Plant Shopping: Join Me On My Favorite Pastime!

An otherwise ordinary Tuesday found me driving down Creve Coeur Mill Road, looking for something interesting and colorful to plant in my garden.  I knew that if I didn’t find something special at Dauster’s, my first stop, I surely would as I ventured down the road a bit to Thies Farms.  Who knew that I would find some great plants that were absolutely, positively new to me at Dausters?

Dauster’s is a family run nursery that I have been frequenting for many years.  I enjoy the feeling just driving up to the place.  It’s like nothing has changed for decades.  For starters, the parking lot and walkways are gravel.  When it rains, water seeps into the ground.  Before rain gardens, before permeable paver surfaces there was white gravel driveways and walkways to handle runoff.  The checkout area is an airy, open building.  There’s no air conditioning at Dausters- in the summer months a box fan keeps employees cool.  Large and attractive wooden wagons hold displays of perennials in bloom.  The greenhouses are sensible, durable and economical Quonset style, nothing fancy, no bells and whistles.   You get the picture…you’re traveling back in time and visiting Creve Coeur as it once was!

Each year I ask the owner how he is managing with the deer overpopulation.  A few years ago he told me that deer entered the portion of the complex that holds the Hosta.  He shook his head and said, “The deer got them all.  They didn’t leave one Hosta.”  Last year we discussed the merits of Liquid Fence.  We both agreed that Liquid Fence outperformed them all.  This year I noticed that he had built a tall fence around all of the nursery property- I know a deer fence when I see one!   It seems that Liquid Fence just stopped working.  We both know that deer are voracious eaters, and he felt no option than to fence the entire area in.  “Wow, that must have been a huge expense,” I replied.  He agreed, but said it was the only way to keep them out of the nursery.  At the checkout, I noticed that he is selling a new type of deterrent.  It resembles a bottle of vitamins, but they’re tablets: you actually plant them with plants that deer are known to browse.  Hosta, Impatiens, you name it.  The product is systemic and is touted to be long lasting.  At $18.95 a bottle I was hesitant to purchase it- I’ll wait until I get a report from those who have tried it.

Finishing our conversation I was immediately struck by the most beautiful, colorful plant.  It looked like corn!  It was Corn!  For $4.25 I could have a new introduction, aptly names “Field of Corn!”  It’s hot pink, chartreuse and pale white.  If you know me, you also know that hot pink and bright green are my favorite colors- whether it’s clothes, furnishing or plants!  I put 3 of them aside. 

The next stunner was a new Celosia named “Intensa.”  Yup, it’s intense all right!  It boasts a hot pink bloom, much larger than most of the Celosia family.  It looked like it was made for my new Corn plant!  Bingo…another winner!

If you love the Limelight Hydrangea but have limited space, why not try the new, ‘Little Lime.’  It’s a more compact shrub altogether.  My son’s friends, Skylar and Matt, are getting married soon and have recently bought a house.  We gave them 3 ‘Little Lime’ Hydrangeas and they just love them!  They’re the perfect size for a starter home or condo.  Because of their size, they’d be great in containers, too.  How about paring up a ‘Little Lime’ with Supertunia ‘Vista Bubblegum Pink,’ ‘Wasabi’ Coleus and Dichondra ‘Silver Falls.’  In a large container it’s a winning combination, looking splendid all summer long!

Plectranthus is a family of plants that has been on the market for a while, mainly sold as houseplants.  In recent years, some of the more popular varieties are being sold as bedding plants.  Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ is a real stunner, especially you like purple.   It’s a full, lush plant with soft, velvety leaves and lovely lavender blooms spikes.  My friends Rebecca and John grew it along their pool deck last year and it looked just great!  Strong and sturdy, try pairing it with an under planting of some kiwi-colored Sweet Potato Vine. 

Dausters also had some new Osteospermum, commonly known as African daisy.  There are many colors to choose from and they preform like crazy I our hot and humid summers.  I found so many great plants at Dausters, I never made it to Thies Farms.  There’s always next week, though.  I can’t go very long without hopping in the car, taking a field trip and trying out some new plants.  Some women love to shop for shoes, others love chocolate; I love puttering around looking for unusual, new and colorful plants!  And I found them at Dausters!