While garden centers and
nurseries
always inspire me to plant
beautiful
flowers, trees, shrubs, and
vegetables,
there is an exceptionally
inspirational
garden center in north
Alabama.
At first glance,
The Greenery
in
Brownsboro, Alabama,
just east of Huntsville on Highway 431,
looks like an elegant
Southern home
set in Southern Living styled gardens.
In reality,
The Greenery
is an elegant gift shop and
nursery
whose grounds illustrate how
homeowners
can create that gracious
Southern style
with plants, flowers,
statues, and urns
in their own gardens.
The gift shop housed in the
brick building offers home décor.
Beautiful candles, faux
floral stems, gardening books, birdhouses,
gifts, garden furniture, lamps, art
objects,
Guy Wolff pottery, and much
more
fill the first floor of the
building.
I love to shop here at
Christmas
when the store is filled with
Christmas plants, seasonal decorations, and
gifts creating the magic of the season.
Step through its side French
doors
onto the covered walkway
that leads to the
greenhouse filled with
plants.
The stroll always takes me a long time
because potted plants, garden furniture,
and the walkway's architecture entice me
to stop to examine them closer.
Inside the greenhouse
are scores of nursery tables
filled with bedding plants,
many begun by seed on site.
A stunning arbor created
from old windows is at the
main entrance
of the greenhouse.
Outside, the grounds are
planted
with traditional Southern
shrubs and trees,
but not always in the
expected way.
Two magnolia trees,
hallmarks of Southern gardens,
are espaliered against the
house
in an unexpected planting
for magnolias.
Oakleaf hydrangeas that grow wild
in Southeastern woods
are another staple of
Southern gardens.
Their creamy white blossoms
pair perfectly with magnolia trees.
Several are planted in The
Greenery’s landscape,
and mimic how they grow in
the wild...
beneath shady trees, with filtered sunlight.
Customers pick up plant
purchases at
the rear of the greenhouse.
No surprise at what the
latest
customer is picking up...
oakleaf hydrangeas.
Russian sage fills a raised
bed
between the gift shop and
greenhouse.
Its delicate blue blooms and
greenery
offer gardeners a plant similar to
lavender.
While drought tolerant, the
plant also
does well in north Alabama
with its abundant rainfall throughout the summer.
A soft summer shower fell just
as I was wandering through the outdoor gardens.
Do you love garden statues,
planters, arbors, and
stone walls?
The Greenery offers all of these, but
has more variety than what is available
at your ordinary garden
centers.
No, you won't find their inventory at the
local Home Depot or Lowes.
See my next post,
The Greenery Garden Center Part 2,
for examples of what The Greenery offers.
❦
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