The GOODS from Phoenix Perennials

Richmond, BC | Phoenix Perennials is continuing its commitment to educating the general public, gardeners, urban farmers, hipster urban warriors, and the new younger generations about the fun, beauty and benefits of gardening with a series of fall and winter workshops on a diverse range of topics.

A bunch of hands-on workshops will centre around cool garden projects that participants can take home. “Jewels of the Spring Garden” will teach participants about the ease and magic of spring bulbs and how to plant up a “lasagna” container for a magnificent spring show. “Terrariums: Bring the Outdoors In” is a workhop on creating miniature indoor gardens with cool plants and decorative glass and stones.

Anyone with a window could grow a little terrarium garden! “Fall Wreaths” will take a traditionally Christmas form and turn it into a fall extravaganza of fall colour. The ever popular “Winter Containers To Die For” class will teach participants about plants with year-round interest and how to combine them together into a magnificent display that looks great 365 days a year but especially in fall, winter and early spring when most plants are dormant.

Phoenix Perennials’ free Gardening 101 series also has some fall instalments to offer beginner and intermediate gardeners: “Top Plant Performers”, “Plants for Fall Colour”, and “Preparing the Garden for Winter” will all offer practical advice to avoid pitfalls, add beauty, and guarantee greater success in the garden through the fall and winter months.

For the next generation of gardeners Phoenix is running three different free childrens’ workshops as part of their Young Sprouts Kids Club. If you have children or nieces or nephews or friends with kids between the ages of 7 and 12 these workshops are perfect for getting kids active and engaged in the natural world. The Young Sprouts workshops combine horticulture, botany, and arts and crafts to teach kids about gardening, plants, and garden ecosystems. This fall the subjects include “Harvest Time!”, “Why do leaves change colour? and other questions about the fall” and “The Magic of Bulbs”. Each kid gets to do a project during each class to take home with them.

Looking a few months down the road are the Christmas workshops at Phoenix Perennials annual Christmas Hurrah! event celebrating the Christmas rose. There will be wreath-making, and indoor and outdoor container planting all with a festive spirit.

Here’s a list of their upcoming workshops. Full descriptions and registration are available online at www.phoenixperennials.com. Make sure to register in advance!

Gardening 101: Top Plant Performers for the West Coast Garden: Fall & Winter | Sun Sept 13, 11am-12pm, FREE

Jewels of the Spring Garden: Bulbs for Containers | Sat Sept 19, 10am-12pm, $14

Young Sprouts Kids Club: Harvest Time! | Sun Sept 20, 11am-12pm, FREE

Terrariums: Bring the Outdoors In | Sat Sept 26, 10am-12pm, $20

Gardening 101: Plants for Fall Colour | Sun Sept 27, 11am-12pm, FREE

Gardening 101: Preparing the Garden for Winter | Sun Oct 4, 11am-12pm, FREE

Winter Containers-Die For: Learn the Secrets of Fabulous Pots Then Make Your Own | Sun Oct 4, 1pm-3pm, $14

Fall Wreaths | Sat Oct 10, 10am-12pm, $35

Young Sprouts Kids Club: Why do leaves change colour and other questions about fall! | Sun Oct 18, 11am-12pm, FREE

Young Sprouts Kids Club: The Magic of Bulbs! | Sun Oct 25, 11am-12pm, FREE

Do-It-Yourself Indoor Christmas Rose Container | Friday Dec 4-6,10am-3pm, $30

Christmas Rose Wreath Making Workshop | Sat Dec 5, 10am-12pm, $55

Christmas Rose Outdoor Container Workshop | Sun Dec 6, 10am-12pm, $20

DETAILS

3380 No. 6 Rd. | Richmond, BC | V6V 1P5
Phone & Fax: 604-270-4133 | Email: [email protected]
Web: www.phoenixperennials.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest

GALLERY

The People

Gary Lewis, Owner

About Phoenix Perennials

Phoenix Perennials is an award-winning, cutting edge retail and mail order plant nursery in Richmond, BC (on the farmland near IKEA) that offers one of the largest and most diverse selections of perennials, shrubs, trees, vines, succulents, and edibles in Canada with over 4000 different plants each year. They grow the majority of their own perennials from plants sourced from around the world including Japan, India, Europe, South Africa, the US, and Canada and bring in their other plants from the region’s best growers.

