On Wednesday, while Nigel was at work, I set off on a little nursery hopping jaunt. My first stop was
Swanson's in North Seattle, where I concentrated on buying plants, and took no pictures, followed by lunch in town with Nigel at a restaurant called
Purple (where I drank a fizzy concoction called a shrub). I then traveled north of Seattle to
Flower World (sorry no pictures there either, but you can see pics of both places on my buddy Peter's blog -- Swanson's
here and Flower World
here and
here.)
Not far from Flower World, about ten-minute's drive further north, is
McAuliffe's Valley Nursery. McAuliffe's created one of the display gardens at this year's Northwest Flower and Garden Show, a Gold Medal Award-winning garden called Rekindled Rendezvous (see photos of their display garden on the Garden Show website
here and on local blogger Tanya's blog My Secret Garden
here). I was curious to see their nursery.
From their website: "
McAuliffe's
Valley Nursery is a full service nursery located in the scenic
Snohomish Valley. Our farm-to-retail nursery grows stock on over 40
acres of rich, fertile soil specializing in balled and burlapped trees.
The hub of our retail nursery is a historic dairy barn that is
surrounded by an assortment of stunning plants, both familiar and rare
varieties, for your various needs and styles. Around the nursery you can
also find displays of hand crafted pottery and garden art, carefully
selected for its unique flare. Our authentic barn houses miscellaneous
garden products, organic fertilizers, our office, and friendly customer
service checkout counter. The walls are lined with both garden décor and
a library of helpful information for your use while shopping. Our
knowledgeable staff is also available and happy to help you select the
right trees, shrubs, and plants for your landscape needs."
When I got there, I finally decided it was time to pull out my camera and start taking some pictures.
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| There are several interesting structures on the premises, starting with the big red barn. |
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| In front of the barn are several tables full of a large variety of well-cared for perennials. |
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| Inside the barn |
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| One of several buildings at the nursery that feature this interesting combo of brick and stone |
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| This shade house had funky brick and stone columns |
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| Isn't this a cute little garden shed? Note the green roof and the black bowling ball embedded in the mortar. |
It was a very pleasant place to wander.
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| I wonder if this tractor fountain was part of a previous display garden, it felt familiar. |
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| A fun use for an old torpedo! (Edit -- according to Nigel, this is an old bomb, not a torpedo) |
They had a wide variety of AW Pottery for sale, at what I considered very reasonable prices.
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| The pots here varied from $55 to $165. |
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| Eye-catching color, but as I took the photo, my attention was drawn to that flash of orange in the distance. |
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| If they had had two of the larger wide pots, I might have been tempted. |
They had lots and lots of plants for sale, including many shrubs and trees.
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| I wish I could keep Rhodies alive! This is Rhododendron 'Seaview Sunset.' |
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| Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' |
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| I almost wish I had succumbed to this Japanese Maple called Acer palmatum 'Katsura.' I'm just not sure where I'd put it. |
I hope you enjoyed this look at McAuliffe's Nursery. It's always fun and exciting to find somewhere new!
