GardenDesigns+more: Zone 8 Gardens

For me, summertime in Wilmington, North Carolina always means a trip or two or three to

Zone 8 Gardens.

This is a gem of a garden center and is owned by

Dick Stinson.

Upon arriving at Zone 8 Gardens,

one is greeted by very loud classical music that seems to be coming from the trees.

Immediately, you know that a unique experience is at hand.

The gardens are truly beautiful.

Dick and his staff have planted them out over the years

with sub-tropicals that do well in our coastal

Zone 8 environment. I’m thinking the garden center

has more plants in the ground to see than it has to sell. Dick

personally showed me what was blooming!

Dick is a collector. He collects plants and art.

Although I loved all of the plants,

I also admired this very large chicken.

This smaller one however, was more within my budget.

How about this pelican?

Dick built this wall inside his greenhouse entirely out of

old windows.

It is stunning!

My eye was drawn to this lobster sitting on the sill.

Imagine, a Lobster in the garden!

I found some ferns in beautiful pots.

and Purple Pixies. I’ve blogged about these beauties.

Here is Dwarf Podocarpus

and some very happy sunflowers.

Dick is now really into xeriscape plants or those plants that will do well in the zone with little to no care at all.

Here is just a small part of his aloe, yucca and agave collection for sale. They are all high energy plants.

This plant has beautiful star-shaped flowers like jasmine.

The Ginger Lilys are so tall and gorgeous and very fragrant as well. They attract the most interesting moths in the early evening hours! The moths can easily be mistaken for Hummingbirds.

At the end of the day, Dick (center) can often be found relaxing with friends out back, enjoying the classical music and the conversation in his subtropical garden paradise.