开在汤森港的稀有植物苗圃
Far Reaches Farm 是美国华盛顿州汤森港的一家稀有植物专营苗圃，2000 年由 Kelly Dodson 与 Sue Milliken 创办，六英亩的土地上养着上千个分类群。两人早年分别在佛蒙特州和华盛顿州经营各自的苗圃，1997 年一起参加云南的种子采集旅行，在海拔 4300 米处同时看上一株垫状的 Arenaria kansuensis，脱口而出「我很喜欢它，可是我永远卖不掉它」。苗圃后来成了他们的生活和工作重心。现在农场以邮购为主，没有零售区，但全年提供路边自提；保育机构会员和到店自提的客人可预约进园参观。
植物从哪里来
苗圃的植物以野外采集和栽培引种为主，采集多与 Rhododendron Species Botanic Garden 合作，Kelly Dodson 此前在那家苗圃担任繁殖与苗圃经理。2003 年两人是第二批登上那加干邦 Saramati 峰的西方人。2010 年的一趟行程被他们自己写成了婚讯：山路拐角先望见大百合 Cardiocrinum giganteum 顶端的大蒴果，接着撞见心叶椴 Carpinus fangiana，垂下的苞片像啤酒花，长度可达二十英寸。目录按原产地分得很细，中国四百四十件、欧洲一百三十六件、杂交一百二十三件、日本一百二十二件、喜马拉雅九十二件、南非九十二件、越南五十八件、太平洋西北五十三件，此外还有地中海、中亚、中美洲、新西兰等二十多个来源。
按园艺类型分的九类目录
网站把植物分成常绿、蕨类、苦苣苔科、禾草及禾草状、地被、多年生与球根、灌木、乔木、藤本九类，每类下面再列具体种类。近年上架的有喜马朱铃花 Primula secundiflora、绢毛山柳 Stewartia malacodendron、长叶绿绒蒿 Meconopsis gakyidiana、Bomarea edulis、唇形科的红花 Colquhounia coccinea、拟粉花 Sorbus pseudohupehensis ‘Pink Pagoda’、西康芍药 Paeonia veitchii、黄精 Polygonatum cf. curvistylum，多数带采集号，单株价格在十几到几十美元之间。
邮购方式与耐寒区提示
订单在每周一、周二发货，节假日或天气不顺时会延后；七、八月以及十二月中旬到次年二月不发货，需要例外安排得单独商量；苗圃不出境发货。运费按重量和体积再加基础费计算，西部各州基础费十二美元，阿拉斯加、夏威夷和落基山以东十五美元，走 USPS Priority Mail 或 UPS。植株多带原育苗盆、用环保材料包裹，休眠的球根和根茎去掉土以减重，苗盆在美国俄勒冈州制造；货到后如发现死亡或严重损伤，五个工作日内联系可处理。耐寒区方面苗圃提醒别只按邮编查：农场本身在七区，往西半小时的朋友家是六区的霜洼地，往东半小时进汤森港市区已经是八区，部分小气候接近九区，同一株植物因此会被判到不同的区。
2027 年起并入非营利保育机构
苗圃背后的 Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy 是两人 2017 年成立的 501(c)(3) 非营利机构，任务是把这些在原生地已受威胁的观赏植物收集起来、引入北美，做成活的参考收藏，再分送给植物园、研究人员和园艺爱好者。项目包括 Kenton Seth 与 Paul Spriggs 参与建造的裂隙园，用石缝给高山植物找安全庇护；还包括正在搭建的遮荫收藏家花园，园土里加了三十吨玄武岩细粉，用来试验固碳；以及 2021 年由捐款购入的体视显微镜，用于拍摄凭证标本的照片。买家现在就能看到接下来的调整：2027 年 1 月 1 日起，苗圃的育苗、销售和花园业务全部并入保育机构，农场保留产权、以出租方身份存在，原有两名全职和三名兼职员工随业务转入，2026 年秋季的募款目标是六万美元。
A Rare Plant Nursery in Port Townsend
Far Reaches Farm is a specialty nursery for rare plants in Port Townsend, Washington, started in 2000 by Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken on six acres holding thousands of plant taxa. Both had run their own nurseries before, Sue in Vermont and Kelly in Washington, and they met on a 1997 seed collecting expedition to Yunnan, where at 4300 metres they both stopped over a wintry cushion of Arenaria kansuensis and said they loved it but could never sell it. The nursery grew out of that. It works mainly by mail order, has no retail area, offers curbside pickup year round, and lets Conservancy members and pickup customers visit the gardens by appointment.
Where the Plants Come From
Most of the collection comes from wild collecting and from cultivated sources, with collecting trips run in collaboration with Rhododendron Species Botanic Garden, where Kelly Dodson previously worked as propagation and nursery manager. In 2003 they were among the second westerners to climb Nagaland’s Mt Saramati. A 2010 trip became their wedding story: rounding a mountain bend they first saw the fat seed capsules of the giant lily Cardiocrinum giganteum, then came upon Carpinus fangiana, a hornbeam whose seed hangs in hop-like bracts up to twenty inches long. The shop is organised by origin as well, with 440 items from China, 136 from Europe, 123 hybrids, 122 from Japan, 92 each from the Himalaya and South Africa, 58 from Vietnam and 53 from the Pacific Northwest, plus twenty more regions.
Nine Plant Type Categories
The site sorts its listings into evergreen, fern, gesneriad, grass and grasslike, groundcover, perennial and bulb, shrub, tree and vine, with individual species listed under each heading. Recent arrivals include Primula secundiflora, Stewartia malacodendron, Meconopsis gakyidiana, Bomarea edulis, Colquhounia coccinea, Sorbus pseudohupehensis ‘Pink Pagoda’, Paeonia veitchii and Polygonatum cf. curvistylum. Most carry a collection number, and single plants are priced from the teens to a few dozen dollars.
Ordering and Hardiness Notes
Orders go out on Mondays and Tuesdays, delayed now and then by holidays or weather; there is no shipping in July, August or from mid-December through February unless arranged, and the nursery does not ship out of the country. Shipping cost is weight and volume plus a base fee, twelve dollars for the western states and fifteen for Alaska, Hawaii and points east of the Rockies, sent by USPS Priority Mail or UPS. Plants travel in their nursery pots wrapped in eco-friendly material, dormant bulbs and rhizomes are shipped without soil to cut weight, and the pots are made in Oregon. Report dead or badly damaged plants within five business days. On hardiness the nursery asks you not to rely on zip codes alone: the farm sits in zone 7, a friend’s garden half an hour west is a zone 6 frost pocket, and downtown Port Townsend half an hour east is zone 8 with microclimates near zone 9.
Joining the Nonprofit in 2027
Behind the nursery is Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy, the 501(c)(3) organisation the founders set up in 2017. It acquires these threatened ornamentals, introduces them to North America, keeps them as a living reference collection and distributes them to botanic gardens, researchers and gardeners. Its projects include a crevice garden built with Kenton Seth and Paul Spriggs to give alpine plants refuge, a shaded Collector’s Garden under construction whose soil mixes in thirty tons of fine basalt flour for carbon sequestration research, and a zoom stereo microscope bought with donations in 2021 for photographing voucher specimens. Customers can already see the change ahead: from January 1, 2027 the nursery’s propagation, sales and gardens move into the Conservancy, the Farm keeps ownership of the property as landlord, two full time and three part time staff move across, and the fall 2026 fundraising target is sixty thousand dollars.
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