I have a couple of posts on the gardening section of my blog featuring a beautiful garden where I volunteer about walking distance from home.  If you did not catch the actual history behind this hidden gem, do please click on the link and read all about it.  Typically Goodstay Gardens open around March and is probably the busiest time of the year.  The garden comes alive in the spring.  We have a group of about six volunteers with a leader who is pretty savvy with the horticultural scene and just an amazing person to work with.  We volunteer once a week on a Wednesday from about 8.45am-2pm.  I love working here and look forward to Wednesdays with much anticipation.  Our peony patch is a sight to see, we’ve just staked them all and in a few short weeks, it will be a profusion of color and scents.

This year our leader decided that we should take a couple of field trips and what better way to acquaint ourselves with the horticultural scene, this was a perfect opportunity to learn and grow.  We set out about 2 weeks ago to Groff’s Plant Farm, a family-owned greenhouse and nursery business in Southern Lancaster County.  The 45 minute drive from Wilmington, Delaware is picturesque, driving through Amish farm country.  You can actually see the Amish working on the farms, we saw a couple of horses and buggies and a schoolhouse. When we arrived, we were greeted by the family dogs and very soon a few of the helpers said hello and showed us the way.  What a beautiful facility spread out  with all types of flowers, I had a heady feeling as I strolled through these aisles upon aisles of various plants and shrubs.  All the plants are grown right here on the farm, and as a result the prices are pretty reasonable compared to the suburban nurseries.  They carry an extensive collection of annuals, perennials, shrubs and vegetable starts.  They also specialize in garden-worthy native plants.

All the plants are tagged and labelled with a description of each.  How can you possibly go wrong?

 

I’m pretty partial to these shade-loving beauties and there was quite an array of coleus to choose from.  We had just experienced a couple of frosty mornings and cooler nights, so some of the annuals and perennials were only just making it outdoors.

 

We bought quite a few items for the gardens, but we also helped ourselves to a few annuals and perennials for our gardens at home.  Thankfully Beth brought a trailer along to haul away all our purchases.  It was a wonderful outing, we got to meet a lot of knowledgeable people at the site.  We stopped for a wee picnic on our way home, what a wonderful end to the day!  My plants are happy in their new environment, and I was happy to have had this opportunity to learn and grow (literally).