SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND, FEBRUARY 8TH, 9TH AND 10TH AT THE PARKERSBURG HOME SHOW. IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO PLAN FOR SPRING!

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.

Now its TOO hot…. haha… We just cant be satisfied…  This weekend is the traditional start of summer… What happened to Spring ????      We are stilled heavily stocked with Annuals and vegetables….    The sunshine impatiens  and the  Geraniums  are fantastic looking….   The fuchsia  hanging baskets are finally showing lots of color… They have been slow to bloom this year for some reason….   Lots of nice veggies….. including sweet potatoes !!!

The new colors of Knock out Roses are showing color… Very pretty…  we have   coral, peach and white as well as the older varieties of pink, yellow and red.   Pretty good plant for a low maintenance, long blooming shrub.    Dogwood trees are done blooming but look great… and should be planted before it gets too hot.

We are open regular hours this weekend and then on monday until 4 or 5… that way everyone gets a little break…

Hope  everyone has a great weekend….. Looks like we will have saturday and monday to work outside… BUT…. really…. who knows ????

 

Post mothers day report…

What a fantastic mothers day…. Weather cooperated and people  responded… Flowers  and gifts for mom and  veggies and annuals for the garden….. People seemed to love out Hanging baskets….  The only complaint I heard was that we had way to many pretty ones and that it was hard to choose.      The mixed baskets of different colors and varieties were the most popular….   We still have lots of gorgeous baskets left and our crop of geraniums are the best we’ve ever grown.

 

Saw my first saw fly larva on mugho pine this week…. They look like catapillaers and are eating the old growth…. Easy to control  but tough to see them.    Also just had a lady that sent photos or ” eggs ” on spirea…. Turns out to be aphids  that suck the juices  out of the plant….  She noticed ants  all over the plant first… The ants eat the excretion from the aphids….   Again… easy to control….

 

It seems that  this warm weather is helping the winter damaged plants recover… I have seen lots of new growth on nandina, laurels   and azaleas… In another week or so you should  determine if you should replace it or not….  I’m excited….  Earlier  I thought  that we had lost many of these.

 

Our floating hyacinths and lettuce  finally arrived…. Its time to put them in the pond to help shade it so that you dont have so much algae….

 

Ive seen some hail damage on plants….  This weather hasnt been  too cooperative this year…. Mostly damaged were annuals  but I havent seen any destroyed… Lots of torn leave and holes… They shuld come back

 

Back to work….. I’ll keep you informed of things that I’m seeing.

 

Getting closer to the magical ” last freeze date “

Its MAY… hurrah… and it  looks like the weather has  turned around….  Full moon was last week and that traditionally is the coldest nights… The forecast for the next 2 weeks looks great…. And then  we should be  past  May 10th…  which I have always used as the last freeze day.

 

Some of our tender shrubs received a little frost damage despite our best efforts to cover and apply water  to them…  Mostly its superficial damage and they will outgrow the damage… If this happened to you just let them be and then after they start to grow just cut off the damaged stems.

 

The laurels have started to look better…  Still brown on top the new growth is starting from the stems…  I’m confident they will come back…  On the other hand the nandinas and the crape myrtle still look bad…  We just need more warm weather to see how they do… In the past they have recovered…. BUT….

 

Mothers day is  10 days away…. Our hanging baskets are looking great,,, They are some of the nicest we’ve  ever grown….    The combination baskets are exceptionally nice….  They are mixtures of different colors and plants… We’ve been posting some photos on facebook.    Big pots of geraniums and impatiens are  impressive…  41/2″ pots of geraniums  are showing color and the wave petunias are going crazy….      Chef Jeff veggies have arrived… We dont grow these but have  brought them in from Michigan…. People have had great results with these.     REALLY… all the annuals are showing so much color….. and NOW is the time to start planting.

 

SO, everything is looking better now that the sun is shining…..

 

April 21st

Its been a great day at the garden center…. The first load of veggies and annuals came in thursday and because of the weather we had to cover them… No more cold weather so we uncovered them and put them out for sale… Gorgeouse !!! Brought some of our home grown hanging baskets out also… The retail house is a blaze of color. Its too early to plant them outside yet but you can make up your patio pots now and just move them in if it gets too cold… A little bit of work but the pots will be full come may. Laurals, nandinas, and roses continue to look bad…. I have seen new buds on many laurals and new shoots on roses ( down low )… We still need some warm weather to see how these plants will fare… I’ve had some people tell me that our inventory feature on the website is helpful…. All sizes and prices of in stock plants are listed… I would welcome your feedback… Well, back to work…. I’ll write again soon… promise !!!!

