Logee's on A Field Trip

Our retail store space is small, only about a 20’ x 20’ area inside and a pergola about the same dimensions outside. By next year, we may be able to double or triple the size of our retail sales space once our new production greenhouse is built. So we went on a field trip to see how some of the more famous garden centers around the Boston area use their space.

Logee's has been around since 1892 and two of the garden centers that we visited have been in business longer than us. Take a look.

Our pergola with limited space.

A few pots that we sell inside.

We stopped at Mahoney's in Winchester, Mass. They have eight different garden centers and this is their original store started in 1959.

They have unique displays!

Tubs for large sized plants.

A bougainvillea cultured as a bonsai.

Amy, Logee's retail supervisor and Tiffany, also from our retail department surrounded by plants.

More interesting displays. These were some of our favorites: pottery toadstools displayed in tree stumps.

Great signs, directional and inviting.

We stopped at Wilson Farms, which is a local produce/small garden center store that's been around since 1884.

A fish pond at Wilson's Farm.

We stopped at another famous garden center in Wayland, Mass called Russell's. They have been around since 1876.

Amy and Tiffany standing under a Pitcher Plant.

Amy admiring a variety of plants, including a delphinium.

Lots of signs at Russell's too.

We ended our trip at J.P. Bartlett's, a wholesale geranium grower that's been around since 1911. Pictured from left to right:

Michael Hoffmann, manager at Bartlett's, Laurelynn Martin, co-owner of Logee's, Laura Abrams, president of Bartlett's, Amy Miller, Logee's retail supervisor, Tiffany Debruycker, Logee's retail/grower.

Tiffany, in the collage of colors of Bartlett's Geraniums.

Logee's annual company picnic

Our annual picnic last week was not held in its usual grassy spot because the land was being prepared for our new energy efficient greenhouse. Plus, the weather was questionable.

We needed a spot and greenhouse manager, Rick Logee had the perfect solution. He and his crew cleared out half a greenhouse that was slotted to be removed the next day and turned it into a temporary picnic pavilion.

Surveying the scene.

Part of our picnic set-up.

Some of our growers:Claudia (standing), Paula (in red), who runs our tissue culture lab, Kathy(in blue), a veteran grower; and Kim ( a former grower, now customer service rep).

Nate, who is a grower and does our Integrated Pest Management is pictured here sitting with his girlfriend Laura.

The party in full swing!

Allamanda cathartica 'Cherries Jubilee' growing in the corner.

Rick and Korey talking shop. Notice in the background flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata) and a spiky plant that is home to a friendly garden snake.

Tiffany and Amy leaving the party to go back to our retail shop. A papaya (T.R. Hovey) outside the door.

The next day, Pete is taking down the greenhouse and


The steel poles are being erected.

The Chenille Plant-Everbloomer

The Chenille Plant has been well-loved at Logee’s for many years. Whenever, you visit Logee’s you will almost always see the everblooming Chenille plants lining the benches, showing off their dazzling, fuzzy bloom.

Today, when I walked through the greenhouses the long drooping catkins (flowers) of the chenille plant seemed brighter and more cheery than usual. June sunshine is much brighter and intense than even the March sunshine just several months ago. So of course, this would make sense because the chenille plant loves bright sunny light, which brings out the richness of color in its blooms.

Another, observation I had was Chenille plant’s versatility. All in the same space I noticed the two different varieties that we grow and their subtle differences in shape and culture.

Acalypha hispida "Chenille Plant" also known as “Red Hot Cattails” makes an eye-catching standard, where the central stem is trimmed clean of all leaves and flowers and left with a full crown on top.

Acalypha hispida can also be grown in a hanging basket as seen here.

Or trained to have a central stem with flowers and leaves cascading off the stem for the entire height as shown here.

Another notable difference is the length of the catkins. The length of the fuzzy catkins is longer than our other variety and resembles a show girls’ boa, hence its other common name “Red Hot Cattails.”

The other variety we grow called Acalypha pendula "Strawberry Firetails” has plumper and shorter fuzzy red catkins. And, like its name implies, the flowers pedulate and are shown off when grown as a hanging basket.



Acalypha pendula flowers like crazy at a young age as seen here growing in two and a half inch pots.

Care for both varieties are simple. Full sun, lots of water and fertilizer, especially in the active growing season. They can be grown outside year-round in Zone 10 or higher or simply bring outside seasonally if in the north. Read our cultural care sheet for more details on the easy care of these plants.

Creating Mixed Containers

Creating tropical mixed containers is one of my favorite activities in early spring. The possibilities are endless.

I like to start with a center focal point plant and two or three other plants in a 14 inch pot. Plants that I use for a center focal point are the dwarf cypress papyrus, a red cordyline australis ‘red star’, a striped phormium, lemon grass, a bamboo or even a black- stemmed sugar cane.

Here's a mixed container that I just started this past weekend. It has a dwarf Papayrus, aStrobilanthes, a Pelargonium and a variegated bougainvillea in the back.

