Vassey Nursery - A family affair

Picture living in a lovely older home (1930's I'm guessing) surrounded by a beautiful garden including a towering oak tree planted by your mother when your family first moved into the home when you were two years old.  In front of this, nearly two acres of nursery started years ago by your father.  Can you see it?  Oh, and a huge koi pond which you dug by hand for your father when you were younger and he was still alive.  Now imagine raising your own family there with your beloved spouse.  If you can see this, you might just be Steve Vassey, owner of Vassey Nursery. (I'm guessing that that oak tree is in its mid fourties not that I would mention anyone's age or anything.)

Steve's dad, Worth, was a researcher at the Washington State Universtiy Experiment Station in Puyallup and lived not far from work.  Worth started the nursery as a hobby  in 1972 by growing some trees, shrubs, tomatoes, geraniums, and fuchsias in his front yard. Word of mouth was the only advertisement for the nursery for at least 20 years and that  is how I first learned about this special place.

This is the huge Rodgersia that in itself is worth a visit to Vassey!

  One of the things I love most about this nursery is that Steve and his family are genuinely nice & kind people.    I remember well about fourteen years ago, I had some stupid question and phoned the nursery.  It was obvious from the background sounds on the other end of the line that they were busy & I offered to call back at a more convenient time but Steve, not knowing me from Adam, went ahead and spent quite a while patiently answering my questions.  Things like this make the difference between a good nursery and a great one.  I've heard staff say glowing things about the way they are treated and this is reflected in the friendly service you will receive when you shop here; you may feel more like a friend than a customer.  The staff are all gardeners, know their plants and can tell you about their own experiences with them.!

This sign greets you at the entrance.  Being a dog person, I think that's pretty cool!

Another  outstanding attribute of this nursery is the quality of the plants grown there.  I commented once on the amazing size of their 4" geraniums (pelargoniums) which were and are very reasonably priced.  I was shown  one of the (14) greenhouses where each small pot is given a full foot in which to grow.  Sure it costs more to grow them this way but the result is superlative.   This kind of pride in producing quality plants is laudable!

Here are some of the things caught my eye:

Lots of great evergreens including this somewhat hard to find Compact Fernspray Cypress, one of my faves, and many more from Iseli Nursery and other growers.

 Made in the shade.

Fraction of the acer forest. It was a windy day.

Roses, Roses, Roses!

 I'm a sucker for a serpentine path!

 POTS!

 There's Eryngium planum 'Jade Frost'  again...it's following me. 

 Burberis, heathers, and statuary

There are a few inside areas for annuals, accoutrements, and tchotchkes.  I enjoy their selection which includes a lot of bird, nest, egg items. In addition, one will find a wide selection of bird feeders, food, etc.

 There were lots more beautiful birds but my photos are not very good.

Circle bird feeder

Love this clay and wood sun!

Bee skeep anyone?

The lowest finial is calling my name.

Interesting compostitions.

I skipped over the large selection of fruit, shade, and specimen trees.  I try to avoid these areas in nurseries because I love trees and if I plant one more in my garden, the only things that I'll be able to grow are moss and rocks. You'll have to stop by the nursery and see for yourself!

What more could a gardener want?  Vassey continues to have some of the lowest prices around and in September and October, they have a huge sale.

Check out Vassey's web page for more information and driving directions because you don't want to miss this Gem of a nursery!

Springing over to Vassey Nursery

If you're a long-time reader of my blog, you know that I visit Vassey Nursery often.  Great plants, friendly, knowledgeable people, cool stuff, and on my way home from my Sunday job;  who could ask for anything more?  For more about the nursery, see their website here and see my previous visits here.   

Evergreens look great year round and Vassey carries a great selection of them.  They carry us through the winter and provide structure in the summer but it's spring and our eyes, like butterflies flit from beautiful boom to beautiful bloom and ignore the conifers for a time. 

Like the beautiful butter cream colored  blooms of my favorite yellow magnolia, 'Elizabeth.'  

The large flowers and cheery color are attractive and since my mother's name was Elizabeth, they make me smile.

Perhaps I'll make space for one in my garden someday. 

Don't you love that time of year when the hosta foliage comes out and hides so many of the sins in your garden?

 Gorgeous Saxifrage!

Attractive foliage of Itoh peonies about which read more here. 

 Three buddhas agree, let's skip the workout and order pizza.  There's a reason why the fat buddhas are usually happy!

Or were they just excited about all the cool plants?  

Speaking of cool plants, isn't the foliage of Erythronium dens-canis 'Snowflake'  lovely?

Re purposed flatware.

Gotta love that name!

Sweet three circle/bird hangings. 

The large spheres are sending out runners.  These will gently bend as the small ones grow allowing the spheres to take root and grow.  It's a lovely way of propagation.

Dig these cool oval planters!  

succulent beauty!

This NOID  Aloe had to come home with me. 

 Locally made concrete leaves and spheres.  I'm kind of digging the small leaves.  Having made a lot of large leaf castings, this might be a fun and certainly less heavy project!

Not really a fan of cutesy but these fairy babies are really sweet.  

One almost came home with me but I caught myself just in time.  It starts this way - you pick up one cute little thing and before you know it, fairy gardens are springing up in every extra pot you posses. Crisis averted! Although, just one on a leaf wouldn't be such a bad thing would it? 

Fun!

I like the "stuff" part of Vassey as so much of it is garden related/nature themed.   These vases are curious with the bird/nest part at the top where foliage might obscure it.  Upright contents would work well.  On the other hand, I've got lots of interesting vases that never see a flower.

 Handsome fellow!

On the way out with my plants and stuff (you knew it would happen) I walked through the Acers palmatum.  Hooray for spring!