4/13/23
Skipped a day, and now I’ve missed the unfurling. Ginseng is up everywhere. While some are completely unfurled, most are still stretching and yawning. I’ll post pics as I get a chance. On April 22 and every Saturday thereafter, I should have potted seedlings and older specimen plants at art studio inside the Alpena Mercantile to sell. Bare root plants will ship in fall, if there are any left to sell.
Alpena Mercantile is at 214 Hwy 62 W, Alpena, AR. If you’d rather drive out to the nursery to pick them up, make an appointment by emailing me at .
4/11/23
Checked again today, but no ginseng unfurling yet. The goldenseal and bloodroot have already bloomed. Mayapples are putting on apples now. The Solomon’s seal is beginning to grow and the maidenhairs are unfurled but still puny little things. Trout lilies look like they’re finished with their flowers, but the bell flowers are still fresh. Jacob’s ladder has buds for blooms.
4/3/23
I went out to the Habitat Garden / Nursery to see if anything is coming up yet. No signs of ginseng unfurling yet, but lots of the companions are there now.
This year, once I get the seedlings potted and repot the companions that need it, I’ll bring plants to the Alpena Mercantile on Saturdays. I have an art studio there, and my nursery plants on the shelves in my studio space. That’s where you can pick them up, unless you want to drive out to see the Habitat Garden.
Emerging in the Ginseng Nursery
The plants labeled as ‘Residents’ are not potted but are growing in the habitat restoration area as natural residents. ‘Propagates’ are those that I’ve started in pots from seeds, cuttings, or root divisions. I also have transplanted some of my propagates into the Habitat Demonstration Garden, and those won’t be potted. They’ll just continue to grow and reproduce like the residents and will be ‘Mother’ plants for future propagates.
When the Mother plants in my garden make seeds or divide, I’ll gather the seeds or make root divisions to propagate them further. For the plants of this habitat, starting from seeds usually means at least a few years before a plant is ready to sell. Some of the seeds take two years before they even sprout, like the American spikenard. Some of them are prolific and fast seed starters, like the Doll’s Eyes. But even the Doll’s Eyes are tiny little plants for the first two years.
A Teaching Garden
The Wild Ozark Habitat Demonstration Garden is a teaching garden. Throughout the years I observe how the plants grow, or don’t, and make mental notes about what is doing well and where. When I first started this space, it was almost barren of companion plants and completely barren of ginseng. In the first years I had to lattice between the trees with cross-branches to offer more shade. Over the years, the trees have filled in and now any overhead structure is only to protect against hailstorms.
Last year we had a hailstorm in May with golf ball sized hail. It decimated everything on the ground, not only in my garden but also on the mountains where the wild plants grow. So after that I made a small area for the potted seedlings to have some overhead protection from hail.
Anyone is Welcome
While the habitat garden isn’t open for visiting all of the time, I’m more than happy to make appointments for anyone who wants to see it. It’s very helpful to see how a once logged space can become a ginseng habitat again. Many people come just to see what the ginseng and companion plants look like throughout the year. It’s also very helpful to see the ginseng look-alike plants in close context to the actual ginseng plants. My contact information is below, if you’d like to make the trip down our six-mile dirt road to see the Wild Ozark Ginseng Habitat Garden.
Wild Ozark Ginseng Nursery
Madison Woods, artist & ginseng steward
Find me also at the Wild Ozark Studio & Gallery in Alpena, AR
Ginseng seedlings and companion plants in pots at the gallery from May – August