Pioneer Nursery

I had the opportunity to visit my family in Ottawa this past weekend to celebrate my mother's birthday and to enjoy Canada's May long weekend, which is designed to celebrate Queen Victoria and her involvement as a founding member of Canada's confederation. One of the first things I did when I returned was to visit the Pioneer Nursery with my mom. Located just outside of the nation's capital in a town called Kemptville, the nursery is one of the best ones I've been to. The quality of the plants on offer, the knowledge of the staff and the beautiful variety available makes every visit there a treat. My mother had her eye on a few goodies for the garden, but we ended up loving just about everything we saw! Below are some highlights from the nursery and its greenhouses.
The entrance is welcoming. Inside the front building is a seed store and a section where houseplants are sold.

The expansive potting shed has a large assortment of ceramic, cement and iron vessels for outdoor plantings.

Potatoes, organically grown on site, are sold to visitors near the entrance.

A wide array of shrubs and small trees under the arbor.

There are eight large greenhouses where visitors can look at all kinds of potted plants and flowers for the garden.

The entrance to one of the greenhouses is a grand display of colour.

I loved the brilliant colours of this large fuschia flower. The petals almost look like intricately folded fabric.

Another gorgeous fuschia specimen.

These tuberous begonias were in full bloom, hanging above our heads. The stems were loaded with enormous flowers.

This deep pink tuberous begonia had already been sold to a lucky buyer.

This yellow begonia was my favourite of the day.

A pale pink fuschia that had yet to fully bloom.

This lemon tree had only one fruit, but it was large and looked ready to pick.

Fancy-leafed geraniums.

These alliums look like some kind of alien species silhouetted against the grey sky.

A brilliant spectrum of pansies.

They had many different varieties of heuchera.

These are flamingmound spirea - appropriately named.

I love the soft pallette of these salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki.'

Beautiful flowering almonds.

A weeping crabapple tree. I had never heard of such a thing.