 | The Rush
We'd never seen a nursery so busy it took two people to direct traffic, until we visited Steinert's Greenhouse & Gardens on a May Saturday morning. Cars, SUV's, and pickups literally packed the lot, with eager gardeners loading up goodies for spring planting.
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 | Gardening Pals
Theta Steinert (in the red jacket and "Don't Ruffle My Feathers" sweatshirt) and husband Robert have had their nursery for 33 years. Theta says this lady, Lavon Hensley, is a good friend and "one of our original customers." How long has Lavon shopped at Steinert's? "Thirty years," she says. "I must like it."
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 | 'We grow tons...'
Lavon holds one of the nursery's most popular perennials, a bright yellow lantana. "We grow tons of perennials," says Theta. She isn't kidding. |
 | On the Go
Nursery manager Carolyn Willoughby is on the run with an armload of plants in one of Steinert's 11 massive greenhouses. The nursery and greenhouses are located on a hill not far from the lone original greenhouse used in 1920 by Robert Steinert's parents, who were truck farmers. |
 | Spring Bounty
In early May the greenhouses are loaded with plants ready to go. The nursery has a longstanding reputation for growing excellent plant stock.
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 | Geraniums
A closer view of the greenhouse stock, here with geraniums in pots and in hanging baskets. The nursery's geraniums are a big, big seller. "We think we grow the best in the country," says Theta. The airy, trailing white flowers in the hanging baskets are Bacopa.
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 | Plant Artistry
Carolyn rearranges red geraniums and white lantana in one of the larger container plantings she creates for the nursery, arrangements that take many, many forms and are extremely popular with customers.
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 | White Petunias and...
Blending this sea of white petunias with only miniscule spots of color seems a bit of genius, as it makes all three elements much more dramatic.
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 | Contrast
This arrangement plays a cool, almost frosty pale green against brilliant red verbena.
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 | Full to Bursting
Cascading petunias yield a flood of floral beauty.
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 | Symphony in Blue
This unusually cool and soothing Carolyn Willoughby arrangement blends blue-lavender Plectranthus and Verbena with a touch of white Bacopa.
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 | Bougainvillea Baskets
Just when we thought we'd seen it all with Steinert's large container plantings, we came across these hanging baskets of hybrid Bougainvillea. They left us, well, speechless. |
 | Verbena Baskets
More subtle but nonetheless equally arresting were these baskets of Verbena hybrids. At last, we were finally beginning to understand why this nursery needs to direct traffic on weekends. |
 | Abunda 'Ghost' Bacopa
In addition to beautiful floral arrangements, Steinert's offers a remarkable selection of bedding plants, many of them as distinctive as this white Bacopa hybrid, the Abunda Series 'Ghost'. With its beautiful trailing habit, this plant is superb when added to hanging baskets or mixed containers, as it blooms profusely and all season long.
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 | A Charmer
If you look closely enough, Steinert's will turn up such charming surprises as this "Sunset Group" Lewisia cotyledon. Native to the Rockies, this little perennial blooms from basal rosettes with pink, orange, red, or yellow flowers that are often striped. It grows to 6 inches tall, loves full sun, and to avoid rot must have excellent drainage. It's so pretty we think it deserves a more suitable common name than "Bitterroot." |
 | 'Double Bridal Wreath' Spirea
A gardener we know calls Spirea the "Grandmother plant" because it takes him back to his childhood and looking at the white blossoms while lazing in his grandmother's front porch swing. Long treasured in the Ozarks, Spirea cantoniensis is gaining new popularity. This variety is called 'Double Bridal Wreath' for its breathtaking double clusters of flowers. It blooms in mid-spring and grows to 4-6 feet tall and as wide.
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 | 'Dream Queen' Hosta
Steinert's distinctive selection of hostas includes 'Dream Queen', which features large, nearly round leaves blue-green in color with creamy yellow centers and a uniquely free-spirited variegation pattern. It takes more sun than most hostas and grows to 16-18 inches tall and 24-26 inches wide. |
 | 'Brim Cup' Hosta
Many gardeners think 'Brim Cup' indispensable for variety in the hosta garden, thanks to its thick, horizontal, puckered and cupped leaves and striking creamy chartreuse edges. The plant can reach 12 inches tall and 18 inches wide.
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 | 'Wide Brim' Hosta
The Hosta 'Wide Brim' is especially striking for wide, irregular, creamy leaf margins that develop gold tints as it matures. The leaves are an engaging, broadly ovoid shape and the plant grows to 20 inches high and 3 feet wide. It needs full shade and moist, well-drained soil. Gardeners say this is one of the best of all hostas for bringing vivid color to the shade garden.
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 | Lantanas
Lantanas bloom from spring to frost in the Ozarks heat and sun, and the Steinerts grow an ocean of them. Varieties of Lantana camara produce multicolor flowers and grow to 4 feet high and 6 feet wide. Those of Lantana montevidensis produce single-color flowers and grow to 1-1/2 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
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 | 'Century Fire' Celosia
Century Fire Celosia (Celosia plumosa 'Century Fire') features tall, feathery flower plumes deep red in color. This well-branched annual grows 24 inches tall and blooms early in the season and up till frost. It's an eyecatching, easy-to-grow addition to any garden and also works beautifully in containers.
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 | Verbena Colors
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 | 'Sizzler Purple' Sage
Sizzler Purple Sage (Salvia splendens 'Sizzler Purple') is an annual dwarf sage that grows 10 inches high and a foot wide. The dense, flat-deep-purple flower spikes make it an unusual presence in the garden and an interesting counterpoint to more finely defined flowers. Good for beds and borders, it needs full sun and moderately fertile, well-drained soil. It blooms in summer and fall and responds well to deadheading.
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 | Orange New Zealand Sedge
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 | A Unique Plant
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 | 'Aster Silver Magic' Verbena
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 | 'Blue Eyes' Nierembergia
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