Sundquist Nursery is known for hardy ferns, epimediums, shade companions, better perennials, ornamental grasses, and (Nils just can't help himself) some nice woody plants.
As water becomes an increasingly valuable resource, there is no disputing the merits of drought tolerance in the landscape. Sundquist Nursery grows many drought tolerant plants for beauty in low-water situations.
In many gardens that receive filtered light in the afternoon, or where the soil retains moisture, the need for drought tolerance is lower. A number of ferns, hostas, and other shadelovers are tough enough to perform well with very limited water in many spots, particularly if compost is added. They're easy, tough, and beautiful in the right place, be it here in the maritime Pacific Northwest, or beyond.
After beauty, our primary focus is on low maintenance. We offer plants that don't need coddling if they are well matched to the site to begin with.
Our plants are typically offered in garden-ready sizes. Most are grown in #1 (trade standard "one gallon" round or square containers) or 4.5 x 5" deep square pots. A few small-stature plants are grown in 3.5 x 4" deep square pots. Some ferns, grasses, and shrubs are grown in larger pots - #2, 3, or 5. At winter garden shows, we offer dormant plants without soil, "bare root."
You can submit a plant list and ask if we have varieties you're looking for. You never know what we have unless you ask. The worst that can happen is we'll tell you we don't have what you want.
HARDY FERNS Sundquist Nursery offers the largest selection in the Northwest. Our list of available ferns typically includes about fifty species and forms. Some specialty growers offer more varieties in very limited numbers. We usually produce by the hundred or don't list the plant. Nils has spent years building stock on a few species that are particularly fine and useful, as well as chronically unavailable. These include Adiantum venustum (Himalayan Maidenhair, a frothy nearly evergreen creeping mound), Blechnum chilense (an extraordinary tropical-looking large evergreen), and Blechnum penna-marina, (an excellent colonizing dwarf evergreen edging or groundcover).
Ferns are a big group of plants that, in evolutionary terms, has been around for a while. As with most evolutionary "survivors," many ferns have a sturdy constitution, and this makes them reliable garden plants. Reliable performance, low maintenance requirements, great foliage interest, and the availability of evergreen forms has recently fueled an increase in enthusiasm for ferns. Some fern or other will fit nicely into that partially shaded empty spot that exists in most gardens. As Nils sometimes puts it, no matter how you've overeaten, there's always room for jello.
In recent years, improving production techniques have made superior fern selections readily available.
Nils is often asked what kinds of ferns are sun or drought tolerant. Puget Sound candidates include sword fern, lady fern, deer fern (where compost is added), and some Dryopteris complexa, D. dilatata, and D. filix-mas (usually the finer-textured or crispier forms of each). Osmunda cinnamomum and O. claytonia (cinnamon fern and interrupted fern) display impressive drought tolerance as roadside plants in the eastern U.S., and are tough here as well, provided they are growing in their preferred humusy/composty soil. Astrolepis (Cheilanthes) sinuata and other "desert" or "scree" ferns are excellent for sun and drought. You have to drop some preconceptions of what conditions ferns want and use the desert and scree ferns in brighter, drier sites with faster drainage than for other ferns.
Most ferns accept bright light (morning sun and filtered afternoon light) with some combination of added compost and water. If a fern is chronically light green and you suspect it should be darker, and if the soil is decent, the remedy is usually to move it to more shade.
EPIMEDIUMS Sundquist Nursery's inventory of these plants is among the largest in the country. We have listed as many as eighteen forms, with most of them available by the hundred each year, and some by the thousand. More forms are becoming available each year.
One of the drawbacks of epimedium is their slow growth as young plants, which results in a relatively high cost for a decent-sized plant. Growers may try to increase availability or lower the cost by offering small sizes, but these plants aren't always garden-ready. Our potgrown epimedium are in 4.5 x 5" deep square pots. Nils believes this is a very good combination of garden readiness and affordable pricing. We offer some smaller plants at the February garden shows which, if planted promptly, can become fairly established before the summer dry season.
