Hillendale Perennials
1239 Truro Road B0N 1C0 Brookfield, NS, Canada

FESTIVE ARTISAN MARKET at the TRURO FARMERS' MARKET tomorrow, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20 from 4-8PM! HILLENDALE PERENNIALS will be there with our CHRISTMAS PRODUCTS. We will have our 'regular' corner spot (outside under the Market Pavilion) completely filled with product, (but expect to probably sell out, as we did last Saturday at the Truro Farmers' Market). NOTE: We accept e-transfers and cash only.

IN 40 MINUTES, DAY 2 OF OUR CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE BEGINS (12noon to 4pm today). (Photo: A load of our Christmas planters that went to decorate the Young Street side of the Truro Farmers' Market, a few days ago.)

FINALLY READY! Our Open House is tomorrow (Saturday, November 14) and on Sunday, November 15 (12 noon to 4pm on both days) @ 1239 Truro Road, Hilden. (We are also at the Truro Farmers' Market on Saturday, November 14 from 8am to 1pm.) Please see our FB Post pinned to the top of our Page for all of the times and locations where our Christmas Products are available. (We always sell out in 15 days so we do not expect to have Product available after November 28.) PLEASE NOTE: Hand sanitizer will be available; please practice social distancing, and please wear a mask if entering the greenhouse. (There will be product both inside the greenhouse and outside.) PHOTO: taken an hour ago.

HILLENDALE PERENNIALS' CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE is this Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15 (12 noon to 4pm on both days) @ 1239 Truro Road, Hilden. (We are also at the Truro Farmers' Market on Saturday, November 14 from 8am to 1pm.) Please see our FB Post pinned to the top of our Page for all of the times and locations where our Christmas Products are available. (We always sell out in 15 days so we do not expect to have Product available after November 28.) PLEASE NOTE: Hand sanitizer will be available; please practice social distancing, and please wear a mask if entering the greenhouse. (There will be product both inside the greenhouse and outside.)

Still lots of colour in the gardens at Hillendale Perennials; the rest of Nova Scotia is rather drab in comparison!

HILLENDALE PERENNIALS returns to the Truro Farmers' Market this Saturday, November 14 with our Christmas Decorative Products (Wreaths, Drop Swags, Planters, Mix...ed Do-it-yourself Bunches, and Rustic Wooden Garden Animals). We will be in our 'regular' corner spot outside under the Market Pavilion. You can't miss us; just look for the colours green and red! (We accept cash, cheques, and e-transfers only.) See more

HILLENDALE HOOLIGANS - CHRISTMAS EDITIONS will be available starting this Saturday, November 14 at the Truro Farmers' Market (8am to 1pm) and at our Farm's Christmas Open House (1239 Truro Road, Hilden) this Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, from 12 noon to 4pm on both days. PRICE: $15 (taxes included). Our Rustic Wooden Garden Animals can go outside, or inside, the house. Please see the FB Post pinned to the top of our Page for a complete listing of times and places where our Christmas Products (Planters, Wreaths, Drop Swags, Mixed Bunches, and Hillendale Hooligans) are available. (We accept cash, cheques, and e-transfers only.)

Just 'hanging around' Hillendale Perennials today. This green frog was taking a bath today in the 2cm of water caught in the concave lid of a Rubbermaid container that was left outside during the recent rain.

MY OPINION: GUESS I DECORATED A LITTLE TOO EARLY FOR THANKSGIVING. THE BLUEJAYS' UNANIMOUS OPINION: THANKS FOR AN EARLY THANKSGIVING; SO THOUGHTFUL OF YOU. I bought some bunches of dried decorative corn in the Annapolis Valley on Monday, hung them on one of our garage's exterior walls; 48 hrs latter...should've known!

Bumble Bees Love Turtlehead (Chelone)

Apios (Apios americana) is native to many areas within northeastern North America, including Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This vine produces both beautiful flowers and edible tubers (must be cooked). We have just recently 'propagated' a new batch of plants for our 2021 marketing season. Tubers were harvested from 'stock' plants, separated and potted into 4L nursery pots for overwintering in cold frames. New vines will form from the tubers next spring and we will stake them as we do with our container-grown clematis plants.

A Winning Late Summer & Early Autumn Combination - New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) and 'Dancing Flames' Helen's Flower (Helenium autumnale 'Dancing Flames'). Both are extremely hardy, tall, vibrant, late flowering perennials. We will have both available again next May. (Photo taken today)

Some Perennials Still Flowering In The Gardens At Hillendale Perennials; 2nd Day Of Autumn; Post Teddy. (Teddy would like to apologize for photobombing today's pics.)

PREPARING FOR TEDDY (AT HILLENDALE PERENNIALS)!

'Silver Feather' Chinese Silver Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'SilberFeder') is always one of our top selling ornamental grasses. Grows to 8 feet tall. Grass plumes emerge sparkling pinkish-silver in late summer, and then turning shiny, silvery-white with the onset of Autumn.

ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A POT OF GOLD! September is often 'Construction Month' at Hillendale Perennials, if we find a good-sized pot of gold at the end of one of our frequent rainbows! Photo #1 - rainbow over our 'big house' (built fall 2017 & 2018); Photo #2 - photo taken today (September 21, 2020); we're presently renovating and recovering this small propagation house; Photo #3 - lean-to propagation house built fall of 2019, Photo #4 - full-heat basil house built March, 2020 within the minimum heated 'big house; Photo # 5 - construction activity, Fall 2018.

4 DAYS TO AUTUMN!

24 HOUR COMPOST? SORT OF BUT NOT QUITE! High up in the Appalachian Mountains of Hilden, the Pygora Boys are making compost (with a little help from the Goat Master & Little John). We turned, and re-formed, the compost piles today; always a satisfying job. Photo #1 - Wicket proudly standing in front of a finished pile of compost; Photo #2 - Three compost piles at 3 stages of 'composting'; Photo #3 - Three of the Pygora Boys working in the compost pile; 'pelletizing' the 'greens'; and 'magically' turning them into 'browns' tomorrow!

Say hello to Helen; she's a spider. Helen likes to have her picture taken. Here's a very cool shot of her chilaxing in our goat barn today. If a chilaxing goat barn spider is not your thing, than the second shot is for you: 'Double Trouble' Helen's Flower. This late-flowering, double form of Helen's Flower (Helenium autumnale 'Double Trouble') produces a huge number of very cheerful, bright yellow flowers for weeks on end. A fantastic perennial; even Helen the spider is a fan; after all, she is named after the plant!

THIS PERENNIAL ATTRACTS POLLINATORS; NOT SNAKES! Ageratina altissima (formerly Eupatorium rugosum) is commonly called White Snakeroot. This species is native to most of the eastern half of North America but in Nova Scotia it is considered very rare. Our plants were initially propagated around 15 years ago from purchased seed. The plants that we sell each year are now propagated by division in order to give us very large, flowering-sized plants to sell. We had a limited supply... of White Snakeroot plants this year and sold out very early in the season, but will have a much greater supply in 2021. We just finished dividing our propagation stock plants yesterday for next season's sales. This species is one of the last perennials to flower, hence is a great late season pollinator plant. Plants grow to a height of 4+/- feet, and will grow under a wide array of soil and light conditions. There is a named cultivar in existence; called 'Chocolate'. We don't grow the cultivar; for no reason other than 'you can't grow everything'! See more

SEPTEMBER 12 - A YELLOW, HAZY, DAISY DAY OF LATE SUMMER We presently have lots of yellow daisy-flowering perennials, in bloom, in our gardens and production nursery. We will have most of these available for sale during the 2021 season (We are closed for this year.). They are (first photo, from left to right, top down: Cutleaf Coneflower, 'Hortensia' Cutleaf Coneflower, 'Goldsturm Rudbeckia, 'Lemon Queen' Helianthus (an interspecific hybrid with lemon-yellow flowers), a seedling selection of 'Lemon Queen' with gold-yellow flowers), Maximilian Perennial Sunflower, 'Venus' Heliopsis, 'Summer Nights' Heliopsis (which had purple stems), a green-stemmed selection of 'Summer Nights' Heliopsis, 'Moonbeam' Coreopsis, and a yellow-flowered selection of 'Red and Gold Hybrids' Helen's Flower.

ATTEMPTED BURGLARY AT HILLENDALE PERENNIALS LAST NIGHT? Don't let the innocent look fool you; 30 seconds earlier (around 2am) this nocturnal burglar was actually hanging from the handle of one of our (locked) deck doors, trying to open it. Lucky for him or her, they were wearing a mask so I won't be able to positively identify the culprit in a lineup. Hillendale Perennials: Home to beautiful plants AND very smart raccoons!

THE GREAT DIVIDE - PRACTICING OUR DIVISION (& ADDITION) AT HILLENDALE PERENNIALS. At this time of year we are cutting back our perennial propagation stock plants, dividing them, and re-potting them. The number of pots of each perennial is then added up and recorded in the inventory book, (for later entry into our computer), and then packed into coldframes to ready them for overwintering. Here's a few shots of the process with one of our 4 species/cultivars of Solomon's Seal that we grow.

IF SPIDERS NEVER EXISTED, WHAT WOULD WE CALL THE WORLD WIDE WEB? (Some of Hillendale Perennials' Compost Production Team Members taking an internet break today.)

SUNNY DAY - JOE-PYE WEED - BEE(S)

Helen's Flower (Helenium autumnale) - There are more than 100 cultivars of this North American native species, most of which have been developed in Germany, and The Netherlands. We usually have 5 or 6 cultivars available each year. Flowers are both colourful and cheerful, both as a cut flower and in the landscape. Photo 1 - flower bouquet (closeup) of the cultivars: 'Ring of Fire', 'Rubinzwerg' ('Ruby Dwarf'), 'Double Trouble', 'Fuego', 'Sahin's Early Flower', and 'Red and Gold', Photo 2 - Flower bouquet; in the vase; Photo 3 - 'Red and Gold' (yellow form) in our gardens.

Helen's Flower (Helenium autumnale) is one of our favourite Summer/Fall blooming perennials. We will again have 4 or 5 cultivars available in 2021.