, 2010 at 11:48 am #

    i try to go to my neighborhood nursery. they have almost everything i’m looking for. the last 3 years i have started seeds in the house. I feel like i’m cheating winter somehow. so i have all types of unusual tomatoes, cabbage family veggies and peppers. they should be ready for the great outdoors in a couple weeks. I can’t wait.
    this year i found a suprising selection of herb seeds at my local nursery.
    usually i need to mail order those.

  7. Kimi April 14, 2010 at 9:17 pm #

    I think there’s nothing better to add life to a home’s exterior than sprucing it up with flowers, plants, and trees. It’s truly inviting and shows care for the environment. I’m planning to start on gardening this year. My aunt has several pots with good soil that she is going to throw away. Yikes! I’m hoping to revive life into the soil and bring back the flowers that those pots once bore. Wish me luck and thanks for sharing your gardening endeavors, Maria! Here’s to spring and life!

  8. Linda April 14, 2010 at 10:28 pm #

    After the rabbits ate through and, subsequently, the deer broke through my deer netting fence last summer…and….I lost all my tomatoes to blight,harvesting some early spring greens and 1 (really!) cherry tomato, my husband is spending this week installing a beautiful fir post/welded wire fence for my veggies and cutting flowers. I’m beyond excited!!!!

  9. maria (farm country kitchen) April 15, 2010 at 7:54 am #

    I thought I had things covered by having a deer fence surrounding my yard, but then last year the guinea hens ate everything in my veg patch. Now I’m working on a fence around that too. It’s a good thing they are so funny to watch and they eat ticks…otherwise we might have to eat them.

  10. Joslyn April 15, 2010 at 4:33 pm #

    I live in a highrise in a big city with my boyfriend but I yearn for a garden! Happy to live vicariously through you;) Just bought your new book and I’m loving it even though I’m only on Chapter 1.

  11. Amanda April 17, 2010 at 9:35 pm #

    Maria, that sounds like the perfect day! Looking forward to hearing about Lucia’s garden. We’re trying to decide what kind of garden to put in for my son. He planted he own little spot with rosemary and gerber daisies last year, but I’d like to do something a little larger for him. Secret garden-ish, you know? I think I’m intimidated by the idea, though!

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