In The Press

Roy Diblik pioneered the production of native plants in containers before he cofounded Northwind Perennial Farm, a nursery and design business serving private and public gardens. A master of creating exciting and resilient combinations of native and nonnative plants, he's refined a series of modular plant formulas and presents them in his book The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden.

A garden center sells plants. Northwind Perennial Farm sells plants. Ergo, Northwind Perenni­al Farm is a garden center. In this case, the logic doesn't work. It would be more accurate to say Northwind is a botan­ical garden that promotes the idea of living more peace­fully with your gardening duties.

Northwind Perennial Farm: This dynamic nursery promotes contemporary garden communities. As co-owner of Northwind Perennial Farm in Burlington, Wisconsin, Roy-who's been growing plants for more than 25 years-specializes in growing perennials, native plants, and ornamental grasses. But he's also on a personal mission to persuade gardeners to turn their home landscapes into sustainable environments using plants grouped in communities based on cost and time it takes to maintain.

Ask Roy Diblik who taught him so much about growing plants, and he'll tell you this: "The plants did. If you can be patient and observant, they'll teach you what you need to know."

It's this unique relationship with plants that led Diblik from a career in outdoor education to a career in horticulture 30 years ago. "I've always grown a lot of plants, and as I watched other people plant them, kill them, and replace them year after year, I began to feel sorry for the plants. So here I am.”