Take a trip to smell the flowers

It takes heading down Princess Anne Road in Virginia Beach almost as far as the North Carolina line to see a new delight for flower gardeners.

But it's worth the drive.

You won't find corn or tomatoes coming along in this field, nor strawberries or May peas ripe for the picking. Instead, you'll see a feast for the eyes - beautiful shades of iris blue and peony pink and more.

You can't even see the flowers from the road. You turn at a little sign that says "The Plant Place" in the 300 block of Princess Anne Road and head down the lane until long rows of bloomers come into view.

Among many irises and peonies for sale, you might see a handsome German iris whose colors are a striking pattern of almost cobalt blue and white, or a peony with deep pink petals surrounding a fluffy white pom-pom center.

In the midst of all the color, you also will most probably see Roxanne Snell weeding away.

"I spend most of my life up here weeding," she said.

Still, if you're going to drive all that way to see her flowers, it's best to call Snell ahead of time to make sure she'll be up with her plants. The number is (757) 721-2170.

Snell's flower nursery is on the lane halfway between the road and her home on the North Landing River. She opened The Plant Place this spring in Virginia Beach, though many years ago in Michigan she also raised peonies and irises.

She began here by growing many of the varieties in flower beds around her home and started moving them to the field in 2009.

"But this spring is the first time I put the sign up," said Snell, who has a scrapbook with photos of almost all of the varieties - hundreds! - that she has. Not all are in bloom at any one time, of course. Yet before you buy, it is fun to see at least some of them in flower.

"Come visit and look at them," she said. "And then when they are out of bloom, I will divide them and send you what you want."

Snell was an automotive designer for General Motors in Michigan and found her way to Hampton Roads with her Navy husband. Over the years she got associate degrees in horticulture and landscaping and also became a master gardener.

Snell said she has always heard that peonies were hard to grow in Hampton Roads, but she doesn't understand why; peonies don't take much care.

"Peonies will last 100 years," Snell said. "And that's not even if they are well taken care of. You find them blooming away in old fields."

Her peonies in the field have morning shade and afternoon sun. Up near her house, they grow in full sun. She feeds them with an organic fertilizer (but not a raw manure) in spring before they bloom.

"They are growing in fine, loamy soil," Snell said. "It's real sandy here."

For the most part, peonies don't need extra water.

"I let the rain do it," she said.

Snell grows 68 varieties of peonies, all doubles, ranging from whites to pinks to reds and combinations thereof.

They were in full bloom a couple of weeks ago as were the German, or bearded, irises. You will find 174 different varieties of German irises in beautiful blues and apricots. Adoragon, a new cross between Japanese iris and German iris, is just about the frilliest flower in the field.

Still to come are close to 100 varieties of Japanese irises, 73 Siberian irises, 70 day lilies and more.

Mary Reid Barrow,

barrow1@cox.net