In 2009 we began to ship plants to our mainland customers who came to the Farm and made their selections on site. This was a first time supplement to our retail business and it worked out very well as it gave our island summer visitors an opportunity to have Nantucket-grown hydrangeas for their home gardens. We gained from the experience too by being able to evaluate various container sizes and packing techniques to optimize plant size & quality vs. delivery time & shipping cost.

It’s now early May, 2011 and we’re ready at last to begin Internet Sales. For the last two months we’ve been busy grading our winter-over stock, re-potting last year’s propagation, and in general ‘turning on’ our hydrangeas for the coming season. So far we’ve had a decent early Spring with enough sunshine to push all our stock – and especially our greenhouse production. Please keep in mind that this is a new experience for us; your patience – and feedback – will be much appreciated.

We have verified our plant inventory and are now ready to accept your orders and begin shipping. Our initial plant availability list which follows covers those varieties that we especially like and that have grown well for us at the Farm as well as throughout the Islands and Cape Cod. This region is largely a zone 7 cold hardiness-wise with significant wind from late Fall through early May. Remember too that all of the varieties we offer have demonstrated superior in-ground performance for us in terms of hardiness and flowering capability.

Our ‘catalog’ is our website. You should be able to print any and all pages – to keep a copy of our plant list and your order details - or to give to a friend who doesn’t order online. We are happy to accept mail orders and a hardcopy Plant List and Order Form will be mailed upon request. Any questions, please contact Mary Kay.

Macrophyllas Macrophyllas account for over 75% of our retail volume at the Farm and they will also be the featured species in our Internet offerings. Nantucket is very mophead-centric with rich blues of all shades and whites being the most popular. Lace cap varieties are somewhat out of favor at the moment but we still offer some excellent selections. Macrophylla hybridizing has been center stage and we do offer a number of the newer varieties at the Farm that have demonstrated good landscape performance. Serratas Serratas are close cousins of the ‘macs’; plant size is typically smaller and more delicate in appearance - but the species is more cold hardy. The dominant bloom form is lace cap and in shaded settings these are very pleasing plants. We do like a couple of stand-out varieties that we hope to offer later this summer. Arborescens Arborescens is one of the two species native to the US. It is exceptionally cold hardy – to zone 4 – and flowers on new wood. These plants will bloom reliably every year – they are truly bullet-proof. We offer several superior varieties at the Farm - the widely popular Annabelle, the recent intro Incrediball, the smaller Bounty and Ryan Gainey cultivars, and the very lovely new pink hybrids Invincibelle Spirit and Bella Anna. Ryan Gainey and Incrediball are available now on our website. Paniculatas Paniculatas are also super cold hardy and very strong growers. They too bloom on new wood so consistent flowering is assured. Our internet list includes several of the newest introductions – Limelight, Quick Fire, Pinky Winky, and Phantom. These are excellent plants for the coldest climes providing reliable blooming despite winter severity. Quercifolias Quercifolias are the other native American species (we know you knew that - -). The ‘oak leaf’ family is also reasonably cold hardy but does need some summer heat to flower well. Our major offering will be Snowflake, with its truly superb panicle bloom form composed entirely of multi-tiered sterile florets. It is a spectacular plant and will be available for web sales later this Summer. Anomalas Anomalas – the climbers - are a generally less well known species, except here on Nantucket where several outstanding specimens exist mainly in intown gardens. This is a cold hardy species grown for its excellent climbing habit, fine leaf texture, and interesting multicolored bark. We are currently building inventory for a web release next Spring.