Not a nursery, but if you don't mind crossing back to the NH side of the Connecticut River, the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site is in Cornish and has gardens with outdoor sculpture as well as the house and indoor art. I haven't been but it's on my list of places to go and is supposed to have nice gardens.

Great suggestion, nhbabs. I went there in June for the first time. It was fun to also see a wedding party doing a scavenger hunt. Also visited the Fells for the first time that weekend. There's a farm stand north of St Gaudens that I think also has plants. I didn't stop then but may this time.

The only suggestion I could offer would be Equinox Valley Nursery in Manchester, Vermont. I have bought a lot of my perennials there over the years, and I can't recall a single plant or shrub bought from there that hasn't thrived. How unusual their stock is, I couldn't really say, but they seem to have a large selection. Of course, in late August, they won't have as large of a selection of perennials as in June.

They are located on the old route 7 (7a) just south of Manchester village.

http://equinoxvalleynursery.com/nursery

Enjoy your trip and the garden tours!

This post was edited by spedigrees on Mon, Aug 4, 14 at 11:48

I've never been to Perennial Pleasures, but I think it might be on your route...I know they carry a lot of heirloom plants and they have their Phlox Fest every August but I think you'd be missing that...not sure what their stock would be but could be worth looking into.

Here is a link that might be useful: Perennial Pleasures

I've never been there, but friends keep telling me that I need to visit Cady Fall Nursery in Morrisville, VT. It's North of where you will be visiting, but take a look at the web site. It seems like the place to go in VT.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: Cady Falls Nursery

Perennial Pleasures was a nice visit last year and maybe I should go again. Steve, Cady Fall is the nursery I would really like to visit but the drive is far. I read that they are downsizing so maybe I should make the effort this year.

Thanks, the Equinox looks nice, too.

One time while staying in western VT, we accidently discovered Horsford Nursery. That was a nice accident.

I wish this place were closer to me, but it's way up north. It's off the path of your travels as well, defrost, and doesn't look like it offers shrubs or trees. However I love their all organic - no pesticides growing policy.

http://www.arcana.ws/blog/

Cady Falls Nursery is very close to us and I've been there a few times since we moved here two years ago...it's definitely worth a visit and they do have some different plants. I didn't think to mention it as it's not really on your route but if they are going to downsize, I'd definitely considering trying to visit!

Lucy

Here is the link to the Cady Falls Nursery page where they said this might be the last year of their printed catalog and they may concentrate on hard to find plants:
http://www.cadysfallsnursery.com/Catalogs%202014.html

I think I should make this a good road trip. And visit some Vermont nurseries in the spring. I think we were up in the Cady Falls Nursery area a few years ago and went to an antique tractor show. Lucy, you're getting me convinced.

Alot depends on what level of interest you have. IMO,
Cady's Falls is extraordinary for the design of their display gardens and the more unusual perennials (esp woodland)and conifers they sell. Rocky Dale is great for their woody plants and more unusual perennials. We usually spend 3 + hours at each. I agree about Horsford. Sounds like you might have gone to Shelburne Museum to see one of their antique farm equipment displays.Stellar museum.

Your moniker does not say where you garden? Have you been to Tranquil Lake ?

Here is a link that might be useful: cotton-arbo retum website; free; open daily

Thank you for sharing the link about Cadys Falls - I haven't been to their web site in a while so haven't seen that. I had noticed that it seems they had a bit less inventory this spring but didn't think much of it...now I know different!

arbo-return, my apologies, I thought I had posted. Your website is wonderful and I enjoyed looking through it. Thank you for confirming Rocky Dale and Cady's Falls both deserve a visit.

I put more effort into my vegetable garden but I'm recently almost retired so I have more time to doing some decent landscaping. I have a lot to learn. I garden in NH so I'm not familiar with Tranquil Lake. My favorite nursery in NH is Uncanoonuc Perennials.

http://www.ciderhillvt.com/

http://vermontflowerfarm.com/

These are two places to consider visiting. Both are off the I-91,Cider Hill,Windsor,VT is south of WRJ and VFF is north:get off at Groton State forest exit WEST rt 302 and head west to 232 that takes you right through Groton +past the farm in Marshfield(beautiful place,BTW)

I very much enjoyed our visit to Cady's Falls. The display gardens aren't as large as I thought they would be but one could spend a lot of time there. It was interesting that due to wet areas, they were able to incorporate a little pond and boggy area into their perennial gardens. Needless to say, one should spend time studying what conifers, shrubs, perennials, etc were used. I also liked someone's talent with old metal for garden decorations and planters. Even the bent rebar hoops were nice accents. My husband who doesn't care about plants had fun identifying different metal parts. Although I only bought two perennials, I came home with what may be their last printed catalog so I can plan a future buying trip after I do necessary work on existing beds.

Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to also visit Rocky Dale and on Sunday, due to late start, we only managed to visit 3 of the 5 gardens that were open for Garden Day. All three were well off the beaten path but directions were sufficient for finding them. Also drove by another recommended nursery without enough time to stop. Was happy to see broad leaved chives used by professional gardeners/landscapers also my favorite lemon gem marigold which is so hard to find.