美国 伴侣植物苗圃 Companion Plants – 国际知名香草与本土植物苗圃

“美国 伴侣植物苗圃 Companion Plants”是一家创立于 1982 年的国际知名香草与本土植物苗圃，坐落在俄亥俄州东南部雅典县（Athens County）Coolville Ridge 山区，靠近霍金河沿岸。创始人 Peter Borchard 自 1982 年起在此建立温室与展示床，至今累计引进并繁育超过 600 种常见与稀有香草种苗，覆盖药用、烹饪、礼仪、芳香、蜜源、纤维、染料七大用途类目，另有 200 余种自采种子销售。苗圃 1983 年由 Peter Borchard 在 East African 罗勒与 ‘Dark Opal’ 紫罗勒之间的苗床空隙中发现并扦插保存的 ‘African Blue’ 罗勒（Ocimum ‘African Blue’）成为其国际园艺界最知名的引种贡献，2025 年 Rural Action 可持续农业项目冬季考察专门走访了苗圃的种子储藏室与温室。

核心定位：六大用途 600 种香草加 200 种自采种子

Companion Plants 把香草按用途分成药用、烹饪、礼仪、芳香、蜜源植物、纤维与染料植物六大类，另外保留本土东部药用植物与野花专区，年度库存基本保持在 600 余种活体植物与 200 余种自采种子。苗圃坚守 “大棚里常年满库存” 的原则，每年 4 月至 6 月温室与生产床的品类最丰富，展示床也会一直延续到首次霜冻才陆续凋谢。温室里主力栽培的多年生品种包括数十种百里香、鼠尾草、迷迭香和罗勒，并常年保留苗圃自己的招牌品种——1983 年扦插保种的 ‘African Blue’ 罗勒；本土植物区则以 ‘Goldenseal’ 北美黄连等东部原生药用植物以及在退化土地重建项目中发挥作用的休眠／裸根苗为特色。所有出厂苗木统一栽在 2.5 英寸见方、3.5 英寸深的双色塑料盆中以便发货，温室里同时保留了大盆 “即刻庭院化” 备货。

种子业务、繁育方法与有机种植的传统

种子是 Companion Plants 长期口碑的另一支柱。苗圃销售的绝大部分香草种子由苗圃从自家生产床或周边野外采集，只在自产不足时才向同行种子公司少量补货。标准零售种子袋（packet）定价 3.5 美元（约 25 元人民币），袋内装填方式以体积而非重量计量，每袋通常含 100 至 200 粒；罗勒种子每袋 150 至 300 粒，洋甘菊等极小粒种子则可能上千粒，蓖麻等大粒种子每袋 15 至 20 粒。苗圃种子田曾在 1993 至 1995 年获得有机认证，但因为续证手续繁琐而于 1996 年主动放弃认证——田间农作方式未变，温室里仅按需使用昆虫皂、鱼藤酮和除虫菊酯等低毒植源性杀虫剂，所有采收后的种子都不再进行任何化学处理。批量价目表可在网站提交 “Request Price List” 申请后获取；机构、政府、大学与植物园的 PO 订单也可直接受理。

邮购物流、营业时间与访客接待

苗圃采取纯邮购（mail-order）为主、温室现场自取为辅的混合销售模式。订单通过 UPS 或 USPS 发货，活体植物按州内／州外、东密西西比河西／东、阿拉斯加／夏威夷四个档位定价：东密西西比河（除佛州与缅因外）邮费 12 美元加每株 0.5 美元，西密西西比河（含佛州、缅因、明尼苏达、路易斯安那）14 美元加每株 0.5 美元，阿拉斯加与夏威夷 20 美元加每株 1 美元；裸根／休眠植物在密西西比河以东按总价加 10%、河西加 15% 计；订单满 75 美元可分批出运，低于 75 美元需补足最低运费。温室对公众开放时间为每年 3 月至 10 月的周四至周六 10 点至 16 点，11 月至次年 2 月只接受预约参观，并在 8 月 1 日至 14 日与多数美国法定假日闭园。苗圃承接 5 人以上的团体导览，提前预约即可安排 Greenhouse 与展示床的现场讲解；同时接受 Visa、Mastercard、American Express、Discover、现金与个人支票付款。

行业认可、社区参与与外部链接

Companion Plants 在国际园艺圈长期享有 “Dave’s Garden Top 5 Nursery” 评价，2015 年再度入选。除经营主业外，苗圃还在外部链接页向访客推荐了 Ancient Wisdom Modern Kitchen（东亚本草食谱）、Mushroom Harvest（菌菇粉与胶囊）、Chelsea Green Publishing（1984 年成立的可持续生活出版商）、Plant Healer Magazine（草药民俗杂志）、Glasshouse Works（稀有热带与耐寒植物）、Mother Earth News（美国最长寿的可持续生活月刊）、All Things Plants 与 Dave’s Garden 等 8 个外部园艺资源。苗圃因 1983 年起的 ‘African Blue’ 罗勒发现被 Dallas Garden Buzz 2023 年专文报道，又因 2025 年冬季主办 Rural Action 可持续农业团队与俄亥俄开放图书馆 OHIO Honors 2905 口述史项目（Peter Borchard 作为 “雅典居民／创业者／农民市集成员” 接受访谈）的实地参观而持续出现在俄亥俄州地方媒体视野中，成为美国东南部香草苗圃里少有的兼具科研、文化与零售三重身份的家庭经营典范。

