hellebore festival

Hellebore Festival 2013

Friday February 22 and Saturday, February 23
Friday March 1 & Saturday March 2,
and Friday & Saturday March 8 & 9 as well, 10 am till 4 pm

Mother Nature Suggests Perhaps Mankind is NOT Dominant
Even though all the plants are under cover, inclement weather does cause some problems for out customers. So due to the forecast for freezing rain on Friday Feb. 22 and because we have so many great plants this year, we decided to go on and add the extra weekend.

For the first time in 2011 we opened the nursery on Friday for the annual Hellebore Festival and most of our customers loved it. We had resisted for a number of reasons, not the least that we are still "getting ready" at 9:45 on Saturday morning! However, we had so many requests for a Friday opening that we reconsidered. So be forewarned, someone may hand you a rake or a plate of cookies or assign you a chore, most of the "workers" who are here for our festivals are our friends and family. As many of you know, our son Richard and his husband Jamie man the registers while our daughter Helen Tyler Kraus helps customers. Helen's husband Greg keeps the refreshment tables filled, helps customers check out and Josh and Ruth Kraus help carry plants. We are blessed with a loyal group of knowledgeable friends who make this event possible. Scenes from past events Scenes from prior festivals

As in prior years in 2013 we have some surprising new plants never seen in the US before. We won't book these for mail order until after the second weekend, so it will be a real draw for this year.

One of the plants we will be offering only at the Hellebore Festival is Helleborus 'Anna's Red' from R&D Nursery. The person the plant is named for, Anna Pavord, wrote this great article about the breeders.

Thumpingly wonderful plants

We are pretty excited to be perhaps the only American nursery to offer these plants. Anna's Red

Some scenes from 2011

Again this year John Lonsdale will bring a selection of small bulbs he has propagated from his spectacular garden in Pa. We really enjoy having John and his daughter Caity visit us. We always learn from John and Caity is a delight. http://www.edgewoodgardens.net/

Jason Stevens from Superior Plants will come to the sale in person, bringing a surprise assortment of winter interest woodies. Last year our customers were amazed at the size and quality of the plants he brought.

And last but certainly not least, Ron Rabideau from Rare Find Nursery in NJ will bring a selection of their fantastic flowering Witch Hazels down to Va. You will see plants that are not commonly found in garden centers and are in for a real treat. http://www.rarefindnursery.com/

Many of our friends and customers from up and down the East Coast make a long weekend of it and come to "The Triangle" for a bit of early season horticultural exploration. (Hey, it's cheaper than going to the Caribbean!)

Other specialty mail order nurseries in the area are opening their doors to visitors the same weekends.

Plant Delights in Raleigh NC is justly famous not only for the humour of it's catalogue, but also for the quality of the plants described within. Since they started opening on our Hellebore Festival weekends it gives plant folk another place to visit. Tony tells us in 2013 they will be open Friday. Saturday AND Sunday.

http://www.plantdelights.com/

Camellia Forest in Chapel Hill NC http://www.camforest.com/

Will be open both weekends and Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill http://www.nichegardens.com/will be open the second weekend.

There are several great gardens in the area J.C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh NC http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php, Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham NC, http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/, UNC Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill NC, http://www.ncbg.unc.edu/

At other times of the year we welcome visitors by appointment. We are a small nursery and do not staff a full time retail department. While we are only 18 miles from I85 we are located in a very secluded rural section of Virginia surrounded by water and North Carolina. As you drive to the farm it is a bit like driving back in time,

Pine Knot Farms
681 Rockchurch Road
Clarksville Virginia, 23927

Hellebores

from

Pine Knot Farms