After several years of neglect, I’m preparing to revive my little nursery. The work has already begun and will continue through fall and winter. All of the plants below, except ginseng, will be propagated by seed, root division, or cuttings from my existing plants. I order stratified seeds for the ginseng. Email to get on the notify list. In spring when everything starts to sprout or it’s time to take cuttings, I’ll go down the list in the order requests arrive to see if you still want the plants. If so, I’ll send an invoice and reserve them until it’s time for them to go home. If not, I’ll move down the list to the next person.
As usual, my quantities will be very small. I hope to build inventory over the next several years, but until I can afford the potting media, pots, and have time to make space in the woods where they can safely stay, the inventory will always be small. My problem is wild pigs and squirrels, so every retaining bed has to be proofed against intruders.
Plants of Interest
While these are the plants I’m working to build inventory of, it’s possible that seeds won’t germ, cuttings won’t take, or mature plants didn’t make berries this year and I won’t have seeds. However, this is the general list of plants that I am working towards building over the years ahead. My personal main interest are those plants that grow in the ginseng habitat, and native medicinal plants. And some I just like because they’re interesting or beautiful. I like creating a native garden in our unique, rocky landscapes and so propagate the plants I find that I enjoy seeing closer to my personal space.
- American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolia)
- 1rst year seedlings
- 2nd year seedlings
- 3-5 year plants
- Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
- Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
- Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
- Doll’s Eyes (Actaea pachypoda)
- Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
- White Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
- Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
- Spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron)
- Lady fern ( Athyrium filix–femina)
- Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum)
- wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
- bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
- wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescence)
- American spikenard (Aralia racemosa)
- Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
- Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium)
- American dittany (Cunila origanoides)
- Monarda fistulosa (beebalm, purple)
- Monarda bradburiana (another beebalm species)
- Echinacea purpurea
- Lobelia inflata
- PawPaw (Asimina triloba)
If there’s something specific you want that I don’t have listed, let me know! If it’s available locally by seed or cutting, and it doesn’t threaten the population of that plant here to do so, I will propagate it for you.
Some Woodland Botanicals Have Long Germination Times
Certain plants take two years for seeds to germinate. The ones on my list like this include blue cohosh and American spikenard. Any ginseng I start from my own plants will also take two years. The plants are usually tiny in the first year after sprouting, so won’t be ready to go to new homes until the third year unless you want to risk taking it early.
Native Orchids
While we do have several species of native orchids here, and I enjoy taking people out to see them, these are very difficult to propagate or rehome once propagated. They require specific environments where the mycelium and microbial life in the soil suits them. If I find a way to inoculate my potting medium to give them the conditions they need, perhaps seeds will eventually become plants I can sell. In the meantime, these beauties will stay in their native homes doing things their own way.