美国 Sunshine Farm and Gardens – 西弗吉尼亚铁筷子专长苗圃

苗圃概况

Sunshine Farm and Gardens（阳光农场与花园）是一家由 Barry Glick 于1972年在美国西弗吉尼亚州 Renick（Greenbrier County）海拔3000英尺山顶上创办的家族式苗圃，主营耐寒至 zone 5 的稀有多年生植物、球根、树木与灌木，规模涵纳一万余品种（taxa）。苗圃以铁筷子属（Helleborus）为其育种与收藏的核心专长，自有 ‘Sunshine Selections’ F1 杂交品系以及双瓣与银莲花型 ‘Sunshine Spectaculars’ 系列；同时面向花园中心、景观承包商和批发再生产者提供批发苗，并通过邮购服务覆盖无经销商地区的家庭园艺爱好者。Sunshine Farm and Gardens 由 Barry Glick 于1972年在美国西弗吉尼亚州 Greenbrier County Renick 镇附近一处 60 英亩（约 24 公顷）的山顶园地上创办，海拔约 3000 英尺。Barry 自 1954 年起在观看 Mr. Wizard 电视节目时开始对植物产生兴趣，1972 年意识到”在都市里没有足够空间容纳他和他的植物”，于是买下这片山头开始建园。苗圃现主营来自世界各地的稀有且”几乎对家庭园艺者不可能失败”（idiot proof）的耐寒多年生植物、球根、树木与灌木，藏品逾 10,000 个品种（taxa）。园内配套一座最先进（state of the art）的组织培养（tissue culture）实验室，承担实验性植物遗传与新品种开发；销售以批发为主，主要服务 Garden Center（花园中心）、Landscaper（景观承包商）、Landscape Architect（景观建筑师）、Landscape Designer（景观设计师）与 Wholesale Regrower（批发再生产者），在没有授权经销商的地区则通过邮购直接服务家庭园艺爱好者。苗圃全年的对外活动包括 Lectures（讲座）、Slide Presentations（幻灯演示）和 Workshops（工作坊），并开放 Display Gardens（展示花园）供预约参观。

植物种类

苗圃的核心收藏是铁筷子属（Helleborus），已种植”几乎该属的每一个物种”（virtually every Hellebore species within the genus），并维持超过 50,000 株开花规格的种株用于种子生产。旗下自育品牌包括 *Helleborus* × *hybridus* ‘Sunshine Selections’（采用去雄与人工授粉的劳动密集型工艺生产的”市面上唯一真正的 F1 杂交品系”）以及 ‘Sunshine Spectaculars’ 系列的 Double（重瓣）与 Anemone-flowered（银莲花型）铁筷子；自 1997 年起开展控制杂交，从上万株实生苗中筛选优良重瓣个体，并通过组织培养加速优选命名品种的扩繁（计划每年选出 30 个最佳单株，每品种 18-24 个月内扩繁至 3000-5000 株）。物种层面涵盖 H. purpurascent、H. dumetorum、H. torquatus、H. cyclophyllus、H. odorus、H. orientalis 等，以及源自法国阿尔卑斯山采集的 H. foetidus ‘Frenchy’（2001 年引入）。除铁筷子外，苗圃的 10,000+ 品种目录覆盖 Acanthus mollis ‘New Zealand Gold’、Aceriphyllum rossii、Aconitum lycoctonum、Acorus graminea 系列（’Himemasamune’、’Dwarf Green’、’Dwarf Gold’、’Ogon’）、Actaea pachypoda、Carex appalachica、Camassia scilloides、Crocosmia ‘Elizabethan Gardens’、Diphylleia cymosa、Hardy Cyclamen（Cyclamen hederifolium 与 C. coum）、Hosta laevigata、Hydrastis canadensis、Mitchella repens、Primula × polyantha ‘Vivid’、Stenanthium gramineum、Trillium cuneatum 等多年生与球根。

育种与组培

苗圃的核心育种工作集中在 Helleborus 属，Barry 多年来在世界各地搜寻新的种质资源（germplasm）以扩充其 Helleborus × hybridus 杂交品系的血统；同时苗圃通过组织培养实验室对其他属进行实验性繁殖与新品种选育。位于山坡上的 Hellebore Breeding Gardens（铁筷子育种花园）占地 6 英尺（约 2.4 公顷），集中定植了 68,000 余株成熟、盛开的铁筷子，每年 3 月中旬达到盛花期高峰；该花园于 1993 年由来自英国 Devon 的 Matthew Bishop 整体重新设计。除铁筷子外，苗圃还实施一个科学化的”Plant Evaluation Program”（植物评估项目），以 5 株为一组、20 个不同物种为一批的方式评估潜在新种，所得发现会通过 Glick Picks 订阅栏目向订户推荐。

教育推广与社区

苗圃围绕铁筷子建立了系统的科普与社区参与机制。网站设有 Garden Tours（在线花园导览）栏目，由著名园艺摄影师 Mark Turner（Turner Photographics）长期拍摄，由 Glick 主持多场”Speakers Portfolio”演讲（目标受众为 Master Gardener Group、Garden Club、Civic Organization 等园艺团体与社区组织）。消费者层面，苗圃提供 100 株装的”Home Garden Sampler”（20 种 × 5 株，专为家庭园艺者设计）和”Trade Sampler”（面向花园中心、苗圃、专业景观公司的贸易装），售价 5 美元/2 英寸 tree band 容器；同业内还运营”Hellebore Naming Challenge”命名征集活动，获奖者将获得一株 4 英寸盆的 Sunshine Spectaculars 系列铁筷子。苗圃还建有 6 英亩的 Hellebore 育种花园，每年三月盛花期面向预约访客开放；通过 Facebook 页面”Official Renick Time”持续更新日常