Whether you have a large garden or a small balcony, whether you are into ornamental gardening or growing your own food, Phoenix Perennials has everything you need to create your own distinctive, beautiful, and productive space.

Their inspiring garden centre on No. 6 Road in Richmond is a plant mecca that draws gardeners from around Greater Vancouver, the province of BC, and beyond.

In addition to specialties in perennials, maples, shade plants, and rare and unusual plants, Phoenix Perennials is proud of their selection of edibles from classic herbs, veggies, and fruits including upwards of 50 different kinds of heirloom and cool modern tomatoes to cutting edge and unusual edibles, citrus, olives, goji berries, BrazelBerries, and grafted veggies like Mighty Matos and ‘Ketchup ‘n’ Fries’ “tomtatoes”.

Phoenix Perennials is also dedicated to continuous learning and hosts numerous workshops each year on subjects such as creative succulent and perennial containers, living walls, cocktail gardening, gardening for teas and infusions, herb and veggie gardening for international culinary capers, gardening with subtropical and unusual fruits and more.

They offer a free Gardening 101 series designed for beginner and intermediate gardeners on topics such as Pruning for Dummies, Foundations of a Healthy Garden, Strategies for Balconies & Small Spaces, Beekeeping, Mastering the Basics of Perennials, Success with Tomatoes, Supporting Pollinators and much more. They also offer a free Young Sprouts Kids Club with workshops that combine horticulture, botany, and arts and crafts to teach kids about the wonderful world of plants.

Not only do they host numerous workshops through the season, they also hold many special events including the Hellebore Hurrah!, The Great Easter Plant Hunt, May Maple Mania, and The Heirloom Tomato Festival complete with tomato fruit displays and tomato tastings.

Phoenix Perennials publishes a twice-monthly e-newsletter with articles about plants, news of sales and special events, and lots of pretty pictures plus occasional alerts on 14 different topics including edibles, shade plants, fragrant plants, hot new plants, and maples and woody plants. You can also engage with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest (links above).

Phoenix Perennials offers two services of note. Their in-nursery design service can help do-it-yourselfers design and execute the outdoor spaces of their dreams. And their mail order division brings their cool selection of plants within reach of Canadian gardeners from coast to coast to coast.

In 2015 Phoenix Perennials was chosen as one of Today’s Garden Center magazine’s Top 100 Revolutionary Garden Centers in North America. In 2014 Phoenix Perennials owner Gary Lewis was selected as one of Canada’s Top 10 Horticultural Professionals Under 40 by Greenhouse Canada magazine. In 2012 and 2013 Phoenix Perennials won the category of “Growing Gardeners”, part of the Canadian Garden Centre of the Year Awards.

Accolades

“Gary Lewis is the owner of Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants Nursery in Richmond and one of Canada’s most knowledgeable plant experts with a deep and special interest in rare and unusual herbaceous perennials.His cottage-garden nursery on No. 6 Road in Richmond is one of Canada’s top perennial nurseries, carrying more than 4,000 different garden plants. This is perhaps why it is sometimes referred to by the loyal following of gardeners who shop there as a “candy store” of plant treasures.” — Steve Whysall, Vancouver Sun, In the Garden Podcast.

“I should be barred from two places: all-you-can-eat buffets and Phoenix Perennials.” — Julie from Richmond

“You have the most healthy, gorgeous and interesting plants. It’s so different than everywhere else!” — Sandy from White Rock, BC

“Gary Lewis is the king of perennials.” — Jeff DeJong, radio host, Gardening 101, CFAX AM 1070, Victoria, BC

“The premiere nursery of BC!” — Barry Belec, Garden Designer