An article in Fine Gardenin magazine a couple of years ago referred to the assembly of mixed containers as the Thriller, the Filler and the Spiller. Keep this in mind when you are assembling your mixed containers.

The Thrillers are the centerpiece plant. The Filler plants are some of my favorite accent plants. These are usually upright growers with lots of color or form. You can use short growing coleus,Nemesias. Begonia ‘Christmas Candy’, Angelonias, Heliotropes. I use Heliotropium aborescense alba. I love this white flower filler because of its vanilla scent. Heliotropium arborescense 'Iowa', a purple blooming plant with a slight wine-scent is another good choice.



Abutilons are also great plants to use, such as our Abutilon ‘Kristen’s Pink’ has wide open bells.


Our Summer Breeze collection is one of my favorites.

Finally, the Spillers or trailing plants can be plants such as Ipomeas. There are chartreuse green ones, black ones or even variegated ipomoeas that trail. I used Pink Frosted in my container that will bring out the colors in the other Pelargoniums balcon royale are good choices. Another great trailer is scaevola or fan flower or Plumbago auriculata 'Imperial Blue'.

Try two mixed containers of the same plants and balance a walkway or front entrance to make a dramatic effect! Like this Guardian Gate collection which boasts Cypress Papyrus, Begonia Christmas Candy and Scaevola

Preparing For A New Greenhouse

Many of you know that we are preparing to build an energy efficient four bay greenhouse in our back lot. Many of our greenhouses are old and inefficient. We will keep the retail greenhouses that have been around since 1892 but we will be upgrading our production facility, thanks in part to a state and federal grant. This will make us more competitive in the market place. Plus, we will reduce our carbon footprint by reducing our fuel consumption.

The shear task of moving greenhouses, while keeping plants alive is logistically a challenge.



We call this temporary structure “The Dog House.”

Here our large Dragon Fruit Tree “Hylocereus species” is sitting outside of the “Holding House” waiting for a new growing place.

Inside the “Holding House” are many of our succulents. Here a Euphorbia is in a lunch crate waiting to get moved.

Our crop of Pelargonium “Mrs. Cox” is another group that will be moved in the upcoming week.

With good weather, we hope to grow many of these plants outside. Plywood boards are placed outside with temporary water lines.

Bags of soil had to be moved to achieve this space.

In the midst of everything happening down back Tiffany is still smiling, selling plants in Retail. She just finished labeling Kalanchoe 'Mirabella' (right) and Echeveria 'Black Prince' (left).

Amy, our retail supervisor, is talking to Sham our business manager, sorting out details. A sweet smelling plumeria is blooming in the forefront of the picture.

Tropical Plants Photography At Logee's

Taking photos of tropical plants at Logee’s is a year-round task. The everbloomers are the simple ones to capture because they’re available anytime. The seasonal bloomers or fruiting plants require more attention and planning.

Recently, we had a customer and photographer visit from Marlborough, CT. His name is Stan Malcolm. Every time he travels to Logee’s he takes pictures. You can view his pictures at: www.performance-vision.com/Logees-3-5-10

He took a picture of this Thunbergia grandiflora on one of his visits.
While Stan was at Logee's, he shared a few things about photography. Mostly, what I learned was don't be afraid to experiment with the F stop, shutter speed and distance. He first took some pictures of a Bougainvillea in bloom in the Big House. Bougainvillea ‘Barbara Karst’ is an everbloomer and loves to climb and vine around any support.

We moved into one of our greenhouses where our succulents grow. It was close to 90 degrees, overcast, rainy and humid, a true tropical feel. Once the camera lens cleared from the humidity, we shot a picture of a new Euphorbia and a new Adenium.

Both will be offered in our fall catalogue. Euphorbia punicea “Jamaican Poinsettia” and Adenium “Tawaiin Beauty”are everbloomers and need lots of hot sun.

The Euphorbia is the close-up shot and the Adenium is the full specimen shot. We used a piece of black card board to highlight the flowers, although Stan thought a piece of gray cardboard would be better.

We tried photographing a Hibiscus called Hibiscus schizopetalus “Japanese Lantern” but the image was not sharp enough for publication. I tried using the auto settings but for close-up work or creating the right depth of field, manual settings work better. Thanks Stan for new photography ideas.

Lastly, Byron Martin, is our horticulturist, photographer and one of the owners. Here he is working on a picture of our Theobroma cacao or Chocolate plant that now has three chocolate pods ripening. The yellow pod is almost ready to be plucked. Although, we are on a temporary backorder, this one is worth getting on a waiting list. Grow you're own Chocolate!!

He also, hybridized a Papaya that will be released sometime in the coming year. Here he is preparing it for a photo shoot by striping off the dead leaves. Our most popular Papaya is a dwarf variety called T.R. Hovey


As a small company, we try to learn everyone's job but clearly some of us are more gifted at photography than others. I think I'll stick to writing.