Absolute Best Road Trip Ever

12 years ago

On a whim I decided to take a trip to Sylvan's Nursery In Westport MA. Perfect day for a ride in the country past where the old Children's Museum used to be that I loved as a kid. Down a little further to Zig Zag Road where I can remember standing in the back of Dad's 49 Hudson Hornet and Dad would gun it as we zigged and zagged through the curves and Mom would calmly say 'Now slow down Ernie' as us four kids screamed with delight.

OK, almost down to Sylvan's driving through the farmland along river. 77 degrees, window open and I get to Sylvan's . They have 350 acres of greenhouses, every type of plant you can imagine and some real rare trees. They also have livestock farms and processing as well.

I sign in and tell them what I am looking for (mostly wholesale, but they do sell retail) I walk past huge greenhouse after greenhouse down to the hosta row under some trees. I picked out a few hosta and a lady that works there comes over with an electric cart and we loaded up 3 hosta. She asked my name and she said she used to rent an apartment from someone with my name. My mother. She said how wondeful she was, which was no surprise to me.

Paid at the office and continued. I took an alternate root home by Horseneck Beach and went over the causeway to Gooseberry Neck.

Absolutely perfect. Gooseberry had towers during WWII to look for ships and subs. Horseneck State Beach is to the left, out of the picture (Beautiful beach)

OK, came home with

Big Daddy...not very big at all.

T Rex....very big

Blue Umbrellas....very, very big

Here they are lined up down from the Linden Tree

Settled in. What a nice day.

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Comments (6)

bkay2000
12 years ago
Sounds like a delightful day. I got to enjoy it vicariously.

Thanks,

bk
jan_on zone 5b
12 years ago
Thanks for taking us along! I enjoyed the trip!! 350 acres of greenhouses.....May need to make it a weekend next time lol.
Jan
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hosta_freak
12 years ago
Pretty good! I can't even remember when my garden was that open,with spaces like that! You must have acres to plant! Phil
User
12 years ago
Nice trip,, JonnyB. I'm not familiar with the town but MA is a surprisingly open state for such a small one.

My first drive up to New England/MA I used a Rand McNally atlas. I thought it would take a long time to cross CT and then drive up to Chelmsford. Heck, I realized they blew up the map of New England to use the whole page. You can just about drive anywhere in NE and be home for supper. I liked that. Drive up to Maine. No problem. Have lunch. Come home before dark. Sweet. Great places to see too.

Love your new hosta.
Jon 6a SE MA
Original Author
12 years ago
Jan, I think I may have misled you. They do have 350 acres, but not all of it is greenhouses. I don't know the full extent of greenhouses, buildings where they do potting and propagation (where visitors are not allowed) much of it is actual farmland, but it is a huge wholesale operation with landscapers constantly loading all sizes of trucks up to flatbeds for the big trees. .

Phil, my house lot is just slightly over 1/2 acre and I do have a separate lot that I spill out onto which is over 1/2 acre. Most of that is empty, but I have been planting along the road, with the only hosta there being seedlings. Mostly there are plants I get tired of, grow too big or that I can propagate easily. Kind of rough; a lot of day lilies, ivy, euonymus, vinca, some rhodies...things that need zero care.

Moc, evidently you have not driven to Northern Maine or New Hampshire...it is a hike.

Westport is really nice. You have the River, coves, still a lot of farms gentle slopes down to the water, harbors filled with boats, artist colony at Westport Point. Westport Town beach which used to be the old Horseneck Beach before the '53 and '54 hurricanes wiped out most of the summer places people had and the state took over those that were still standing and made Horseneck Beach Reservation. There are still remnants of the old cottages (some foundations, light columns, etc. on the reservation access roads. There is still a lot of undeveloped land around there.

A lot of old memories for me and new ones as my grandson loves to go there with his 'Bumpa' and dive in the surf (can't drag him out of the water). The water is relatively warm being on the bay side. Beautiful day and there is no pollen there and my eyes stopped itching and I could even breath easier. No crowds yet, as it is just getting real warm.

...now, if only I could win Powerball and stay there.
beverlymnz4
12 years ago
Your road trip inspires me. I have to plan my own this summer. Thanks for sharing.

Happy planting
Beverly