Pat and I have had the Wade and Gatton Nursery on our to do list for the last couple of years. Gardening friends said that it was "the place" to visit if you liked hosta. We finally got the chance today. We brought Shirley, the mother-in-law, along for the ride. I was not prepared for how massive this place is. Huge isn't quite the right word; Poderosa large better describes this place. We drove for a mile from the front gate before we saw the botanical garden sign. We kept driving till we saw some cars. I went into the office to find out about the routine. I was informed the "Mr. Wade encourages everyone to walk through his gardens." This wouldn't be the last time Mr. Wade's name would be used. The office must have been the Wade's summer kitchen at one time. This place is the largest hosta garden in the world. The hosta catalogue you get is 145 pages. I was awed. We started by the "big house", which is the actual Wade residence. Hosta, beyond count, companion plants, day lilies planted alphabetically, it was all to much to take in. My brain went numb. I just took pics and vids. We lost sight of Shirley, and Pat kept mumbling about some kind of phone call she was going to have to make to Omaha if we couldn't find her.
We made a list of various hostas we wanted to buy while we wandered through the gardens. The perennials are kept in 50 some green houses. We grabbed a wagon and hunted for what we wanted. The catalogue has the house number where it's found. I can't fool Pat for a second. She wouldn't go into any green house "just to look". When we checked out, the nurseryman who priced the plants asked us if we belonged to a garden club. Well, we do, and it was worth a little extra discount because "Mr. Wade wants his customers to be involved". Well OK then.
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