A rare invitation to Fairweather Gardens

Usually the closest most folks get to Fairweather Gardens is the catalog for the grower of hard-to-find plants.

But customers won't have to wait for their plants to arrive in the mail on Friday and Saturday. They can pick such lovelies as Prunus laurocerasus -- that's a cherry laurel with lustrous, 8-inch leaves -- themselves at an open house at the garden mecca in remote Greenwich in Cumberland County.

For most folks, it's a long haul to the big house with the white picket fence across from the cemetery. That's where Fairweather partners and gardening greats Robert Hoffman and Robert Popham work their magic. But I promise you won't be disappointed.

Where else can you find such treats as the new witch hazel trees that are exciting European gardeners? You won't find pedestrian pansies at Fairweather but you will discover American wisteria, an agile climber which blooms throughout the summer.

The open house lasts from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. And if you can't make it on Friday or Saturday you will have to wait for the next open house, slated for March 31. Fairweather Gardens is not open to the public.

For details and directions go to: http://www.fairweathergardens.com/