Use spring, summer and fall blooming bulbs as fillers. I pack spring blooming bulbs Tulips, Daffodils, Fritillaria, Camassia, Allium, Erythronium (trout lily), Martagon; summer blooming bulbs Asiatic, Trumpet, Oriental, Orientpet; and fall blooming bulbs Crocus and Colchicum in among my perennials and shrubs to...
Foliage, unlike flowers, provides interest and drama three, if not four seasons of the year. Some standouts: Coral Bells ‘Caramel’, ‘Citronella’, ‘Obsidian’, ‘Southern Comfort’, ‘Cherry Cola’, ‘Dolce Cinnamon Curls’; ornamental grasses; Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ and others in this family; Lamium ‘Pink Chablis’, ‘Beecham’s...
Yes, they will be in bloom this year. Growers were able to peel back the greenhouses and pot up roses in early March due to the snowless and warmer than usual winter. Some of the hardy shrub roses we carry are Knockouts, Drifts &...
I had a visitor/customer come to the nursery a couple weeks ago, who was a succulent collector. She was looking for a donkey tail succulent that we had in just a 6 inch hanging basket and told me that she would be taking it...
It is important to give your blueberry shrub care so that it remains healthy and to ensure a productive harvest. If you have planted blueberries in the last couple years, it is worthwhile to check the soil ph around your plants. They need an...
We highly recommend organic fertilizers to feed your plants in the ground. A Cooperative Extension agent explained it this way to me a long time ago: giving your plants in the ground the blue liquid is like feeding your kids M & Ms. Not...
This catch-y little phrase simplifies how the 3 numbers on your plant fertilizer work.
Up, the nitrogen component is for plant top growth- green leaf-y growth.
Down, the Phosphorus is for healthy root development.
All around, the potassium helps all systems of the plant,...
Everyone we talk to has commented on the temperature fluctuations of this winter. Damage will happen as we get closer to trees budding up and leafing out. Temperatures swinging from 60’s and 70’s for prolonged periods then dipping into the 20’s are the most dangerous....
Now is a good time to get some vegetables started by seed. The veggies that grow best in the cool spring temps are the swiss chard, kale, spinach, tatsoi, arugula, herbs like chives and garlic chives (the chives are perennial!), and calendula or pot marigold.
Did you know that bird watching is the #1 hobby in the USA? I feed suet and nutsie cakes and a nut and berry mix. In March we see 3 kinds of woodpeckers: hairy, downy and red belly, titmice, juncos, cardinals, blue jays, chickadees,...
On February 8th this winter I had snowdrops up and blooming in front of my barn in Portsmouth. At the same time, at Rolling Green, Jelena the Witchhazel was blooming and fragrant over near the perennial mats. Right now the knobby pink flowers of...