I Never Knew Cheshire is ‘The Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut’

Maybe you're more observant than I am, but I had absolutely no idea that Cheshire is known as "The Bedding Plant Capital of Connecticut." I have noticed an abundance of greenhouses and the beautiful landscaping at Viron Rondo Osteria along Highland Avenue/Rt. 10, and it turns out I wasn't too far away from the motherland of Connecticut annuals and perennials.

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According to the New York Times, in 1988, Cheshire's 26 agriculturalists produced over $400 million dollars in plants and veggies that were sold up and down the East Coast. Today there is over 1,000,000 square feet of greenhouse space in Cheshire

There are a few massive greenhouse operations right off of the Northern portion of Highland Ave/Rt. 10. CK Greenhouses, a local company founded in Cheshire in 1995, has grown (huh-huh) to become one of the largest growers in the Northeast, and their massive facility on McCausland Court and E. Johnson Ave is right next to Kurt Weiss Greenhouses, Inc. who are one of the leading producers of Hydrangeas and Azaleas in all of the United States.

Now that I've explored that, what exactly is a bedding plant? The term Bedding Plants refers to plants that can be put in a garden bed or container when it's ready to bloom, and discarded after they die. Most bedding plants are Annuals, and they complete their life cycle in one year - bloom, trashed, and replaced. Sad about your dead plants every year? Get a Biennial, they live through two years, or go crazy and get a Perennial bedding plant, those live even longer.

Good for you Cheshire, we already know you're one of the best places to live in Connecticut, you have really fast swimmers, and damn, you have a lot of bedding plants.