Collection
Dry Shade Dozen
For root-filled ground under trees, where most things give up by midsummer.
- 3 Christmas ferns
- 3 marginal wood ferns
- 2 epimediums
- 2 Solomon's seals
- 2 plain green hostas
$210Pick-up or the Friday van
Page 02 · The stock list
The Stock List
Every plant on the benches, potted in our own mix and priced by pot size. Light and soil are given for each one, because in shade those two decide almost everything.
Light
Soil
Ferns
Ferns, by the Pot
Of the 41 kinds we grow, these fourteen are on the benches most weeks; the rest come and go. The 4 inch pots fill gaps; the gallons are two or three years old and go straight to the back of a bed.
The table slides sideways for pot sizes and prices.
| Fern | Pot | Height | Light | Soil | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ostrich fernMatteuccia struthiopteris | 1 gallon | 3-5 ft | $16 | ||
| Christmas fernPolystichum acrostichoides | 4 inch, 1 gallon | 1-2 ft | $9 / $18 | ||
| Lady fernAthyrium filix-femina | 1 gallon | 2-3 ft | $16 | ||
| Maidenhair fernAdiantum pedatum | 1 gallon | 1-2 ft | $24 | ||
| Japanese painted fernAthyrium niponicum | 1 gallon | 1-1.5 ft | $22 | ||
| Cinnamon fernOsmundastrum cinnamomeum | 1 gallon | 2-4 ft | $20 | ||
| Royal fernOsmunda regalis | 1 gallon | 3-5 ft | $22 | ||
| Hay-scented fernDennstaedtia punctilobula | 4 inch | 1-2 ft | $9 | ||
| Marginal wood fernDryopteris marginalis | 1 gallon | 1.5-2 ft | $18 | ||
| Sensitive fernOnoclea sensibilis | 4 inch | 1-2 ft | $9 | ||
| Hart's tongue fernAsplenium scolopendrium | 1 gallon | 1 ft | $22 | ||
| Autumn fernDryopteris erythrosora | 1 gallon | 1.5-2 ft | $20 | ||
| Male fernDryopteris filix-mas | 1 gallon | 2-3 ft | $18 | ||
| Northern beech fernPhegopteris connectilis | 4 inch | under 1 ft | $9 |
Hostas
Hostas, by the Leaf
We grow 63 kinds and sell them by what the leaf looks like rather than by name, in these seven groups. Tell us the colour and the size you want and we will show you what is ready.
The table slides sideways for pot sizes and prices.
| Leaf | Pot | Size | Against slugs | Light | Soil | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluethick, ribbed leaves | 1 and 2 gallon | 1.5-3 ft | Holds up well | $18-38 | ||
| Goldlime to yellow leaves | 1 gallon | 1-2.5 ft | Some holes by August | $16-22 | ||
| Plain greenglossy, fast to fill | 1 gallon | 1-2 ft | Middling | $14 | ||
| White-edgedgreen with a cream margin | 1 gallon | 1-2 ft | Middling | $16-20 | ||
| Cream-centredpale middle, green edge | 1 gallon | 1-1.5 ft | Thin leaves, so no | $18-22 | ||
| Miniaturefor pots and the front edge | 2 gallon | under 8 in | Needs watching | $28-34 | ||
| Giantleaves a foot across | 2 gallon | 3 ft and up | Too thick to bother | $32-38 |
Other woodlanders
The Plants That Go Between
Eleven of the seventy or so we grow, the ones on the benches most weeks: ground cover, height and early flowers for the same shade the ferns and hostas live in.
The table slides sideways for pot sizes and prices.
| Plant | Pot | Height | Light | Soil | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild gingerAsarum canadense | 4 inch | 6 in | $12 | ||
| FoamflowerTiarella cordifolia | 1 gallon | under 1 ft | $14 | ||
| BloodrootSanguinaria canadensis | 4 inch | 6 in | $14 | ||
| Solomon's sealPolygonatum biflorum | 1 gallon | 2-3 ft | $18 | ||
| EpimediumEpimedium, several kinds | 1 gallon | 1 ft | $22 | ||
| HelleboreHelleborus | 1 gallon | 1-1.5 ft | $26 | ||
| Woodland phloxPhlox divaricata | 4 inch | 1 ft | $12 | ||
| Bleeding heartLamprocapnos spectabilis | 1 gallon | 2-3 ft | $20 | ||
| Jack-in-the-pulpitArisaema triphyllum | 4 inch | 1-2 ft | $14 | ||
| AstilbeAstilbe, pink and white | 1 gallon | 1-3 ft | $16 | ||
| Sweet woodruffGalium odoratum | 4 inch | under 1 ft | $12 |
Collections
Three Sets, Chosen for You
Made up on the day you collect, from whatever is strongest on the bench that week.
Collection
Damp Shade Dozen
For the low corner that stays wet into June, or the bed by a downspout.
- 3 sensitive ferns
- 2 cinnamon ferns
- 1 royal fern
- 3 astilbes
- 2 Jack-in-the-pulpits
- 1 blue hosta
$195Pick-up or the Friday van
Collection
Fern Trio
A first try, for anyone not yet sure a fern will live in their yard.
- 1 Christmas fern
- 1 lady fern
- 1 Japanese painted fern
$42Fits on a passenger seat
Where the plants come from
Grown Here, or Bought In Grown
Everything we sell is propagated here or bought in as nursery-grown stock, and nothing is dug from the woods. I say this because wild-dug ferns are still sold elsewhere, usually cheaply and usually in spring, and a fern pulled out of a forest floor rarely forgives you for it. Our own plants come from spores sown in the potting shed, from divisions of the stock plants in the shade houses, and for a few kinds from growers further south whose plants then spend a full winter on our benches before they are offered. A hosta division takes three to four years to bulk up from a single eye to a full gallon pot, which is why a gallon hosta costs what it does, and why the blue ones in particular are never as plentiful as people would like. Then there are the slugs, which we pick off by hand at dusk from May to September, and the shade cloth, which blew off the second house in a storm in 2022 and took a week of scorched hosta leaves to forgive. I could go on about all of this for much longer than anyone has asked.
If you know what you want for spring, pre-orders open on 1 February and are held at the gate for 14 days after the pick-up date.
Plants are sold in the pot they were grown in. Carry them home yourself, take the Friday van, or have us plant them.
Marit