Last week we took a field trip to Logee’s Greenhouse in Danielson, Connecticut. If you are a plant lover who lives in southern New England, Logee’s is probably a familiar name and well worth the trip! They sell fruiting, rare, tropical, and house plants. Oh, and succulents too. There are many unusual varieties and it is hard to describe how absolutely jam-packed the greenhouses are.
The family owned business has been in Danielson since 1892. The display greenhouses are old cedar or cypress framed glasshouses. The atmosphere is warm and humid with the wonderful fragrance of jasmine filling the air. One greenhouse leads to another in a maze of dirt floors, filtered sunlight, and old stone foundations.
We managed to restrain our purchases to only a few plants but it wasn’t easy! I would love to go back in the dead of winter when the green-ness of it would be such an antidote to the grey sleeping garden. To read more about the history of the greenhouses and see their amazing plant selection (also available through mail order) the website is: www.logees.com
The Dahlia is a genus of plants that has great diversity, exhibiting some flowers that are small and compact, whereas others are large and the leaves are open relative to one another. This diversity comes from Dahlias being octoploids where most plants are diploids in their chromosomal structure. The Dahlias also don’t emit any fragrance, so they rely on their brightly colored petals to attract pollinators. Even though they’re native to Mexico, they do well here and are always a pleasure to look at. 
Phlox paniculata ‘David’ is a white cultivar of Phlox that gives a bright contrast and jumps out immediately. Even in a dark night with only moonlight it is pronounced among the other plants. It has a soft texture and just seems very calm to me, not too gaudy or in your face. 
Pink Powder Puff (Calliandra emarginata) is just funny to look at, I think. Native to Mexico, it has these really goofy looking flowers that resemble exploding fireworks. It makes an awesome picture, and they flower year round in the greenhouse too, which is pretty awesome if you ask me.
The compost pile, to me, resembles the cyclical nature of plants – and life in general really. Even though things die, they can always be re-purposed into something new, giving nutrients and new life to the plants that come after them. I guess it all comes down to how in-depth and metaphysically you think when you look at a pile of dirt – but there is a lot that compost contributes to the garden and the plants of the future.
URI Botanical Gardens Blog 