Strawberry Hill Farms, Part 1

Over the weekend, Scott and I went to a farm so I could get one plant (on which I will report later). I told him we'd only be there five minutes, but this farm is a huge plant vendor with several warehouses full of fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals. We were there longer than five minutes. I had to wander around and take pictures, of course.

Speaking of which, the camera I'm using now is Scott's, so many thanks are due.

Anyway, people come from all over the state to go to this farm and get plants, so we had to park a good walk away from the cluster of buildings. As we approached them, this was the first thing we saw: discounted cole crops! I think these were marked down to $2 for a four-pack.

I've never seen so many petunias, or in so many colors. There were several rows of tables like this scattered around, covered in petunias. I had to water petunias regularly as a child, and I've never been a fan. They're too sticky for me, and they need to be deadheaded all the time. That said, they are nice to look at.

Here are some tables of salvia and marigolds. I love purple and yellow together, though I don't know if I like how marigolds smell. I'm going to get some next year regardless to put around my tomatoes (assuming I grow tomatoes again next year).

Here's just a section of one of the greenhouses containing ornamental hanging baskets. There was so much to see--I could have spent days wandering around and perusing the selection.

They even have a variety of ferns!

These were the only coleus I saw, but they're nothing to shake a stick at. Sadly I did not have time to sniff all these varieties to find out which were sweet-smelling. Those are my favorites.

Here's a great spider plant. I hope mine gets this full someday.

This begonia looks like a looking-glass begonia, only with polka dots. I don't know what would go well with this plant, but it's impressive on its own.

Now, this is what I came for: a purple shamrock. The species was not denoted on the tags, but I believe these are Oxalis regnelli 'Charmed Wine'. The one I ended up purchasing is on the bottom left. Their leaves are slightly variegated, which is different from the individuals in the greenhouse.

A better shot of the leaves. They look like butterflies in person, too. Some of them were flowering, but people don't cultivate purple shamrocks for their flowers.

All these pictures don't encompass one-fiftieth of the plants at Strawberry Hill. It's truly amazing. Maybe that's why people flock from all over. It was plant overload on my brain, which is why the visit was so fun.

Next post: more views from Strawberry Hill.

Poolside Containers

I finally got ahold of an actual camera! Just in time, too, to capture these fun container arrangements next to the outdoor pool on campus.

The red flowers here are some sort of salvia. Hopefully they grow a bit taller throughout the season, or else this combination will be very short compared to the height of the pot it inhabits. It looks like the purple-leaved plant here will spill out of the container, which will also look better as the summer progresses.

There are a lot of salvia in the greenhouse. I think I like the 'Black and Blue' cultivar more than the red, but it contrasts with the pool nicely.

These sweet flowers balance out the boldness of the salvia, and they do a good job of taking up space.

This cycad-looking plant is the real reason to pay attention to these containers. There was another one, but it's having a lot of trouble. I guess cycads can adapt to temperate regions, but I always think of them as tropical plants. This individual is taking the climate relatively well.

Down the path a ways from those containers were these eye-popping bushes. They are incredibly pink, and there are a lot of them. They would be simply overwhelming were it not for all the green bushes, trees, and mulch around.

Seeing tropical-looking blooms like these herald the approach of summer, so they're welcome in my eyes.

I've never seen a bush so covered with such large flowers before. It's a jaw-dropping effect.

Is my new camera acceptable? It's not as nice as my old one, but I am grateful to have it. I was worried that all of these pictures would be blurry since I'm not used to the camera yet, but it's not hard to operate. Also, what plants have you seen that are screaming, "SUMMER IS COMING"?

Next post: a visit to a farm.