Promoting Ornamental Horticulture 



Beth Simpson 



Last October, my husband Rick and I took a week- 

 end field trip into Maine to see a couple of the 

 gardens in the brochure "Horticultural Highlights 

 of Maine." I had picked up the brochure at a garden 

 show a couple years before Our first stop was the 

 Maine State Arboretum in Augusta, specifically to see 

 the hosta collection. A short hike through open fields 

 and meadow took us to a birch-lined path under- 

 planted with an extensive hosta collection. Every color, 

 variegation, leaf shape, and size imaginable was repre- 

 sented. Even in October the hostas were spectacular, 

 especially with the backdrop of white birches with their 

 lemon-yellow foliage. 



Our next stop was about 20 minutes away in 

 Vassalboro at Fieldstone Gardens, a perennial nursery 

 owned and run by Steve Jones. Steve is third genera- 

 tion on the property and, along with his dad, also main- 

 tains a meticulously managed tree farm that has won 

 regional and national recognition. Steve is an incredibly 

 passionate plantsman. You can feel it as soon as you 

 start up his driveway entrance into the nursery. His col- 

 lections of magnolias, lilacs and hostas (to name only a 

 few) are artfully planted in stone wall-edged borders 

 surrounding his nursery. Fieldstone Gardens extends its 

 fiscal season as retail nursery and landscape company 

 with a mail-order catalog for perennials. Most are sold 

 bareroot. It's a fine catalog with great descriptions on 

 his extensive line of perennials. 



It is a trip I highly recommend. Steve was also very 

 generous on this October Sunday with his time: he gave 

 us the whole tour in his golf cart. He included his tree 

 farm with its ponds and groves. It is evident he works 

 seven days a week as a steward of his land and his 

 business. 



Steve lones is also one of the organizers of the "Hor- 

 ticultural Highlights of Maine" brochure and he was very 

 generous to share the criteria used to organize it. Its 

 purpose is to be an informational brochure listing 

 Maine's unique and better nurseries and public gar- 

 dens. The target audience are the summer visitors, 

 summer residents, and year-round residents who are 

 looking for high quality, unusual plant material It is 

 distributed by the Maine Publicity Bureau, local cham- 

 bers of commerce, B&B's and through advertising in 

 places like DownEast and Yankee magazines 



The Maine brochure was financed entirely by its par- 

 ticipants, because it was the fastest way to get it done 

 and there wasn't any public money available. However, 

 the State of Vermont publishes a brochure called "Ver- 

 mont Perennial and Herb Display Gardens," which is 



underwritten by their Department of Agriculture. 



The criteria that the Maine brochure uses for mem- 

 bership is the following: 



1. A minimum of five years experience in horticul- 

 ture, preferably in Maine: 



2. Display gardens or beds maintained for the 

 public, with plants labelled or knowledgeable 

 staff available to identify them; 



3. A significant proportion of plant offerings that are 

 unusual, not generally seen in mainstream or 

 mass-market nursery trade; 



4. All plants sold as hardy in Maine are tested 

 under local conditions. Again knowledgeable 

 service is the key; 



5. A commitment to customer education and satis- 

 faction, as reflected by a truly competent staff. 

 No poorly trained personnel involved in answer- 

 ing questions pertaining to plant material. 



The goal is not to establish an organization as such. No 

 meetings or social gatherings are planned. Participating 

 nurseries may be asked to handle response mail for 

 one or more advertisements of the brochure. 



In Maine, three nurseries share the volunteer orga- 

 nizing/steering committee status: Fieldstone Gardens 

 (represented by Steve lones and Karen Mitchell), 

 Fernwood (Rick and Gail Sawyer), and Everlasting Farm 

 (Michael and Gail Zuck). There is also a two-tier mem- 

 bership: Tier One, for commercial nurseries with regular 

 hours is $200.00; Tier Two, for small or part-time nurs- 

 eries or gardens (no regular hours, by appointment 

 only), is $80.00. It was recommended that the published 

 descriptions (100 words or less) indicate the scale of 

 operation and what makes it unique. 



I write this hoping to stir up interest with a couple 

 other nurseries to organize a similar brochure for pro- 

 moting New Hampshire's ornamental horticulture enter- 

 prises. If you are interested, please give me a call. If 

 you know someplace that should be promoted, please 

 give me a call. Until then, get out and visit some of the 

 great gardens within driving distance. It is good fuel for 

 firing up the passion it takes to get through another 

 growing and retail season. 



helh Simpson, KoWmg Green Landscaping and NMrsery, 64 

 Breafefflsl Hill Koad, Greenland, NH 03840, can be reached at 

 603-436-2732. 



FEBRUARY ■ MARCH ■ 1998 



IS 



