Have you ever acknowledge a “ Sandy ’s Plants ” label on one of your new perennial ? Well , meet agriculturalist Sandy McDougle and her wholesale - retail grow facility on 35 Acre just east of Richmond , VA . If you ’re in the expanse it ’s definitely worth a stop – not just for the opportunity to grease one’s palms some rare finds but to marvel at the encompassing and well - label display garden . Sandy welcomes groups and is happy to give them a term of enlistment through her gardens if they arrange it onwards of time .
Why , here ’s arenaceous designate off the sun - broad Heuchera ‘ Southern Comfort ’ with Blue Fescue and assorted groundcover .
Next , the dramatic Arundo donax ‘ Peppermint Stick ’ with daylilies , canna and arborvitae in the background knowledge .
Below , hellebores and ferns over a bottom of Acorus look fabulous .
More hellebore and their wraith - garden familiar .
Back in the sun , Sandy ’s “ Fairy Garden ” is fun , and demonstrates some of her favorite Stepables - brand crawling perennials . Sandy ’s the sole grower of Stepables east of the Mississippi River .
Sandy ’s Back Story
But enough about plant life – how about the woman who ’s been provide them for decades now ? I love this fib because it emerged organically , so to mouth – not planned or inherit from the category .
It all started when , as a unseasoned mother and schooltime teacher , she planted a whole pile of pussyfoot phlox in her front yard along the route , and the owner of a nearby garden center ask if he could buy them from her – for a banging 50 cent each ( this was 30 yr ago , beware you ) . She jubilantly agreed – this was get hold money !
The next whole tone toward becoming a bounteous - prison term cultivator was her sojourn toViette ’s Nurseryin Central Virginia , where she spent $ 167 on 2 boxes of plants and learn her husband jib at the lavishness . But when she discovered that her new hostas could be divided into five smaller single she caught “ extension fever ” in a big fashion , which not only pleased the husband but also allowed her to feed her industrial plant addiction as never before .
Sandy ’s Plantshasturned into a category - run business organisation , though . Ten age ago her then-26 - year - old daughter , with a gardening degree under her whang , choose over the management of the business , allow for Sandy to do what she delight most – trialing plant , speak to visitors about perennials and their care , broadly speaking go around the word . Sandy ’s tech - savvy son - in - law of nature cover the excellentwebsiteand other duty that I neglect to write down ( as we chatted over beefburger ) . Sandy ’s other materialization went a emphatically unlike itinerary – into law of nature andnow political sympathies . He serves in the Virginia Senate .
