We made a road trip today to Woldhuis Sunrise Nurseries in Grant Park, Illinois, this afternoon. It was a three-hour round trip, but given the pricing and selection, we thought it would be worth it. It was. The pricing is 50% to 75% off what I would pay for plants at our local nurseries. Given how many spring plants I buy, that discount is a big deal.

The nursery has about 9 acres under glass, and the selection is enormous. It was cold outside in the wind, but the nursery is inside. I have seen nothing quite like it. The downside is that all the plants are on a concrete floor rather than on tables. The customers were mostly our age, so it was fun to get plants up and into a cart. The aisles aren’t much wider than a cart, which slows things down. It took us a couple of hours to load up our carts, mostly because we weren’t used to the greenhouse’s organization.

Acquiring these plants is likely going to be way more work than planting them. I did pretty well with my list, but there are some varieties I will need to get at Countryside and Goebbert’s. In addition to the vegetable plants, we bought four hanging baskets and a flat of pansies. I filled up the car; nothing else would have fit in. It was definitely worth the trip.