Last week I went to Groffs in Quarryville. It was great.Check them out on this web site ://www.groffsplantfarm.com/index.html

I agree about Groff's. Great selection and good prices.

I 'did' Groffs on Friday. Fantastic perennial starts (3"-4" pots) for $1.75. Plus great selection of regular size perennials at great prices. Always go to Kens (Smoketown) for herbs and vegetables (they also have a few heirloom tomatoes now). I don't buy annuals but they have a good selection. Bulk seeds and cover crops from Rohrers.

Thanks so much! Groff's it is!!

Although the original email is a little old, always good to have new places to stop.

I was in Lancaster this weekend and stopped at Shenks GreenHouse on the Old Lancaster Pike. It is a nice GH with good prices. Mostly annuals and a fair selection of perenials -

Any other suggestions please list ......

As always Martins in Devon PA - on 322 Many unusual plants

If you can't make it to Groff's, Sauders in Leola is another very good nursery. Excellent prices and high quality plants.

Sauders in Leola is another very good nursery.

Could you provide an address, and maybe a description of why it is good ( ie good prices, unusual variety lots of perennials .....) - I can't find it on the web - would like to go.

garden_grammie:

I'm glad you made it to Groff's last week.

I also recommend Groff's.

Plantman 56:

Sauders Nursery is at 1210 E. Earl Rd., East Earl, PA 17519. (Yes, the name of the street and the name of the town are both East Earl). It's a little past Leola off of Route 23. Their phone number is 717-354-9851. Their prices are very good, but it is the quality of their plants (healthy root systems, lush foliage) that I like. I have purchased trees, shrubs, grasses and flowering perennials from them and have been very pleased. It is a family run business, and the folks there are very knowledgeable about what they grow and sell.

I hope that helps.

Great Melissas Thanks

Anyone else have any grea nurseries or greenhouses. Lancater COunty has many places that are not well advertized outside the area.

Barbara Fisher's is another good nursery-it is off maple shade rd-off 472-about 2 mi from Groff's-a lot of annuals,veg and herbs-also, the benefit shrub sale will be at the Red Rose Inn the Sat of memorial day weekend-great buys--star roses 3 for $10- trees,shrubs,etc this will be the last year for the sale.

Sorry - Martin's is in Narvon Pa

I have just found out about Fry's in Ephrata which I am going to check it out real soon ;)

Here is a link that might be useful: Fry's

Where is the Red Rose Inn?

the red rose inn is in jennersville,pa-rte 796 and old baltimore pke-between oxford,pa and kennett square

A friend recommended Hoovers Farm Market 30 Erbs Bridge Road Lititz PA 17543 717 733 1048

Good prices on perennials

I love going to all the Amish Greenhouses in PA there are so many of them and the price is right.
My favorite is Meadowview Greenhouse off of 896. I just drive there and I can't really tell you much more about how to get to it. I come from Maryland and take rt 10 to 896 and you go pass ABC Woodcraft (amish furniture Store) on left and then it isn't much further until you come to two amish places right across from each other on 896, one sells dog houses. Right after them, you make a left, there is a very small sign that says Meadowview Greenhouse. You go to through one stop sign and once over the little hill is the greenhouse on your left. I go back there every year to get my flowers!! There are one of the cheaper greenhouses that I have found.

Near Black Creek Greenhouses is Conestoga Nursery. They compliment Black Creek Greenhouses. Black Creek has annuals, perennials and water plants. Conestoga has nursery stock from shrubs to trees. They have unusual stuff as well as the popular plants. Great places, great prices. Both are west of Lancaster between Lancaster and Reading.

Conestoga Nursery - Closed Tuesday & Sunday
310 Reading Rd, East Earl PA 17519-9964
717-445-4076
located on PA 625 1.5 miles north of PA 23 (near Shady Maple)

Black Creek Greenhouses
211 E Black Creek Rd, East Earl, PA 17519
717-445-5046
from Conestoga Nursery go north on PA 625 another 2.2 miles and turn right on Black Creek Road and go .4 miles.

Shady Maple Smorgasbord
129 Toddy Dr, East Earl, PA 17519
717-354-8222
Shady Maple Smorgasbord is a huge Amish style buffet that is very popular. It is on PA 23 just .5 miles west of PA 625. It is located on top of the hill behind the Shady Maple Farm Market. The combination of the three make a great outing.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to grow rhododendrons and azaleas.

