Spring 2008

Dear Members and Friends,

It is hard to believe that we are beginning our fifth season at Nasami Farm, but it was a cool April day in 2004 when we opened our gates for the very first day of retail sales under ownership of New England Wild Flower Society. That day, to the chagrin of my staff, I was actually leading a trip through the southern Appalachians, so I only heard by cell phone about the overwhelming turnout we had that first day. In fact, every weekend that first season, we had great turnouts. Your support that first year and for the three subsequent years proves that our move west has been a tremendous success. All the staff and I want to sincerely thank you for helping us grow as a nursery and a conservation organization in the Pioneer Valley.

Many of you know that my latest in the Society’s series of native plant references, Native Ferns, Moss & Grasses, was published this February (available for purchase online at www.newenglandwild.org). To celebrate these green plants, I would like to highlight a few offerings you might consider for your garden this year. 

Grasses and ferns give form and texture to the ground plane, and the way they interact with color and light can make the ordinary garden extraordinary.  A few of my favorite ferns include the soft, kinetic maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum); the tough and resolutely evergreen Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides); the statuesque interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana); and the delicate, though vigorous, lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina).

For native grasses, Pioneer Valley residents should consider little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) for meadows or borders. Both are drought-tolerant, clumping grasses with beautiful orange and red fall color. If you want a grass-like plant for a shady spot, try pale blue silver sedge (Carex platyphylla) or spreading, light green Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica). The first becomes a ten-inch high mound of wide, evergreen leaves and the second, a billowing sod of thin foliage that turns soft yellow as it fades in autumn.

These and many other green standouts are available at the Nursery. We all look forward to seeing you.

Happy spring,

William Cullina

Horticultural Research Director

New England Wild Flower Society