Another Field Trip- Driving to Defiance!

On a recent stunning Sunday, complete with clear skies, low humidity and no responsibilities, my subconscious was chanting “…field trip…field trip…field trip!”  I had absolutely no way to silence that monotonous “inner voice,” so I decided to follow its suggestion. 

Lucky for me that George was free and willing to drive his recently clean stunner of a car to Defiance; we were going to visit two nurseries he has never been to.  He also had some pangs of nostalgia, remembering his younger days when he was a footloose and fancy-free dude on a Harley, driving down Highway 94 to Defiance and patronizing all the bars. 

I’m not sure if he was smiling remembering his Harley, or if the anticipation of finding the perfect birdbath was prompting the winsome smile.  Since he’s really not gotten over selling that Harley, I am pretty sure that the prospect of revisiting Highway 94 was the reason for the jubilation. 

The two nurseries we visited were Wine Country Garden and Frisella Nursery.  I have never been to Frisella’s new Defiance location, and hadn’t been to Wine Country Gardens this year.  The two nurseries are less than 5 minutes from each other, and we decided to hit Wine Country Garden first.

Upon arriving to Wine Country Garden, you are struck by the stunning piece of property the garden complex sits on.  There is a picturesque white farmhouse with wrap-around front porch situated on the top of the hill.  Large hanging baskets greet you as you approach the house and outbuildings.  Additionally, grapes are grown on the hilly field in front of the house. 

Even though the business has grown, you can get a real sense of the working farm that it once was.  The building that houses garden accessories and the cash register was a 3-car garage in a previous life.  Numerous outbuildings are used as storage and for all the machinery it takes to run a nursery.  A breathtaking pond, complete with 2 waterfalls and numerous trumpeter swans compels you to sit a while and take all the beauty in.  If you’re lucky, they’ll be in the pond frolicking when you arrive.  But, I digress- we’re here to buy some plants!

Wine Country Garden makes it easy for the customer as far as plants are concerned.  All the shade-loving perennials are housed together, organized and tagged.  Since it’s late summer, the selection of perennials was pretty sparse.  They did have many beautiful hostas, though. We picked up some ‘Guacamole’ hosta to plant in George’s shade garden. They were huge, well cared for and a good price. 

Wandering over to the hydrangeas, I noticed a large selection of many different types.  They had Lace-caps, Endless Summer, Oak leaf, and your basic Mopheads; even in late summer they looked healthy. 

I was disappointed to see that they are scaling back their daylily selection.  Up until recently, they had 3 acres of daylilies in the fields.  Now, they have been potted up and consolidated and the space planted with sod.

We were getting thirsty by this time and I knew we could get a soda in the restaurant.  It was too early for lunch, but there were a fair amount of people sitting around eating.  Grabbing our sodas, we headed out to the front of the house.  I was surprised to see the huge amount of seating available in the front yard.  They also have a large, elevated stage, with bands playing every Sunday at 2pm. 

I sighed a deep sigh, longing for the days when the nursery was just that.  A nursery.  It has turned into a venue that holds gourmet dinners, wine tastings, bridal and baby showers and other events.  It makes me kind of sad that Wine Country Garden has become more about Wine Country than gardens, but I suppose the owners are working less and have become, financially, more successful. 

If you haven’t been, it’s worth the trip to Defiance just to see the beautiful venue that Wine Country Garden is.  When you get there you can purchase plants, have lunch, enjoy some wine or listen to a band.  Oh, and don’t forget to check out the swans in the lake!

Because George couldn’t believe the small amount of motorcycles on Highway 94, we drove into Defiance to check out the bars he used to frequent.  Where hoards of bikers would hang out on a beautiful Sunday, we saw just a dozen or so. My assumption was that boomers are getting older and the possibility of getting creamed on 94 caused some bikers to trade the Harley in for a BMW.  George sighed, remembering the freedom of his motorcycle days, and it was off to Frisellas.  It was just a mile or so away.

When we pulled up to Frisellas all I could say was…”WOW!”  There were trees, shrubs, grasses and plant material as far as the eye could see.  If you needed 30 ‘Green Mountain’ Boxwood, you would have no trouble finding them here.  Ditto for 50 pots of Miscanthus.   

Getting out of the car, still a little stupefied and trying to take it all in, we noticed a berm in the front of the store, complete with a lovely water feature.  It was very believable, as if they built the store around the feature.  The water poured over a large piece of stone perfectly- too bad they don’t have any chairs so you could “set a spell” and watch the water rippling through the creek.

As we puttered outside, we saw many ‘Plug in and Go” fountains.  Some were large and ornate, needing a house of enormous proportions in order to be in the right scale.  Luckily, for the average homeowner, many attractive, smaller fountains are available. 

There was a lovely patio set of aged concrete; it would look perfect in an English garden.  Another “one of a kind” patio set was inside the store and made of wood.  The base of the chair was sliced from one piece of wood; the arms were made of thick vines and really set it off.  A matching table rounded out the set.  It was stunning and a real statement piece, at home in the country or a woodland garden.

Frisellas had an enormous selection of annuals, tropicals, grasses and some unusual succulents.  You can also pick up your fertilizer and soil amendments there as well.  I was a little confused as to why they carried jewelry, but they do.   If you need a necklace, you can buy it at Frisellas with a side of fertilizer. 

Frisellas is truly “one stop shopping.”  They have it all, including a beautiful setting and another reason to go visit Wine Country on a stunning Sunday.

By the way…we didn’t find a suitable birdbath for George’s garden.  We’ll be on the road again soon, searching for that elusive birdbath.