It is that time of the year. And since this thread has some good nurseries, thought I would bump to the top.
I do a road trip from Harrisburg and try to hit as many places as possible. This year I would like to go to

BLACK CREEK GREENHOUSES
211 E BLACK CREEK RD, EAST EARL, PA 17519
Phone: (717) 445-5046

And maybe Groffs'.
Mike

Black Creek GH has excellent prices and an excellent selection of annuals, perennials, water plants and fish. From PA 23 (near Shady Maple) go north on PA 625 another 3.7 miles and turn right on Black Creek Road and go .4 miles. It is Amish so it is probably closed on Sunday.

Conestoga Nursery has an excellent selection of shrubs with excellent prices. They grow much of their own stuff, so if you don't see it, ask and they may just not have it on display. It is located on PA 625 1.5 miles north of PA 23 (near Shady Maple). It is closed Sunday and Tuesday.

I love Black Creek. A couple of words of advice: If you can avoid going on a weekend, you should. The tables are very close together and it can get kind of hairy wheeling around a big cart loaded with plants. Also, going earlier in the season is better as they tend to sell out of many varieties that are harder to find, like hellebores. I need to plan my own Black Creek Day!

Black Creek Nursery is where I bought baby lady's slipper orchids one year. The wild ones. They didn't survive (sniff) and they never had them for sale again. :( I assumed they were propagated by tissue culture and not dug up from the wild. They are extremely difficult to grow as they have a symbiotic relationship with the micorrhizae the soil.

Not in Lancaster County, but this place is my favorite. There are 3 locations. I have only been to the one in Lititz, and believe me, it is so worth the trip. The others are in Mohnton and Fleetwood.
http://www.esbenshades.com/

Great Thread
Time to start thinking about spring road trips

I am looking for a greenhouse to buy local vegetable plants. Any great places?

local vegetable plant - Where do you live,

Black Creek is open March 1st!! Just 4 days from now - spring fever? Who me? :)

I have spring fever too! Has anyone been to Black Creek since it opened on March 1st 2012? How is the inventory? Worth the trip or is it a little too early and I should wait a bit longer? How about any other suggestions for greenhouses in the Lancaster area that you can't resist. I find the best backyard greenhouses by just driving around, but with gas being so expensive, I would rather save the money to buy more plants!!

I think I want to try the black creek- connestoga combo this spring. It should be a fun road trip and I'm planning to expand my potted plantings this summer! Maybe I can get some good deals and make the gas costs worth it...... Of course a good Amish buffet might factor in well too :)

Kato_b, Shady Maple Buffet is just up the road from Black Creek/Conestoga if you need to refuel. Also, for other people planning a trip to the area, Frysville Farms (near Ephrata) and Esbenshades (the bigger one near Brickerville) are also popular nearby nurseries and quite well-stocked (though I love Black Creek best of all).

I am lucky enough to live less than 2 miles from Black Creek and I definitely know how good I have it!

I made it down there last week and it was a nice trip. It was a two hour drive for me though so it was more an adventure than a money saver! I got great deals though. If you know your plants and know what you want I think you will be more impressed than if you are just looking for a couple of flats of impatients or marigolds. What I mean is that not everything is a blooming six pack that looks good on the shelf. These plants looked cared for and looked like they were ready to go in the garden.... For example I bought some purple wave petunias for 75 cents a piece. They weren't in bloom and didn't look like much but in another week or so I'm sure they will be better than the blooming 6 inch pots that would have cost me 4.50

Will I make the trip again? Probably not. But if I lived in a more expensive area like Philly I would.

I made it down there last week and it was a nice trip. It was a two hour drive for me though so it was more an adventure than a money saver! I got great deals though. If you know your plants and know what you want I think you will be more impressed than if you are just looking for a couple of flats of impatients or marigolds. What I mean is that not everything is a blooming six pack that looks good on the shelf. These plants looked cared for and looked like they were ready to go in the garden.... For example I bought some purple wave petunias for 75 cents a piece. They weren't in bloom and didn't look like much but in another week or so I'm sure they will be better than the blooming 6 inch pots that would have cost me 4.50

Will I make the trip again? Probably not. But if I lived in a more expensive area like Philly I would.

Here is a great website with a long list of Lancaster County Greenhouses Real Lancaster County