Flower Factory

It's a place to find the right plant for the yard or garden, and once you find it - the Flower Factory is a garden and park in its own right.

Dozens of greenhouses line the back yard of the farm house on County A in Dane County not far from Stoughton.  If you get on A from U.S. Highway 14 south of Oregon, stay with it - it's farther than you think it should be - it'll be on your left after a couple of gently sweeping curves through a wild fishery area.

My favorite spot was the spring fed pond and creek that winds through a shady area of the nursery.  An over-sized frog lifting a lily pad over his head dominates a pretty area of green and purple.  What is the frog saying?  Why is he doing that?  I haven't a clue, but that's a great thing about garden art - it can be anything you like.

Japanese flowers and grasses are included in the wide variety of perennials, hostas, pond plants, rock garden plants, and ornamental grasses.

In fact, Flower Factory humbly acknowledges its position as having the largest such collection in the entire midwest.

Less than 15 feet from the pond garden stands a fun rock garden home to two outside trains.

Yet another purple flourish of color - this time an "Eggliner" - a single passenger car circling the rocky turns and grassy overlooks.  A passenger trains follows an inside track over bridges and through mountain tunnels.

The Flower Factory is a no-nonsense garden shop.  It's plants and flowers.  You can find the decor elsewhere. And honey.  They sell honey made by hard-working Wisconsin bees.

Our garden space is limited to a 15 foot by foot space, so we don't need a lot of plants.  But it was fun to walk around the grounds and take in the variety of the flora on hand.

As the next month or two passes, you'll see some more of the photos I took on this visit.

The owners encourage visitors to browse and play - even bring a picnic.  There is a very large sandbox/sandpile for kids to play in while mom and dad look for just the right plant.

If you only need a couple of plants, it's also a great place to "pick" flowers with your camera.

There are lots of angles to explore and many opportunities to get up close.

It's worth the drive to do some flower and plant shopping in the country away from the big box stores where you can hear insects on the wing and slow down to smell the flowers.

Take your camera and bring home pictures and plants from your trip.