Park Seedanybody gone there??

I will be visiting a friend in SC in a few wks--she is about 60 miles from Park Seed in Greenwood. We thought we would take a drive down there. Has anyone been there?
Any tips?

Yes, three of my garden club friends & I went last spring,the end of May I think. We went on the weekend of Greenwood's annual Flower Festival which Parks sponsored. The place is full of beautiful gardens as you might expect, but they were mostly experimental gardens and most of things displayed were not for sale. Also, it was what they called the end of the season and they were sold out of all bulbs, hostas and many other plants. We could get seeds tho and had a tour of the seed packaging process. Paul James was supposed to be there but cancelled. I think it is early enough now that you could probably still buy nice plants. I was a little dissapointed that they had such a small retail store, you just placed your orders from the catalog there, and they would bring them out to you. They did have one covered area outside where there were a few reject plants and shrubs left. Don't get me wrong, I throughly enjoyed going through the gardens. They had the biggest cukes and maters on the vine that I have ever seen, and acres of every color & kind of flower you can imagine.

SandyR, I went a couple of years ago on their 'end of season' sale... what a trip! Seems like it was maybe the 3rd weekend in June, and you would have thought the Pope was coming, with all the Guards, Traffic Control, Specific Parking, and all. There were some GREAT buys on stuff like Austin Roses, bulbs, and a lot of other things, BUT you almost had to be there by 7 AM on the opening Saturday or they were all sold out of what you might be looking for.

My experience is not at all like Azalea's, so maybe it was a different sale. The one I went to had enormous tents for various displays, many booths of Gardening Magazine Publishers, Refreshments, Education, Garden Clubs... I would estimate there were maybe 2-3,000 people by the time we got there from NC, about 9:30-10:00 AM. We just wound through the various plant & bulbs, etc. rooms and and picked up what we wanted out of what was left. Felt like a grab-bag sale. I do admit, though, that the David Austin roses (potted, not bare-root) were set out nicely outside in the shade, and there were many to choose from.

Doubt I'd ever go again unless I could be there at 7 AM!

Darius I can't really remember just when we went - but you are right about the thousands of people there. We got there mid afternoon and most things were picked over as you say - we should have got there by 7:00. Sandy, If you go now - not on a special "sale day" you probably will have a lot to choose from. But the special prices may not be offered now - just guessing.

Azalea and Darius, thank you both for all the good info!
I will probably not hit any of those nifty sales but my friend will be thrilled to hear about them. She just moved to Greenville, SC and does not know the area at all so this will be very useful to her.

Darius, I see you are in Asheville. Do you know any other good nurseries in the general area? My friend and I are both flower people, no veggies. I would love to visit Biltmore but want to wait for a visit when more would be in bloom.

Funny thing--I live in Greelawn and going to visit a friend in Greenville and then the two of us are off to Greenwood!

Again, thank you both for all the good info.

SandyR

SandyR... Of course, Biltmore House & Gardens is great anytime, but both Christmas, and when their Roses are in bloom are spectacular! Be sure to allow at least 4 hours for the tour of both house and gardens. They do have a small sale garden center there, and I have bought a few things. Day tickets are expensive ($38.00?), as is eating there. We ate in the more casual restaurant by the winery and I must say the food was great. Their winery used to have free sample cups, maybe an ounce or so, and now they sell something like 3 for $5-6! It is certainly worth the price to visit, at least once. I believe you can buy a Season Pass (1 year) for about what it costs to go twice, but that pass is for unlimited use, and there are times you can bring a guest for half-price or so. You might want to check that out.

My favorite nursery here is BB Barns, for the quality and selection, esp. flowering ones. They also carry a lot of Monrovia plants, which always seem very healthy to me. A tad bit pricey, but usually worth it. There is also a nursery at the Farmer's Market, Jesse Israel, that sells a lot of decent quality stuff, and north of Asheville (about 8-9 miles), in Weaverville, there is a good local nursery that grows a lot of their own stuff. Called Reems Creek Nursery.

There is a very large hosta nursery grower, selling mostly wholesale and mail-order, but they have great grounds and do sell retail, and an incredible selection. It's southeast of town, maybe half an hour's drive, and they usually have at least 50-100 plants of many, many selections, in various sizes, and fewer of newer or slower growing ones. I forget how many different hostas, but they have a web page if anyone is interested. http://www.singletree.com/ (I hope I pulled the right nursery to link!) In the area near the hosta farm is a nice small perennial nursery but I forget the name. It's adjacent to their house, and well sheltered by trees.

By far my favorite all-round place to visit is a very small nursery and tea room about a 30 minute drive NW over winding country roads... The Herb of Grace. Never a big slelction, but great people and a delightful place to visit for a break from the ordinary. They have a Tea Room in a reproduction French farmhouse they built about 2 years ago, and serve Cream Tea and High Tea, usually by reservations, and offer herbal teas free anytime you visit.
http://www.theherbofgrace.com/ Bobbie and her husband live next door and have wonderful grounds to visit.

Probably more than you wanted to know about my take on Asheville's nurseries!