Companion Plants is an internationally recognized herb and native plant nursery founded in 1982 by Peter Borchard, set in the rolling Coolville Ridge hills of Athens County in southeastern Ohio. The operation cultivates more than 600 varieties of common and exotic herb plants across medicinal, culinary, ceremonial, aromatic, butterfly, fiber, and dye categories, plus over 200 varieties of seed, most of which are grown and harvested on-site using environmentally friendly methods. The nursery’s best-known contribution to international horticulture is the 1983 discovery and clonal rescue of ‘African Blue’ basil (Ocimum ‘African Blue’) by Peter Borchard, who noticed the sterile hybrid growing between East African camphor basil and ‘Dark Opal’ sweet basil beds and brought it into the greenhouse to propagate by cuttings. In January 2025 the nursery hosted Rural Action’s Sustainable Agriculture team, and Peter Borchard’s lifelong work was profiled in the OHIO Honors 2905 oral history project (2022) by the Ohio Open Library.

Core Identity: 600+ Herbs, 200+ Self-Harvested Seeds, Seven Use Categories

Companion Plants organizes its living collections into seven use categories — medicinal, culinary, ceremonial, aromatic, butterfly-attracting, fiber, and dye plants — plus a dedicated section of Eastern U.S. native plants and wildflowers used in restoration work. Year-round inventory at the greenhouses is kept as full as possible, with peak selection running April through June and the display beds continuing their show through the first frost. The greenhouses centre on dozens of thyme, salvia, rosemary, and basil varieties, anchored by the nursery’s own 1983 introduction, ‘African Blue’ basil, alongside Eastern natives and exotics from around the world. Stock plants are shipped in 2½-inch square by 3½-inch-deep pots to encourage root growth; at the greenhouse, larger container specimens are kept available for instant landscaping and group tours are welcomed with advance notice. Payment is accepted via Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, cash, and personal checks.

Seed Catalogue, Bulk Pricing, and a 1990s Organic Heritage

Seeds are the long-running second pillar of the business. The vast majority of seed sold is harvested from the nursery’s own production beds or gathered from wild populations in the surrounding hills; only when self-production falls short does the team buy supplemental lots from other seed companies. Standard retail packets retail at USD 3.50 each and are filled by volume rather than weight, so typical packets contain 100 to 200 seeds — basil packets 150 to 300, Lobelia packets up to 1,000, and giant-seeded castor beans just 15 to 20. Many varieties are also offered in bulk increments from 1/8 oz up to 1 oz, with notes on seeds-per-ounce where known. Seed production fields were certified organic from 1993 through 1995; the nursery chose to drop certification in 1996 to avoid paperwork and expense, but continues the same agricultural practices, uses only Insecticidal Soap, Rotenone, and Pyrethrum in the greenhouses, and ships untreated seed. A formal Price List is available on request, and purchase orders from government agencies, universities, and botanic gardens are accepted.

Mail-Order Logistics, Public Hours, and Group Visits

Companion Plants runs as a mail-order-first nursery with on-site pickup available during public greenhouse hours. Orders ship via UPS or USPS, depending on the carrier most likely to deliver in good condition, and live plants cannot be sent outside the continental United States or to P.O. boxes. Shipping is zoned by region: east of the Mississippi (excluding Florida and Maine) Priority Mail is USD 12.00 plus USD 0.50 per plant; west of the Mississippi, plus Florida, Louisiana, Maine, and Minnesota, USD 14.00 plus USD 0.50 per plant; Alaska and Hawaii USD 20.00 plus USD 1.00 per plant, with overnight, second-day, UPS, and FedEx options quoted on request. Bareroot and dormant plants add 10% east of the Mississippi or 15% west. The nursery ships plant orders only on Mondays, Tuesdays, and occasionally Wednesdays to avoid weekend warehouse time. Public greenhouse hours run Thursday through Saturday, 10:00 to 16:00 from March through October; from November through February the nursery is open by appointment only, and it closes for most U.S. national holidays as well as August 1 through 14 and all Wednesdays.

Industry Recognition, Community Links, and External Resources

Companion Plants has long been listed as a Dave’s Garden Top 5 Nursery, most recently in 2015, and the business is profiled in multiple regional histories of the Athens County farming community. The nursery maintains a curated Links page recommending eight partner resources, including Ancient Wisdom Modern Kitchen (East Asian herbal recipes), Mushroom Harvest, Chelsea Green Publishing (sustainable-living publisher founded in 1984), Plant Healer Magazine, Glasshouse Works, Mother Earth News, All Things Plants, and Dave’s Garden. Outreach extends beyond online reading: Peter Borchard was interviewed for the OHIO Honors 2905 oral history project (2022) on his life as an Athens resident, entrepreneur, and Athens Farmers Market member, and the nursery hosted Rural Action’s Sustainable Agriculture team and AmeriCorps members for a winter seed-room and greenhouse tour in January 2025. ‘African Blue’ basil itself received dedicated coverage in Dallas Garden Buzz’s June 2023 feature tracing the hybrid’s 1983 discovery back to its founder, making Companion Plants one of the few American family-run nurseries whose work has appeared simultaneously in scientific, regional historical, and consumer-gardening publications.

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