WOWOWOW!!!

The Summer is marching on!

And marching in to a very humid air mass with a potential third heat wave this week!  May I repeat -WOWOWOW!! Early July is the time when all kinds of garden decisions (and challenges!!) come to the fore – it’s also the time when we all want to go on vacation J  Makes for an interesting blend of activities doesn’t it?? Having said that – We can help!!!  We can troubleshoot with you if you bring in either clear pictures, damaged leaves or insects carefully secured against escape.  There are LOTS of options available for managing all kinds of problems, and we’re pretty good at figuring out what would work best for you.  Just had a rose bush come back in after a great start in the garden…the gardener noticed that the rose was not looking so great and went to pull a leaf off only to find that the whole plant came up in her hands!!!  What the heck caused THAT problem???  Actually – it was a meadow vole… The vole had completely eaten away the root system…  Sometimes the problem isn’t what you think it’s going to be.  That’s why you have to bring us in specific information!  See you at the store!

Now let’s move on to the fact that July means sales…after all Amazon’s Prime days do rule so many worlds…  Well, we’re not Amazon, but we are having a red tag sale and do have selected perennials on sale.  These are all well maintained plants that will not bloom again this year – but will settle in well and be ready to shine next year. 

Think peonies, ground phlox, false indigoes, bleeding hearts and lupins all at 20% off and ready for you to plant. 

We also have all of our Canna fertilizers on sale and that’s PERFECT because now is the time to work fertilizers back in to your garden work list. But more on that later…

The BEST news - Mid-Summer Fun!

And now for some real fun – we’re bringing in a whole selection of mid-summer perennials in full bloom! Now is THE time to have explosive color tucked into corners, front beds and wherever you need a splash to make you smile…and…all of that bright healthy color helps to support the pollinators, butterflies and more.  We have natives of all kinds including the wild bee balms, black eyed susans, hyssops, coreopsis,

coneflowers, magnificent daylilies, reblooming clematis, sweet pepper bushes, hydrangeas, potentillas, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and so very much more! You get the point – so much color!! So much potential!! The best way to find out what works for your yard is to stop by and see what catches your eye. 

And – we’re offering a Native Plant Pairing!!

Phlox Blue Paradise and Echinacea Mellow Yellow

A gorgeous mix of soft colors and pollinator attraction. 

And they’re even being grown in eco-friendly cardboard pots – not plastic!

Regularly $18.99 each     Now $15.99 each

so that you can create some sweeps and drifts in your yard – everyone wins!!!

(pollinators find it easier to locate food if there are multiple desirable plants in a group)

And one thing that makes us different is that we’ll be maintaining all of our plants to be their best when you plant them. In fact, they were all fertilized this afternoon (Wednesday) and the bees knew almost at once.  Did you know that bees can tell whether it’s worth their time to feed on your flowers?  And that the longer they feed in a day means that your plants are performing well and producing lots of sugars and complete proteins?  Here’s a brief quote from one of my favorite plant specialists: 

“…As an example, the sugar content of apple nectar can vary from a low of 2% up to 60%.

When apple blossom nectar contains 2% sugar, do you think honeybees will prefer the dandelions over the apples or vice versa? What about when the sugar concentration is 60% in the nectar?

An agronomist with decades of experience has reported that honeybees avoid visiting flowers where the nectar brix is below 7, since they use more energy to feed on those flowers than they gain in return.

Before our transition to regenerative agriculture and nutrition management, honeybees would only visit cucurbit crop blossoms until 9 AM. Within two years of changing nutrition management, they were present all day!

You can observe how much time a bee spends on each flower. A flower worth visiting for 80 or 90 seconds will contain much more nectar (and of higher quality) than a flower only worth visiting for 5 seconds…” John Kempf

Take a look at these photos of gardens from past years and see what kind of garden patterns could work for you. 

 And then there are the gaps in the veggie garden…

Garlic is being harvested, peas are done and are being pulled out, cucumbers and other plants may have hiccupped a bit too much and are no longer viable…WHAT TO DO??  Why you plant filler veggies and herbs of course!  And we have what you’re looking for!  We’ve sown our own replacement veggies and herbs and will continue to do that as the summer winds along.  Right now, we have fresh cucumbers, dill, basil, peas, zucchini, cilantro and arugula.  We’ll also have beets, lettuces and other greens once the heat backs off a bit.  Let us know if there’s something specific you want to add to your veg garden and we’ll see what we can do – we just had a request for Swiss chard... We can add fall broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower if there’s interest and will definitely have spinach MUCH later in the season. I’m even thinking about experimenting with some carrots (that can be transplanted by the way!!). This is an in-house project so we have complete control over it!!  What a concept huh??  By-the-way, garlic bulbs will be available, but not until the first week in October!! 

There’s so much happening at the store!  So, when you’re in picking up your dog or cat food, your goat (yay goats!!!) or chicken food, you’ll have to check out the side yard nursery – and enjoy the sweep of color if nothing else!!  See you at the store J