Favorite Online Nurseries?

[akirlu]

It seems I have managed not to be quite entirely too late to order me some lily-of-the-valley, if I get right on that. I rilly, rilly want some for the side yard, and maybe under the big apple tree, too. I adore lily-of-the-valley, and if I could get around to planting it, chances are it would bloom for my birthday, and everything.

But I'm not confident that I can find it at a local nursery, so I am thinking I would order it online. I have never ordered from a nursery before, but I believe I've seen some horror stories go by. Anybody have one to recommend? Or, locals, know of anyplace I could just lay hands on the rhizomes or, better yet, actual plants?

Comments

[alicebentley]

One side of my front yard is packed thick with them. They would probably benefit from being dug out and redistributed. It's only a 2' by 8' area, but they are seriously overcrowded.

What time of year is good for undertaking that kind of replanting? I haven't done much of that.

Anyway, you're welcome to as many as you want. From my mom's experience with them I know that they will happily come up again anywhere they have ever been once.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that's very generous, I'd love to take some. Would it make more sense for me to come to you so I can dig them up myself, or do you have any regular visits to Seattle when we could meet up?

[alicebentley]

If you want to get this done in the next couple of weeks, I'd say plan on coming out here. It's really not that far.

I'll be done with classes on June 12th, and will have more time and energy to put to house and yard work - which right at the moment look like wolves live here.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm still recovering from the lurgi, so while I may be able to get out your way before June 12, there are no guarantees. Especially since we get our own patch of end of term crazy at work, between now and then. If you send me your address and phone to ulrika dot obrien at gmail dot com, I can give you a call if it seems like I might be up to swinging by.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Oh, by the way, if you want any bearded iris in exchange, let me know. I still haven't thinned the iris bed, and if you've got a sunny spot to put them in, they are quite a pretty kind.

[alicebentley]

I love bearded iris!

I haven't done any gardening at all this season, but I look forward to doing more come mid-June.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

By mid-June the bearded Iris should be done blooming and ready to be divided, so that may be best anyway.

[greenshadows.livejournal.com]

Take advantage of the offer above. :) A certain local nursery I know of has been completely unsuccessful in locating that plant this year. :(

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, you are the expert, Jay, so I will take your advice. I don't actually *need* to spend money for them, if I can get them some other way.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Yup, I, too, advise going for that offer. It's best done, I think, when the plants are most completely dormant, which is probably late Summer through early Winter. (I live in an area that doesn't get cold enough for lily-of-the-valley to thrive. We had marginally-encouraging results from them in the coldest spot at Descanso Gardens, but that was almost fifty years ago and I've forgotten the details.) The big problem with getting them by mail-order is that they have to be stored, dormant, under quite specific conditions of refrigeration, and most businesses aren't equipped to handle that well in the tight time-frame involved.

As I recall from childhood in northern Ohio, if they're in a location where they survive for more than a year they generally grow almost like weeds.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yes, everything I've read and remember of them suggests that in the right conditions, which I have in abundance, lily-of-the-valley are easily grown and propagate like crazy. I just have to get some first.

One of my favorite things about the Seattle climate is its resemblance to the Swedish one -- it means that many of my favorite flowers from childhood are ones I can grow here.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

I really have trouble with the concept of "buying" lilies of the valley. Dig up a couple of clumps and put them where you want them. They really are weeds, except for being pretty and smelling wonderful. They're not as difficult to get rid of as raspberries, but they're on that scale.
Heck, if nothing else, *I* can dig up a couple clumps from around the neighborhood and mail them to you.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

It would be silly to ship them from Chicago. But thanks for the thought. I think I'm now covered on the lily-of-the-valley front.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes -- digging clumps, treating them with reasonable care, and replanting the same day should work well at any time. (I previously suggested "when most dormant", and can only plead that I was thinking about mail-order plants ... and was writing early in the morning, when just starting my first cup of coffee.)

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

If you haven't already scored all the L of the V you need by next weekend, remind me and I'll dig up a mess of plants for you. They always need thinning and they survive being transplanted at any time of the year. Mine are old plants with a satisfyingly strong, sweet smell.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I will. You have the advantage of not being a ferry ride away, not that a ferry ride is necessarily a bad thing.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

So, any chance you'll have a moment to dig up some plants today? I'll have wheels this evening, so I could swing by and pick up a passel of muget tonight if that works for you. If not, another time.

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

Today does not work, because I did not dig up plants in the cool of the morning and do not want to dig them up in the heat of the afternoon, although it's not the scorcher they were predicting.

I will try to dig some up tomorrow morning when it's cool, and certainly before Vanguard.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, by Vanguard would be swell, actually, and thanks again. Earlier is probably not pointful, because I don't normally drive to work, and the train schedule is Not Forgiving.