Friday, Oct. 1 , IPPS Eastern Region conference attendees have a choice of two nursery tours, traveling either to 3 cutting edge nurseries in eastern Connecticut, or to Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts for a tour of 3 successful growers and the region’s top rewholesaler.
The Connecticut tour begins at Summer Hill Nursery in Madison, where attendees will see an extensive selection of container-grown cold-hardy woody plants – many rare in the trade. The nursery propagates all of its own material from cuttings, seed or grafts.
The next stop is Prides Corner Farms (PCF) – an extensive container operation covering approximately 350 acres. Working closely with independent retail garden centers, PCF offers the newest selections and tried-and-true favorites, perennials, roses, shrubs and trees.
The tour ends at The Plant Group, a wholesale nursery that specializes in producing container grown perennials. It offers more than 2,000 varieties grown on 105 acres. With highly automated facilities, grower Phil Allegretti produces more than 2 ½ million plants annually.
The East Bay tour begins at Rhode Island Nurseries which was started in 1895 by V.A. Vanicek, an immigrant from Czechoslovakia. Today, more than 100 years later, Jim Vanicek and his son Bruce, and Bruce’s wife Kelly, are continuing the nursery, which has grown to more than 500 acres in production.
The next stop is Portsmouth Nursery, a wholesale growing operation specializing in field-grown nursery stock. Owners Steve and Jean Cotta rely heavily on innovative methods and equipment; much of which is fabricated on the premises. Contributions to the industry include the introduction of a new small leaf rhododendron variety, ‘Amy Cotta.’
Next is a visit to Quansett Nurseries, a wholesale grower of container plant material that began in 1980. Native plants and plants that can handle difficult environments (wetlands and coastal areas) are an important part of what they produce, as well as marketed brands. Quansett also will present its green roof plants.
The final stop is Sylvan Nursery, which also operates a thriving rewholesale yard. The propagation crew processes more than 250,000 cuttings annually in the new gutter-connected greenhouse. Approximately 150,000 bare-root plants are purchased and potted annually. Half of the total stock sold is balled and burlapped, including large specimens.
Register here.