Each winter, we offer plants at Seattle's Northwest Flower and Garden Show and Portland's Yard, Garden, and Patio Show.  These shows are an excellent opportunity to get bargain prices on fine plants that are

1) outstanding new introductions,

2)  in high demand and very limited
     supply, or

3)  hardly ever available.

We offer scores of choice varieties in clean, easy-to-carry packages.

Visit Sundquist Nursery for choice hard-to-find plants!

Feb. 3-7, 2010 - Seattle Northwest Flower and Garden Show booth 2218 

Feb. 12-14, 2010 - Portland Yard, Garden, and Patio Show booth 976  

Easy-to-carry bare root plants at the thriftiest prices of the year!

Spend $50 at the show, get a free 'Espresso' mauve blooming, bronzeleaf hardy geranium, designer gem worth $8! 

Here are a few highlights of what we'll have at this year's February shows! 

Sundquist Nursery is one of the nation's leading growers of epimediums, ferns, and fine shade garden companions that are fun, reliable garden plants.  We have some choice new epimediums this year, including 'Black Sea', Red Queen', 'Bandit', and 'Purple Prince'. 

Choice ferns at the shows include 'Burgundy Lace' painted fern, one of the very best forms for purple color.   We'll have other great ferns, too, including much sought after Himalayan maidenhair, reasonably priced!  

For passionate plant lovers, here are rare

 golden orchids, hardy in Puget Sound!

Hosta fans can choose among fabulous new varieties and favorite colors and textures, including 'Cherry Berry',  'Designer Genes', 'Orange Marmalade' and the 2009 and 2010 Hostas of the Year, 'Earth Angel' and 'First Frost'.    

Our designer foliage plants include icy 'Jack Frost' Brunnera, dark mysterious Disporum 'Night Heron', and a naughty new Epimedium named 'Bandit'.

And this is just the beginning! 

Got sun?  We have tough beauties and hot new designer favorites for your garden! 

 High voltage Clematis  'Stolwijk Gold' lights up your fence or trellis!

Astrantia 'Abbey Road' provides a long season of deep red blooms on burgundy stems, great for bouquets and drying! 

We have several classic varieties of sumptuous single-flowered peonies - fairly priced, generous divisions.  Queens of the Garden! 

Siberian Iris 'Pink Haze', one of several gorgeous Iris. 

Alstroemeria 'Devotion' offers sumptuous apricot cut flowers over a long summer season.  We also have blood red 'Pulse' and fragrant 'Sweet Laura'. 

We have all three Prairieblues Baptisias, the 2010 Perennial Plants of the Year!

Uh-oh.  Here come the Echinaceas.  Geeez!

We'll have double flowers, flaming queens, and recession specials.  You know the economy is bad when new varieties are named for comfort foods: here come 'Mac N Cheese' and 'Tomato Soup'!

And shamelessly orange 'Tiki Torch'   

How about a 'Bonfire' Spurge to go with that? 

Or, simply sending the metaphor up in flames, you could find a spot for a 'Burning Heart' Dicentra.

Just one more highlight among many: Check out sensational Geranium 'Blue Sunrise' - blue flowers over gold cutleaf foliage, and a reliable grower! 

This is still only the beginning!  We have about a hundred great varieties at the shows.  Whether your garden ideas are sublime or outrageous, we have a plant that you need, and our prices are fair.  This is probably the best selection we've ever had.  Come see us! 

     - Nils Sundquist

       Sundquist Nursery  

How to take care of your plants from the show

The most important thing to do with "bare root" plants is to get them out of the package and into soil.  Moisture buildup or drying can occur in the package or out of the package.  Too wet or too dry conditions are the enemies of plants.  Promptly getting plants into soil helps stabilize these variables.   

Plants left in the package too long will eventually rot and may even seem to disappear.  

When we get home from the store, we put perishables in the fridge.  When we get home from the garden show with living bare root plants, we need to keep the plants away from heat, and then get them into soil within a few days.  If we do that, they're fine.   

Unlike us, plants aren't warm blooded.  They don't care if it's cold outside.  It's fine to plant outdoors even if overnight temperatures might drop well below freezing.  Cover your plant's crown with a little compost, and it should acclimate and come up fine.  The only exception to the rule of immediate outdoor planting would be east of the mountains where the ground is frozen or temperatures of 20 degrees or less are common through winter.  Here, gardeners might transplant into the ground or into pots buried in protected foundation beds, beside compost bins, or in coldframes or cool greenhouses, and wait for spring to transplant into garden beds.    

Where planting depth is concerned,  a good rule of thumb is 1" deep for the top of the roots or "crown" from which the roots grow down.  Epimediums, ferns, and salvia should be a little shallower.  Tubers such as alstroemeria can be laid sideways if the top shoots aren't obvious.  If the "up" end is apparent, tubers can be set with more of an up and down end.  Any plant's shoots should be just below the surface unless they're elongating and greening or coloring up, in which case they can be left exposed a little.   I like light airy composty mulch in the cover layer because it provides coverage without smothering and a good "fudge factor" for different depths and soil types.   

Dormant bare root handling of plants is a transplanting method that's been used successfully for thousands of years.  The material in our packages is formulated to help buffer against extremes of moisture, drying, or cold while the plants make the journey from our farm to your garden.  Your plants need to be processed promptly when they arrive at their new home.  Keep them cool, and plant them within a few days after purchase.  Prompt planting is necessary to ensure success. 

Thank you!