BUSINESS BUZZ Village Gardens
John Cate of Village Gardens in South Dartmouth with his first shipment of plants.
NICE
NURSERIES
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By Ann Katzenbach
pring is here and it’s about time! After months of cold, grey days, the promise of warm weather and sunshine gets many of us thinking about flowers to brighten our garden beds, decks, terraces, and window boxes. If you are a dig-in-the-dirt gardener or if you simply love having pots of flowers around, the nurseries in this part of New England are ready for you. They’ve been starting seeds, dividing roots, and taking cuttings, setting out trays and trays of plants in warm, moist greenhouses so as to be ready for you when the urge for spring colors gets you out the door.
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April 2020 | The South Coast Insider
Pansies are the favorite early spring plant. At Village Gardens in Russell’s Mills, John Cate is known for pansies as well as a long list of other annuals and perennials, some familiar like begonias and fuchsia, and others that you can learn about from John ’s long experience. He has a degree in floraculture from UMass Amherst, and has been propagating, growing, and selling plants since 1986. He also does landscape design and is a skilled pruner. In December he plants pansy seeds in one of his greenhouses and by mid-April they bloom in happy shades of orange, purple, yellow, and white. Ladybugs wander through the greenhouses at Village Gardens, quietly eating any damaging larva that might be around. John does not use strong chemicals and tries to keep his growing practices as organic as possible. Village Gardens also sells herbs and hanging pots that are artfully planted. Their small nursery shop at 27 Slades Corner Road (just west of Davoll’s General Store) has a small sign and is easy to miss, so go slow. Village Gardens is located at 27 Slades Corner Road in South Dartmouth, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more at villagegardensdartmouth.com.
Peckham’s Greenhouse For a contrast in size and variety, Peckham’s Greenhouse at 200 West Main Road in Little Compton has grown over the decades to include house plants, sedums, orchids cacti, shrubs, as well as a vast inventory of annual and perennial plants. Rick Peckham’s family started the business and he’s been involved with growing plants for 40 years. In March, while ocean temperatures keep the land chilly, his greenhouses are filled with endless trays of plants, growing silently and, one imagines, happily, in the warm, moist air. These have all been scheduled to be ready at just the right time. Pansies go into the large outdoor
