June 1-15, 2008

DIRT

WHATEVER YOUR GARDEN NEEDS, YOU CAN FIND IT ON THE EAST END

Fashion is, at the moment, as nature does. Though designer shops are dense with petals of all shapes and colors, you must not let the flowers you wear get in the way of the flowers you plant. Sure, spend your money on dresses printed with poppies or heels shaped like flower stems, but save plenty for the fabulous array of living things in our nurseries. Read on for the most irresistible.

Every fine gardener that I know has sung the high praises of Jim Grimes and his easy-to-find Fort Pond Native Plant Nursery in Montauk. I would venture to say it is our finest specialized East End nursery, combining the passion of a true plantsman with the burning desire to do the right thing by promoting native plants. But these are not just any plants, this selection is as inspired and sophisticated as it gets. Wonderful specimens might have started out in Japan or the Himalayas, but you can make sure that what is coddled here is suited to our own environment.

Because my car is small and top-down, and it is a windy stretch across Napeague, I had to leave without the in-bloom 'April Kiss' Camellia, the coveted Japanese maple 'Shaina' and a fantastic assortment of miniature evergreens that make one long for a rock garden. But I did manage to maneuver an extraordinary upright Italian ivy tree, a bizarrely beautiful S-shaped larch and a variegated climbing hydrangea, which I have never seen before. I could go on and on, but see for yourself.

Go simply for the selection of tree peonies at The Bayberry in Amagansett. Take time to delve deep into this remarkable nursery and look at not only what is for sale, but what is growing there. Mahonia bealei, the leatherleaf variety, is my plant-of-the-moment. With bright yellow inflorescences clustering against the shiny almost-blue, bigger than holly-like leaves, it is a year-round showstopper, and they have several sizes available to choose from.