Still almost Spring

Easter has come and gone… but the weather is very iffy… Looks like some real cold nights coming up late this week…. Plants just dont know what to do. Just received 2 truckloads of nursery stock… One from northern ohio and one from oregon… We will have to protect some of the tender material from oregon… BUT… we have frost blankets to cover them with.. Another load from Connecticut comes tomorrow and then another load from Oregon later in the week.. Beautiful material… some of the nicest I’ve seen for awhile. Some plants continue to look bad from the winter… Just looked at a job we did 2 years ago… She has 37 Knock Out Roses…. All killed back to within a foot of the ground…. New growth is starting but we need some warm weather to push that along… I do believe if we can be patient that they will come back…. Time will tell. On the other hand our greenhouse crops are looking tremendous…. Hanging baskets and 4.5 inch annuals are starting to bloom… Sweet potatoes are growing like crazy… All of those have to wait for warmer weather to be put outside. Thats all I know now….. Good weather is coming…. Just cant get here soon enough for me.

SPRING…. officially

By the calendar its officially Spring  but waking up to snow is  kinda depressing.

 

The weather also messed up our annual Spring Auction… It was held last saturday   and the forecast scared people away…..    For the few hardy souls that came they got some tremendous deals…. Plants went cheap…..    Like a $60 chestnut laurel  for $10….  a $160 lilac patio tree  for  $25….  a  $180 cut leaf japanese  maple for $28……    that one hurt……  and  to make matters worse…. a $190 spiral alberta spruce  for $40….    BUT , thats why people come to auctions….. to get deals… Everyone left with big smiles on their

Our crop  of hanging baskets  are looking good….  weve had to spread them apart already… Some are even starting to bloom….  Soooo nice to see color in the greenhouses.    Today   another shipment of plugs arrived for 4.5 inch  pots…     Only 7 weeks til mothers day and our normal frost free date.

 

Crews are out working… well, not today or yesterday…     Now is the time to call us for a landscape design….  we added another designer  so  we can  get ideas  back to  to you quicker….  Please give us a call.

SPRING IS COMING …… REALLY

Only 10 more days til spring but  you wouldn’t know it by the weather… Brrrr. Crews are out working but its hard in the snow…..   Daffodils and tulips are popping up so thats a good sign…

 

This is the last saturday we will be closed… Starting Spring hours  next week…..  Our Auction is next saturday   so  that will be our first    weekend open since last december…

 

Hanging baskets and some of the early flowers are potted and looking good….   Really excited about the 2 gallon rhubarb  Larry planted.. They are looking great…   Sweet potatoes are sending up shoots….  will put a few in hanging baskets  and the rest in 4″ pots… We also have tomatoes and peppers in hanging baskets…. sooo you can have a garden without planting in the ground.

I’m off on appointments… Its not too early for you to call to discuss those spring landscape projects….

 

19 days til Spring

March 1st…ALREADY.   Its been a long dreary winter.. We’ve had cold ,snow, hot, rainy weather… sometimes min the same day… I’ll be glad when Spring arrives  OR the weather gets back to normal.

Crews will be starting back next week   and after pesticide  and safety training  will be ready to work.   Spring cleanups of existing landscapes is the first order of business… Every Spring  existing landscapes need attention.. Fertilizing, weed control, light trimming  and remulching will make that landscape look new again.

 

Some evergreens are looking burnt  from the cold weather in January…. We like to wait until may to even think about replacing them… Many will loose those leaves and regenerate new ones…  no sense going to the expense of replacing one when it will come back as good as new. Fertilize  the “sickies ” and let nature take its course.

Our next big event is our Spring Auction.. March 17th…     Last year we had 150 lots of plants  and people got some really great bargains…. Its always a fun time…

 

Right now we are still open 8-4 monday thru friday… but in a couple of weeks  we will start being open weekends and   evenings.

 

UPDATE.. our seed sweet potatoes are sprouting !!     This is the first year for us of growing them….   We’ll  put them in 4 pots  so people can plant them in May.     Hanging baskets are planted….  we are growing about a 1000 this year… Its good to see the greenhouses filling up.

 

Its also time to start thinking about any landscape projects that  you want done…. This weekend, walk around the yard and  see what needs to be done…  CALL US…. Our designers  are anxious to  get back to work.

Waiting For Spring

40 some days till spring, HURRAH! We have been busy this winter and have just about completed our winter projects. The biggest winter project was building a new growing greenhouse! This greenhouse will be used to grow hanging baskets and annuals. It took us 4 months of trying to get the permits…us being in the flood plane was a problem…but once we got the permits, the project went off without a hitch. Special thanks to Pioneer Pipe and Vertex Electric Company for getting us up and running. Now we’re just waiting for the right time to start the plantings!

We have set the date for the SPRING AUCTION! March 17th at 10:00am, rain or shine. I don’t have any idea what will be in the auction right now (as usual) but we will we decide the day beforehand and have the list posted as soon as I make up my mind. We do have last years auction list from the fall posted here under our weekly specials and our auction tab.

A point of concern – I have seen a lot of damage to evergreens from that sub zero temps in January…It’s too early to tell how serious this is.

It’s back to work.

Everyone returned today and we are getting ready….. Sunny and 70…… spring is here.. Nice selection of spring bulbs are in bloom making the store very ” springy “.. We will be pulling the auction material on thurs and Friday…. Looks like it might be a good weekend … hurrah ! Another load of trees arrives on wed….. I’ll keep everyone informed. Moles are making themselves seen …. we have a poison worm and a repellant that see to be effective…

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