Well, maybe not a *secret* to all of you, but definitely a secret to me...

I was lucky to visit a specialty/hosta nursery today in Cockeysville, (Maryland, about 10 minutes outside of Baltimore) and had such a lovely time there that I wanted to post about it for anyone in the area who might be interested. Maybe I should post in the Hosta Forum as well?

It's called Happy Hollow Nursery and it's amazing... has 2 greenhouses full of different hosta varieties-- easily over a hundred, I bet. *I* went to look mostly for dwarf/mini's because the shady part of my garden is fairly small... and there were 2 dozen different varieties of miniature hosta alone! There's a much larger (and pricier) nursery 5 minutes from this place, that only had 2 mini varieties, so I was tickled. I left with 2 new hosta-- ironically neither of which were mini but to that, I say "whatevs". Sometimes you surprise yourself.

Happy Hollow is owned and operated by Sue Bloodgood, whose home is also there on the grounds. Sue met us at the gate and we all introduced ourselves, then spent a good while talking as we checked out her beautiful plants. I'm not sure I've ever met a kinder, or more knowledgeable gardener on any of my nursery visits... my mom and I agreed that we felt like old friends when we left! As I'd not been able to find info on Happy Hollow here among the forums before we went, I decided I'd write about it quick when I got home. The place seems almost like a secret, though I have no idea how or why since it's just awesome.

Here are some pics of the greenhouses, and then my selections:

The "mini" section is on the right as you enter:

My 2 new additions...

Striptease:

Rainforest Sunrise:

Sue has other shade plants there too, and some other really interesting stuff that I wanted to take some pics of. Her late husband made sculptures, like this awesome frog carved out of featherstone lava (I think that's what it was called anyway):

And these hosta leaves...and interesting "faces", that he had made molds of out of clay and then produced... I don't remember what they're made out of... I guess some kind of concrete or something:

Here are some of those hosta leaves that her daughter paints, they looked really cool too:

Very talented family, obviously..

Anyway, just figured I should share my excitement with any of you hosta lovers in the area. We will surely be visiting Sue for many years to come!

The address, if anyone's interested, is

12212 Happy Hollow Road

Cockeysville, MD 21030

410.252.4026

If anyone else makes the trip and buys any hosta, I'd love it if you'd post a picture for us to see : )

-Nicole