Members Enjoy Special Visit to White Flower Farm

Horticulturist and author Tovah Martin wrote that a pilgrimage to White Flower Farm’s Begonia House in Litchfield, CT, should be “high on every serious gardener’s bucket list!” A group of Garden Conservancy members were lucky enough to check this visit off of their personal lists last month, when we teamed up with White Flower Farm to offer our members a special workshop and an exclusive tour of the famous nursery.

It was a little chilly on the morning of June 20, but our group warmed up with coffee, tea, and pastries on the lawn before the nursery’s annual tent sale started. We then listened to Head Gardener Cheryl Whalen (above) impart her impressive knowledge at a workshop on tuberous begonias. Cheryl advised us how to propagate, care for, and store tuberous begonias. The crowd enjoyed hearing Cheryl speak lovingly about her Blackmore & Langdon hybrid begonias: small, one-year-old tubers were her “tots”; if begonias get too much sun they’ll be “sunburned”; and, although the begonia flowers are edible, she could never eat them as she considers them her children and would feel like a “cannibal!” Between April and November, Cheryl spends most of her time in the garden, so this was a rare opportunity to listen to her speak and to ask her questions.

After the demonstration we toured the Begonia House, which was filled from floor to ceiling with gorgeous flowers. Tuberous begonias are valued for their ability to produce countless large blooms in light shade environments—a distinction in full display during our visit. At the end, our members even got to take home one of these beautiful plants for free!

We thank White Flower Farm for hosting this very special event and for sharing their gardening wisdom with our members!

We also thank you, our members, whose support makes our work possible. We look forward to providing more opportunities like this for you to learn and interact with each other, so stay tuned!