官网：http://www.sunfarm.com/

Nursery Overview

Sunshine Farm and Gardens is a family-run nursery founded in 1972 by Barry Glick on a 60-acre mountaintop at approximately 3,000 feet elevation in Renick, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Specialising in cold-hardy (to USDA Zone 5) rare perennials, bulbs, trees and shrubs, the nursery maintains a collection of more than 10,000 taxa, with the genus Helleborus (hellebores) as its flagship breeding and conservation focus, and serves primarily wholesale customers — garden centres, landscapers, landscape architects and wholesale regrowers — with mail-order reaching home gardeners in areas without local retailers.Sunshine Farm and Gardens was founded in 1972 by Barry Glick on a 60-acre mountaintop at roughly 3,000 feet elevation near Renick in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Glick traces his interest in plants to 1954, when, at the age of five, he watched Mr. Wizard on television root a cutting in a glass of water; by 1972 he decided that a city environment no longer offered him enough space, and he acquired the property to start the nursery. Today the operation grows more than 10,000 taxa of uncommon, mostly “idiot-proof” cold-hardy (Zone 5) perennials, bulbs, trees and shrubs from around the world, supported by a state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratory that handles experimental propagation and new variety development. The business is primarily a wholesale nursery serving garden centres, landscapers, landscape architects, landscape designers and wholesale regrowers, with mail-order direct to home gardeners in regions without established retailers. Year-round external activities include lectures, slide presentations and workshops, and the on-site display gardens are open to visitors by appointment.

Plant Selection

The heart of the collection is the genus Helleborus, in which Sunshine Farm grows virtually every species and maintains more than 50,000 flowering-size stock plants for seed production. Its proprietary line, *Helleborus* × *hybridus* ‘Sunshine Selections’, is produced through a labour-intensive process of emasculation and hand-pollination and is marketed as the only commercially available true F1 hybrid hellebore line; the ‘Sunshine Spectaculars’ sub-series offers Double and Anemone-flowered forms. Controlled crossing of doubles has been underway since 1997, with selections then accelerated through tissue culture — the nursery plans to pick the best 30 individuals each year and bulk each to 3,000-5,000 plants in 18-24 months. Species covered include H. purpurascens, H. dumetorum, H. torquatus, H. cyclophyllus, H. odorus and H. orientalis, alongside selections such as H. foetidus ‘Frenchy’, introduced in 2001 from a French Alps seed-collecting trip. The wider 10,000+ taxa catalogue ranges across Acanthus mollis ‘New Zealand Gold’, Aceriphyllum rossii, Aconitum lycoctonum, Acorus graminea cultivars (‘Himemasamune’, ‘Dwarf Green’, ‘Dwarf Gold’, ‘Ogon’), Actaea pachypoda, Carex appalachica, Camassia scilloides, Crocosmia ‘Elizabethan Gardens’, Diphylleia cymosa, hardy Cyclamen (C. hederifolium and C. coum), Hosta laevigata, Hydrastis canadensis, Mitchella repens, Primula × polyantha ‘Vivid’, Stenanthium gramineum, Trillium cuneatum and many further genera.

Breeding and Tissue Culture

The breeding programme is centred on Helleborus, with Glick spending more than a decade combing the world for new germplasm to broaden the bloodlines of his H. × hybridus strains; the tissue culture laboratory simultaneously supports experimental propagation and new-variety development across other genera. The Hellebore Breeding Gardens occupy a 6-acre hillside section planted with more than 68,000 mature, blooming hellebores that peak in mid-March; the surrounding display gardens were comprehensively redesigned in 1993 by Matthew Bishop of Devon, England, on top of the then-24-year-old existing garden. Beyond hellebores, the nursery runs a scientific Plant Evaluation Programme that trialled 20 different species in groups of five to surface “idiot-proof” plants for the home gardener, with discoveries channelled to subscribers through the Glick Picks newsletter.

Education and Community

Beyond sales, the nursery runs a layered education and outreach programme. The website’s Garden Tours, photographed over many years by garden photographer Mark Turner of Turner Photographics, are among the most-visited sections of sunfarm.com. Glick maintains an online Speakers Portfolio and accepts speaking engagements from Master Gardener groups, garden clubs and civic organisations. The retail-facing Home Garden Sampler (twenty species × five plants each) and the trade-facing Trade Sampler are designed to make rare and unusual material approachable for both home gardeners and industry buyers, with most plants offered at US$5 per 2-inch tree band. The Hellebore Naming Challenge invites the public to propose names for new ‘Sunshine Spectaculars’ seedlings, with the winning namer receiving a 4-inch pot of their plant once it is released. The 6-acre Hellebore Breeding Gardens are open to visitors by advance appointment during the March peak bloom, and the nursery shares ongoing farm life through its Facebook “Official Renick Time” page.