There is currently an effort to popularize epimediums by calling them some name other than their botanical name or their traditional uninspiring common name, barrenwort. You'll often see them referred to as bishop's caps or fairywings. The image of a bishop's cap, if you're acquainted with religious tradition, evokes the flower, but says nothing about the plant. The fairy wing image evokes airiness but says little about either the flower or the plant. Neither of these common names is very helpful in describing the genus or doing it justice. So Nils goes on calling these plants epimediums, just as people call a rhododendron a rhododendron.
What a genus it is! Epimediums are currently experiencing a surge in popularity similar to that seen recently in hellebores. Epimediums bloom in a range of colors beginning in early spring, and they often continue for several months. The flowers are delicate but durable and are often produced in profusion. The closer you get, the better they look, and the more engaging they become.
They are beautiful planted singly or en masse. Many are evergreen. Many are hardy in cold regions of North America, which, given their points of origin across Asia, isn't surprising. A number of epimediums tolerate sun and drought, at least here in the Northwest, where our summers are definitely dry, and may briefly be hot. A number of epimediums (especially deciduous ones) provide good fall color.
Epimedium grandiflorum and E. x youngianum are mounding, usually clumpforming plants a foot or more high and up to two or more feet wide in a few years time. There are dozens of named forms of each these two epimediums. The former have some of the largest blooms of the genus; the latter are smaller in flower and stature, but very profuse flowering. They are both essentially deciduous, although most grandiflorum varieties and a few youngianums often hold foliage into winter, until it's skeletonized by the weather. Some grandiflorum (especially 'Queen Esta' and 'Lilafee') provide nice fall color, as do many youngianum varieties. These two types of epimedium are usually used as accent companions or edgings in shade gardens with rhododendrons or companions such as ferns and hostas. These epimediums will provide plenty of advance notice if they intend to encroach on polite company such as trilliums or hepaticas. They are practical as large area groundcovers if they are planted close enough (14 to 18" on center) to fill in without waiting (and weeding in between) too long. 
A number of epimediums spread via creeping rhizomes to become broader area groundcovers. The good news is that, while they are durable, steady growers and are often evergreen, they are "friendly" in terms of maintenance and our natural environment. They are not rampant, and have very limited invasive potential.
Here are a few excellent epimediums for drifts of color or broader area coverage:
- alpinum 'Shrimp Girl'
- grandiflorum ssp. koreanum 'Harold Epstein'
- pinnatum ssp. colchicum and its variety 'Thunderbolt'
- pubigerum
- sempervirens 'Okuda's White'
- x cantabrigiense
- x perralchicum and its variety 'Frohnleiten'
- x rubrum and its variety 'Sweetheart'
- x versicolor and its varieties 'Cherry Tart' and 'Sulphureum'
- x warleyense
- hybrids 'Black Sea' and 'Enchantress'
Of these, three reliable evergreens at our location include colchicum, perralchicum 'Frohnleiten', and 'Black Sea'. 'Frohnleiten' is topped by shrimp pink new growth in spring, and often blushes red in winter. 'Black Sea' is getting a lot of notice for its dark purple winter leaf color, even though the foliage isn't quite as sturdy as that of the first two.
This is just the tip of the iceberg where the genus is concerned - there are hundreds of worthy epimediums not mentioned here. More are becoming available each year.
Darrell Probst of Garden Vision has done a lot of work to sort out epimedium nomenclature, and to promote the genus and make new forms available. Garden Vision is an excellent source of epimediums and select companions. A list of available plants can be obtained by writing to 63 Williamsville Rd., Hubbardston, MA 01452-1315, or email darrellpro@earthlink.net. The website is http://home.earthlink.net/~darrellpro.
SHADE GARDEN COMPANIONS Sundquist Nursery offers a generous selection of shade garden companions including nursery-grown trilliums, solomon's seals, hepaticas, hostas, and many others.
BETTER PERENNIALS Sundquist Nursery is a leading source for new or hard-to-get perennials including astrantias, crocosmias, echinaceas, hardy geraniums, and numerous natural garden selections.
FINE WOODY PLANTS Sundquist Nursery is a great source for unique and unusual woody plants.
Sundquist Nursery's superior selections help you create unique, personalized gardens while reducing your maintenance worries!
