Hoffie Perennial Plants

Here at C'Side we are very proud of the fact that we grow a lot of the plants we sell. Earlier this year I kept you posted of the progress we made getting ready for spring. However, we couldn't possibly grow all of the plants we sell and we do buy in perennials in order to meet demand. That is one reason our plants always look so good; they are usually fresh off the delivery truck. We are fortunate here in northern Illinois to have several local perennial plant suppliers.

One of our perennial plant suppliers is Hoffie Nursery located in Union, IL. Hoffie's is owned by Carsten Hoffmeyer and if you went on the Garden Walk sponsored by the Master Gardener's of McHenry County you went to Carsten's house. Hoffie's is strictly a wholesaler, but they have developed a new web site that I thought might be of interest. Their website is http://www.perennialquality.com/ and I have added a link at the bottom of the blog. The website features descriptions of new plants as well as plants from their general catalog. The descriptions include flower and foliage highlights as well as companion plants. Home gardeners can make a list of the plants they want and print it to take to their local nursery (hopefully Countryside).

The Luggage Returns

Well, if you followed my adventures to Spain this summer you know that my luggage had an extended stay in Madrid. I finally had to pay DHL to pick it up, which they did gladly, tho I have yet to see the bill. Although by the end of the trip my back pack felt like it weighed a ton, especially with the addition of the Moroccan rug, apparently they both only weighed about 10 kilos combined, near as I can tell from the air bill, so it might not be as expensive as I thought. I did get my pictures back and as I sort through them I will post a few to the blog. Here are a couple from a garden in Cordoba.