Wildflowers - Do It Now

Installing a wildflower field or patch is best done in either Early Spring or Early Fall, when temperatures aren't so hot that the seed dries out, water is plentiful from natural rains and the plants have a chance for a foothold for next year's growth and display.

Instead of using hay or straw, try Peat Moss as mulch to hold-in moisture, feed the seed with nutrients and fools the birds (who see straw and a meal of seed just below the chaff). Simply crumble the Peat by hand and broadcast, or lightly shovel it over the newly sown seed. Straw must be raked-off or it'll rot the new shoots; Peat is absorbed, feeds and disappears quickly into the new plants' system.

Our Wildflower Mixes come in several formulations: Roadside Tapestry, Meadow, Hummingbird & Butterfly and Cutting. We'll help you select the right one(s) for your specific application. Just ask.

Deadheading and Fertilizing Perennials

It's very important that Perennials be deadheaded when they start to go-to-seed, unless you want them spreading everywhere (like our Shasta Daisies have done in the past) and over-run everything in your Garden. Or the ubiquitous Columbine; once you have'em, you've got'em forever. Gallardia also.

Simply cut back the seed heads to the foliage, re-fertilize and wait for them to ripen-off (foliage die-back) before cutting to the ground. Always pile a handful of mulch on top of the crown (where roots emanate from the stem you've just cut back), so the plant's crown doesn't dry-out or freeze-out, depending upon the season.

We recommend Peter's 20-20-20 or the series of Osmocote Timed-Release Fertilizers; stay away from Miracle-Grow and Mir-Acid, they're very high Nitrogen fertilizers that suggest "miracle growth". Ask us and we'll tell you that we've never seen an 800lb tomato or 16ft cucumber as they've claimed they grow. Plants become exhausted very quickly with great infusions of Nitrogen. Professional Growers use Peters; that alone should speak volumes.

In this Issue:

Page 1:
ONCE A YEAR EVENT

Biological Integrated Pest Control

Late Season Bloomers

Page 2:
Planting Spring Flowering Bulbs

Page 3:
Color for Your Winter Garden

Best Time to Plant Large Trees

Houseplants to Brighten Up Your Home

Page 4:
Wildflowers -Do It Now

Deadheading and Fertilizing Perennials

Page 5:
Don't Buy Dead, Cut Christmas Trees!

Gift Certificates for the Holidays

Page 6:
Heirloom Gardening Tools

10th Annual Open House Coming Soon!

Garden Center Available for Meetings & Tours