Welcome to Contrary Mary's!

We are a small, family-owned greenhouse located southwest of Chicago specializing in unusual perennials, hostas, peonies, and heirloom veggie plants that you won't find at big chain nurseries.

Because of the HUGE number of requests we receive, our complete selection of hostas and peonies are now available to be shipped as bare root plants! For our other great plants, come visit us at our Farm outside Chicago!

General Ordering and Shipping Information

Hostas ship, weather permitting, mid-April through early October. Last day to order hostas for 2013 delivery is September 27, 2013. Peonies ship, weather permitting, mid-September to early November. Last day to order peonies for 2013 delivery is October 30, 2013.

We are happy to take your order via our on-line store or as a phone order. For phone orders, please call us at (815) 521-9535 between 9a-6p Central time and have your credit card information available. Although we have LOTS of varieties, we do have LIMITED quantities of each and we want to be able to place them on hold just for YOU!!! Therefore, we do charge your credit card AT THE TIME THE ORDER IS PLACED in order to reserve your plants.

We ship orders via USPS Priority Mail which takes about 2-3 days to receive. Our basic shipping/handling charge is $7.95 plus $1.50 per plant ordered! We also track each order to ensure it gets to you in a timely manner.

You can also pick up your plants at the Farm and save on shipping. Just indicate the approximate date you’d like to come; we will contact you to confirm the exact date that they will be available (‘cause sometimes some plants are slower than others!)

Hostas

We ship Hostas, weather permitting, mid-April through early October. The last day to order hostas for 2013 delivery is September 27, 2013. You can expect your plants to have excellent root systems and to usually have multiple eyes. Most of them have come from one gallon containers or were field grown so they should re-establish quickly for you. Plant them as soon as possible (don't let them dry out!) in a shady to partial shade location that has been amended with compost. Water thoroughly after planting and make sure they get about 1" of water per week during the growing season. Just remember that hostas take several years to mature, so be patient as they're WELL worth the wait (speaking as a hosta addict!!!)

Peonies

Weather permitting, we will ship your bareroot Peony order mid-September to early November. The last day to order peonies for 2013 delivery is October 30, 2013. The colder zones get shipped first; for the health of the Peonies I ship to warmer zones starting in early October.  Due to the fragility of Peony eyes in the spring, we can ONLY ship them in the fall. They will be shipped to you via priority mail and will generally be 3-5 eyes although it will vary some depending on the growth habit of the individual variety.

If you want to pick up your Peonies at the Farm and they are already in pots and don’t have to be dug, they may be picked up at any time during the season - but please make prior arrangements first! However, just remember that bareroot Peonies are ONLY available September to early November as that is the only time that they can be safely dug!