A Visit to Platt Hill Nursery

My sister Kathy and I were on a quest: we were looking for a particular type of crabapple tree. It needed to be fairly compact, and ideally would have burgundy leaves. It will be planted on the grounds of the church where Jim and I attend, and the aim is that the burgundy foliage would contrast attractively with the creamy limestone bricks of the church. Our search brought us to Platt Hill Nursery, in Bloomingdale, Illinois.

We found ourselves confronted with an enormous nursery. Come here if you want if you want a lot to choose from. There were many hoop houses like this, filled with perennials, vegetables, herbs, grasses . . .

DSCF4564 — Looking at Crabapple ‘Camelot’

We checked out the crabtrees, and found a likely candidate.

We couldn’t resist exploring the rest of the nursery. There were beautiful plants and displays everywhere, like this phlox . . .

And this lily.

They have many of the new varieties of coneflowers, in orange, pink, white, and purple. I believe this is called ‘Milk Shake’.

My soil is too dry for astilbe, though “Pumila” hangs on. So I could only look and sigh.

The Empress Wu hosta purports to be the largest hosta . . .

But we liked Hosta ‘Thunderbolt’ better.

Then we stopped by the greenhouse filled with container annuals, like this giant coleus . . .

and this lovely impatiens, called ‘Peach Frost’.

Looking at plants is fun!

As a plectranthus fan (see Sept. 16, 2011 post), I couldn’t resist Plectranthus ‘Emerald Lace’.

The greenhouse went on and on!

Caramels are a temptation in the checkout lane, but we managed to hold out, and had wild berry smoothies at McDonalds on the way back home.

Sorry, guy. My cats wouldn’t understand it if I brought you home!

Back at home, I set my treasures on the back porch, and took a short nap before planting.

Platt Hill is a big nursery. Come with a shopping list to keep on track, but budget for a few temptations! Platt Hill is notable for the sheer quantity of plants they have, the great selection, and for the variety, with everything from trees to pond plants.