I like the annual selection at Eric's in Reading on Rt 28. They even sell the old fashioned 6 packs. I bought a 6 pack of cleome's that are healthy and doing great. They also have the 4 inch individual pots too. Prices are average, from what I have seen around.

I also do a lot of shopping at Tewksbury Garden Center on RT 38--not far from the 495 interchange. Good prices and a good selection. I don't think I have seen that mentioned. Much better than the Tewksbury Mahoney's.

Thanks newfiewoofie, I haven't been to Eric's so that will be a treat to find a new nursery. There aren't many places still selling the old fashioned 6 pack, either. I will make the trip to the Tewksbury Garden Center too. Sounds like just what I'm looking for. Yes, Mahoney's is on my 'avoid' list.

Dear Moon,

I don't mind sharing the name of the most wonderful garden center I found this year. It is Central Mass Garden Center 621 Chase Road, Lunenburg, Massachusetts 01462 Phone:(978) 582-9400. A gardening friend told me about it years ago, but I just got a ROUND TUIT this year. I was so impressed. First of all, they are Gi-normous. Plenty of selection. And most of their annuals are in the 6-packs. I got pink gazanias, (they also had orange) zinnnias, some crimson portulaca. You can give them a call and ask about their annuals, to see if it would be worth your while for the drive. The drive is gorgeous, I will tell you that and they have lovely roses, perennials, yadda, yadda. There is a small restaurant, right up the road, The Harley House, that would be perfect for lunch. Their chef is terrific and you can either eat indoors or outside by their pool. At lunch they have a soup/salad special that is all you can eat for $6.95. It's a favorite of mine and would be perfect after you buy your plants. (The lady who does the gardens there also buys her stuff at Central Mass.) The gardens at the Harley House are really beautiful too, so this would be a lovely day trip. Enjoy

Hello Debra, thanks for sharing. :-)

I am pleasantly surprised to see it's not as far from me as I expected. So when you say the drive is gorgeous, Mapquest is suggesting Rte 3 to Rte 495. Is there a more scenic route? It really does sound like a nice afternoon adventure. Thanks for the restaurant idea too. Love restaurants that allow for outdoor seating too. I've been looking for pink gazanias...lol. Orange is what I've been finding.

Last year I was surprised by the annuals at Stonegate. They carried the old fashioned woodland nicotiana healthy pots of blue forture agastashe.
The prices are not cheap, but I'll bet they are no more expensive than Russell's.
They are having a special buy 4 get 1 free.
There's a little nursery called "Brighams" about 2 miles away (opposite direction) from Stonegate. Last year they had the unheard of verbena borariensis in a six pack at a reasonable price. Their impatiens are always big and healthy. They have fancy annuals in a back greenhouse where one of the cash registers is. In the back are big perennials at several dollars less than most retailers.

I realize some of what I've written about is not what you want, but perhaps some other readers will be interested.

I gotta say I love little old funky Brighams. It is just a minute away from Verrill Farms which used to be the only place selling home grown heirloom tomato seedlings and bags of good cow manure.. Oh yes, pick your own strawberries. I wonder if the strawberry crop has rotted out this spring?

Marie

Marie, happy for you to add information that is useful to the question asked for all readers. I've yet to make it over to Stonegate, I'm going to have to make more of an effort to go. I keep forgetting about it. Will look for Brigham's on the way.

I've been going to Central Mass Garden Ctr in Lunenburg for years and it is excellent. The original owners sold it a couple of years ago, but bought it back this year because the previous owners didn't do a good job or something along those lines.

As much as I like them, I also make sure I stop in to Dicks Market Garden nearby. Its down a little side street off the main drag (rte 13). Its an unusual place, but great prices. Six greenhouses packed with annuals. It can be tough to get around the narrow aisles, but worth it. Lots of 6-packs. The 4" Proven Winners are a buck less than anywhere else. If you buy x, you get one free. (I always forget what x is).

As the season progresses, they usually have big sales too. Perhaps after Fathers Day.

Perennials too, but mostly annuals and veggies. And local produce as well.

Is there a more scenic route?

well, you could go via Rte 225, but you may never make it all the way because you'll get sidetracked by those carlisle garden places :-)

the 119 stretch will be scenic. Before you start down 119, you could detour very slightly to rte 110 and stop at Cataldo's in Littleton. They have tons of stuff.

At the beginning of 119, are 3 farm-plant stands to stop at. And further along, there's at least 3 more places to check out.

Great, thanks Wendy! Sounds like we could spend the whole day finding one place after another..lol. Thought I would get there this weekend, but nope and next weekend is Father's Day. Maybe the weekend after that. Some of my containers are really late getting planted this year. Oh well, they'll look better in the fall.

Wendy,

Thanks for mentioning Dick's. I had heard about that place but had not found it yet. I will go soon.

Moon:

Wendy gave you some nice roads to travel. If you're not in a hurry and know how to relax, it is so beautiful driving along those country roads. And I promise, Harley House is a winner. It LOOKS expensive, but isn't. My favorite! She's right, tho, it's one nursery or plant stand after another, but the best one is at the end, so can you abstain until you reach Central Mass....... (I doubt it!!!!!) :-)

Debra,
thanks also for the tip on Harley House. I've driven by it many times and it always catches my eye, but I've never gone there for some unknown reason.

I'm going to try to remember it and be sure to visit.

Wendy

I had a chance to run over to Stonegate finally. It really wasn't that far and easy to find. It wasn't where I thought it was. I went over late in the day. They are open until 6pm but I left there at 5:15pm and wow, the traffic coming home! As you would expect at that hour. I decided to go the back way to avoid the highway, but as I expected that took as long, but at least I wasn't sitting still. I guess it depends on which direction you will go when you leave, I would have been going North on 128/95. I didn't notice if going South was any better.

Nice to have a different place to go. They do have some interesting conifers and they do have some steep prices on the interesting conifers. I saw some golden Taxus and one that I think was variegated. I saw a tricolor Pine of some kind. They had a Samantha Cornus, that someone was asking about on another thread.

They were having a sale on annuals which is what I was looking for. Buy 4 get the 5th free. I did find a few specialty annuals that I hadn't seen in local nurseries. They had a good selection of Salvias. Some variegated, two tone yellow foliage fuschia that I hadn't seen before. I brought home a Caladium called 'Miss Muffet' which I had seen before. They only had a few left and I think I got the best one. As someone mentioned they were a little pricier but since I haven't seen some of these plants at other nurseries, I have nothing to compare to.

It was an interesting nursery and my one complaint was that there were more foliar problems on the annuals and some of the perennials then I would expect and I almost went home with a small weigela until I noticed a lot of inner leaves that were damaged. I brought it to the attention of an employee who didn't seem concerned at all, so I left it there. I wanted Begonias but came home without any due to foliage that didn't look good, already had fungus on it. As most nurseries do, they pack the pots in tight, so I wonder if they just have them in an area that gets less air circulation or something about their watering practices maybe. It is later in the season to expect fresh annuals, I guess.

I did put my name on their email list and will go back. I didn't take the time to walk through their tree and shrub area that was further away from the building which I would like to do.

Thanks for the recommendation. I already have my new annuals planted but still have a shopping list to try some other suggestions. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Caladium 'Miss Muffet'

They are definitely suffering from the construction on that entire side of the property. Both annuals and perennials used to be where that huge structure is going up. Not only are they squished together on the other side, but it is shady over there. The other exposure was sunnier and I'm imagining better air circulation because fewer trees.
I hope they are not going be going the "garden center" route with more hardgoods and gifts than plants. I can't imagine where the plants are going to go when they finish whatever they are building.
Glad you found something you liked