Go native at Hill House

At the base of Bessie Bell Mountain in Castleton sits six wooded and flowering acres known as Hill House Farm & Nursery. Part nursery, part biodiversity laboratory, Hill House is where Janet Davis applies nearly three decades of Blue Ridge living and learning, cultivating more than 500 plants native to the mid-Atlantic, along with husband Rob and daughter Olivia.

When Janet isn’t out lecturing and advocating for the effective use of native plants, you can find her tending to the neat rows of perennials, grasses and sedges, ferns, flowering trees and shrubs.

You won’t normally find a sign out on Scrabble Road at Hill House except for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday (May 24) when Janet and Rob share their enchanted gardens and greenhouse with the public in their 2014 spring open house.

This year, they’ll be joined by friends Reid Folsum and Anita Ramos of Beech Tree Farms in the day of sharing a wide selection of Virginia natives.

Hill House is the outgrowth of Janet’s well-established landscape design/install/ care business, and focuses on incorporating native plants into garden settings and managed tracts while using sustainable garden techniques. The open house is a good starting place for gardeners of all thumbs or anyone interested in landscape restoration or habitat creation.

The nursery started in earnest with a 100-foot greenhouse acquired six years ago from Richard and Sandra Antony’s Long Mountain Nursery.

“We . . . use one acre for the nursery, and all the other land for seed sources,” said Janet as she walked the property, pointing out her own charming garden, brimming with riotous color, redolent of spring. “Our goal is to help you create harmonious gardens and diversity-rich landscapes. By doing that, you help preserve and restore our natural ecosystems.”

Hill House Farm & Nursery is at 631 Scrabble Rd., Castleton. Call 540-937-1798 or visit hillhousenativeplants.com for more information.

— Larry “Bud” Meyer