Plan a spring trip to Old Farm Nursery, just up the road from the Lime Rock racetrack in Lakeville, Conn. Landscape architect Judy Murphy has created elegance and beauty with her creative pairings amid 25 acres. Many of my perennials come from this nursery. My husband loves to visit this nursery, too, even though he doesn’t garden. He takes photos for reference for his paintings. He marvels at her use of color. He gets so captivated by the setting and plantings that he gets lost. We usually reunite as I am loading the car with perennial plants and shrubs that have been truly tested by this talented landscape architect.
Wander through her display gardens. https://www.oldfarmnursery.com/nursery-and-gardens. There is wonder and whimsy to be found in her white, woodland, herb and kitchen gardens.
I put her on the spot and asked her for a few of her tried and true perennials. Here are a few of her favorites and why. She warned me that there were many more, that this was only a start.
Rozanne Geranium, which has a long bloom time, is easy to grow and works well in most soils and sun exposure.
Nepeta species, like Dropmore, Walker’s Low and Six Hills Giant, are sun-loving, deer-resistant, long-blooming and hardy.
Iris ensata species are reliable, deer-resistant, hardy and bloom in July, which is a plus for iris lovers. They are also good in the sun, part shade, and even wet spots.
Peonies are not long-blooming, but deer-resistant, sun-loving, tough as nails, with voluptuous flowers that are hard not to adore.
Helenium autumnale is a deep persimmon-colored flower for late summer – long-blooming and hardy, though the orange is not to everyone’s taste.
Hellebores are fantastic shade-loving flowers, deer-resistant, blooming from March with flower bracts that persist and give the impression of blooming into the summer.
Astrantia is another deer-resistant perennial that can take shade or sun, blooming from late spring into the fall. Species range from white to deep burgundy.
Astilbe species are also deer-resistant, have wonderful ferny foliage and lovely plumelike blooms. They are good in sun or part shade and particularly effective in drifts of white to pink, lavender, coral to deep red.
Yarrows are deer-resistant, sun-loving, hardy, easy to grow and come in white, yellow and shades of pink, coral to burgundy.
Learn more about Old Farm Nursery in a recent profile in Garden Design
https://www.gardendesign.com/connecticut/lakeville-farm-nursery.html