A visit to a perennial nursery
I’ve been gravitating around this nursery for ages and the feeling I have for it and its owners is rather contrasting. At the beginning they only had a few PVC tunnels, I remember bending my head to avoid water tubes… Now the site has changed dramatically, it is very nice and clean and almost sophisticated. They offer a wide range of perennials and grasses, but you can find some precious bushes too. It’s Priola I am talking about, a nursery situated in the very center of Treviso, Italy. In the other side I kind of hate them because of the not seldom wrong labelled plants, rather high prices and sometimes they sell plants (expensive ones) very tiny or worse, diseased. Anyway it is very nice to go there and hang around amongst all those plants, especially during their ‘Open Days’, like yesterday*.
*Yesterday means Sunday, as I’m having some serious ‘misunderstanding’ with Wordopress and this post was published yesterday.
The nursery had been embellished with many well disposed pots, forming a kind of open border
There were small and huge pots constellating empty areas forming beautiful installations. However we went straight to the grass area, which takes about 1/3 of the entire nursery. They have some interesting plants there, some of them are not completely hardy though, because they sell plants to all Italy and in the south there is a very warmer climate in winter.
Part of the grasses corridor, there were some very interesting varieties
I bought a couple of grasses, one is ampelodesmos mauritanicus a pretty big grass which I’m not sure about hardiness, so I took 2 small pots and I will see. Another one is a real discover to me: bothriochloa bladhii this unpronounceable name is for a medium sized grass (45-55cm) with a pretty red tinge on the leaves, strictly related to american bluestem (andropogon) but surely suitable for italian climate and clay.
There were many miscanthus and molinias as well.
In the middle of the nursery there is a kind of hut or shed which is usually used as an office but for the yesterday event it had been converted to a dining room with Treviso typical food where everybody could help himself. There were salami, a very tasty cheese, bread, wine, cakes and other stuff. Obviously we picked some of everything… (especially Ale to be honest!).
Home-made salami, cheese and some beautiful hazelnut biscuits
We sat under a nice pergola with a wide view on the perennials.
After the break we continued our tour, looking especially for some interesting heleniums and asters as they have a lot on their catalogues. Ale confessed me he wanted a fern to plant under the cherry trees, where he has his personal bedding, so he spend a while looking at ferns.
Ale with the loaded trolley trying to make me go home...
At the end we where shouted and had our little trolley loaded, so Ale (not me actually) decided it was time to go and maybe planting something in the afternoon.
When we got home Mina was particularly cheerful with us, I didn’t understand why though… (maybe she sensed the salami smell on us…)
Mina smiling at me
The booty was very rich: a beautiful helenium ‘Loysder Wiek’, the grasses I listed above, a white flowered and rather tall clover, a tansy ‘Isla Gold’, a lime yellow helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’, a few asters ‘Purple Dome’, ‘Incomparabilis’, ‘Little Carlow’ and a pink aster ericoides I don’t remember the name, a fern for Ale, luzula sylvatica and a liriope, a silvery white senecio leucostachys and other little things I can’t even remember now…
Even if you see the sun in the picture a big windy and few rainy storm came after a while, so we didn’t planted everything.
The rest of the garden has been messed up by the strong wind but nothing too bad. I hope this storm washes away this long and hot summer and the wind brings us into fall…
Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' bears primrose yellow daisies from mid to late summer.
Aster novi-belgii 'Purple Dome' is rather short (about 40-50cm), bushy and with these shocking purple flowers
Helenium 'Loysder Wieck' is pretty tall (100-130cm) with gorgeous flowers: petals are sweet orange on top and copper red on the back. They're kind of curled too so you can see the colors mixed together.
AltroVerde 
Lucky you to have a nursery like that within a reasonable distance. There is nothing like that here in Northern Lazio, not even in Rome. I have to buy mail order but that’s really not the same. I am envious, again! Christina. Remember to join in on Foliage day tomorrow 22nd if you can, you have lots of beautiful foliage to show us.
I know, I even put a reminder un my iPhone to take some pics for the 22nd. I need to be on the right mood to take some good pics though.
I’m pretty sure you have some good nurseries in Lazio: Le Rose di Piedimonte, for instance, I know the owner and I’d really like to pay him a visit sooner or later. There is a nursery run by a french in the Olivier Filippi style somewhere in Tuscany too…
It looks a super nursery Alberto, in spite of being expensive. I don’t blame you for wanting to wander among such lovely plants, especially on their “open day” – what a good idea. Very envious of the wonderful selection of grasses that they have, all the plants you bought are going to look wonderful in your garden.
I am particularly proud of the bothrio-whatever, which I planted close to a salvia officinalis in the gravel garden and the helianthus which is now enlightening the dark part of the main bed, in the place of a big wild thistle. Thanks for passing by Pauline.
Oh Alberto, I feel like I have been plant shopping in Italy! What a fun post this was. That nursery certainly had a variety of grasses — I’m surprised you can still find ones you don’t already have growing. You got a lot of great stuff, like that Purple Dome aster. (Mina was excited about it too!) I love bringing home new plants and knowing they are out there waiting to be planted. And as the weather cools in fall it is such a fine gardening time. But I do think you got an inordinate number of grasses and flowers compared to Ale’s ONE fern. Really does this seem quite fair?
Well, to be precise he bought also luzula sylvatica and a liriope muscari for his ‘under-the-cherries’ bed so he got his part, actually.
You really like having plants waiting to be planted? Well that freaks me out. I forgot a potentilla in its little pot under the sun for less than a day and I’ve lost it. I still turn on my bed at night for this…
That nursery looks fab. How lucky to have it near you. Lots of great looking plants.
Oh come on Northern Europe is bursting with high quality nurseries! 🙂
Have you seen the helenium? Do you think it is similar to your unknown? Yours might be ‘Kanaria’ by the way.
That looks a cracking nursery, Alberto in spite of your misgivings in the past. I’m a sucker for plants put in attractive groupings. gets me everytime. And obviously you as well!
I get you or they get me? English lacks sometimes and leaves space to misunderstandings… Sorry. Thanks for passing by!
Sorry Alberto, What I meant was Iam more tempted to buy plants that are well presented in groups. Looking at the number of plants you bought you were tempted by what was for sale.
Okay? Janet
Yeah I got it now! Or it got me… or you got me… but again? 🙂
You shall know I’m not english and sometimes I might need some help to have things clear.