Review of Powell's Gardens
January 1998
by Steven C. Chamberlain
105 Academy Street
Manlius, NY 13104
Steve_Chamberlain@isr.syr.edu
Powell's Gardens
9468 U. S. Highway 70 East
Princeton, NC 27569
(919) 936-4421
Catalog - $5.00
Owner: Loleta Powell, Member AHS
In the past I have purchased the following hostas from Powell's Gardens:
I received H. 'Leprechaun' as a substitute/bonus because the plants of H. 'Collector's Choice' and H. 'Shining Tot' were "smaller than normally shipped". All of these plants are thriving in the garden. I'm still working on compiling my order for 1998.
The current 73-page catalog was last updated in 1996 and will apparently be the last 'large catalog'. Although the introductory text in this catalog suggests that new price lists will be issued, no such price list accompanied the catalog I recently received, so apparently 1996 prices are still in effect. The Powell introductions are listed first: H. 'Christmas Tree Gala', H. 'Fancy Ripples', H. 'Gallant Heart', H. 'Gleaming Glory', H. 'Golden Tower', H. 'Gold Waves', H. 'Puckered Giant', H. 'Rippled Elf', H. 'Ruffles Galore', H. 'Shining Image', H. 'Sky Kissed', and H. 'White Surprise'. There follow 13 pages of alphabetical listings with abbreviated descriptions of more than 1,000 cultivars and species. The editing and proofreading of the listings are imperfect with numerous misspellings and some confusion about nomenclature. Indeed, the beginning of the listings recommends that you consult with other catalogs and books when browsing the listings. As you can imagine, with more than 1,000 hostas on the list, some of them are uncommon and not readily available from other sources. Since the catalog is two years old, there may be numerous new introductions available that aren't included in the catalog, then again, maybe not.
Prices tend to be variable. The least expensive hostas are very reasonably priced; however, because the prices haven't been updated since 1996, the most expensive hostas should have come down in price somewhat as supplies became greater, but they haven't. The most expensive hosta listed is H. 'Laura and Darrell' for $250. There are many plants available for $3, $4, and $5. Shipment is reliable for the dates requested.
Hostas are shipped bareroot. All of them have arrived here in excellent condition and have made the transition to the garden easily. Powell's Gardens is another one of the southern hosta growers sometimes mentioned in gossip about foliar nematodes, i.e. "be careful, some of their plants have foliar nematodes". I have not found this to be true in any of the hostas I have received from them. Furthermore, my experience in the north (zone 5a) is that foliar nematodes produce visible symptoms only late in the season and can be rather easily controlled by cleaning up the leaves and removing them from the property (rather than composting them) promptly in the fall.
The catalog has extensive listings of iris, daylilies, perennials, and woody plants.
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