What a lovely time of year this is! We gardeners are so anxious to get out in the garden. You might want to start your spring planting with some hardy shrubs. The rock roses (Cistus) are great candidates. They vary in size and color – flower colors are white and shades of pink.

It’s so reassuring to plant perennials that promise to return year after year. They’re just starting to fill up the bins at Bay Laurel Garden Center. Delphiniums are gorgeous plants in colors white to darkest blue. We stock them in 4″ plants, 6 packs, gallons and even have a few 12″ specimens. These plants seem to thrive in heavy soils but be on the lookout for earwigs!

The North County loves vegetables! Tomatoes top the list of desired plants. There are just too many varieties to be able to carry them all but we try to order the ones that are favorites. The old timers are Early Girl, Celebrity, Better Boy, Sweet 100 and Sungold. Juliet, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim and San Marzano also seem to have a following.

What’s happening in the shade house at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero? We have a striking new Heuchera from Monrovia. It’s named ‘Red Lightning’ and will surely light up your shady area! The leaf colors on these plants are ever expanding. The plain old green varieties sport charming bell flowers and also merit a place in your shade garden.

A jumbo pack of strawberries seem to go hand in hand with a cart full of vegetables. It’s hard to surpass home grown strawberries. Varieties include Seascape, Chandler, Sequoia and Albion. Although some are classified as everbearing they tend to peter out in the hot summers. A crop of delicious early berries is still worth the effort. We also have other berries in small quart pots including blueberries at Bay Laurel Garden Center.

Summer annuals brighten your borders and containers. Calibrachoas (million bells) are always a favorite. The color palette expands endlessly! We have hanging baskets of these lovelies or you can make up your own at Bay Laurel Garden Center. Check out the marigolds, petunias, sweet peas, Cleome, and nasturtiums among others.

New houseplants are arriving every week at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. We have some handsome specimens. The fiddle leaf figs (Ficus lyrata) have been very popular – some of them require a very tall ceiling! We have lots of smaller plants for the more moderate consumer.

We’ve added some new items specifically targeted for hydroponic growers at Bay Laurel Garden Center. Most hydroponic enthusiasts tend to grow marijuana or tomatoes. However, some of these products contain bacteria and mycorrhizae which can be beneficial for any grower.

As the bareroot trees slowly recede into the horizon Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero turns green! It’s an ongoing process with new plants arriving weekly. Early blooming shrubs include Genista (Sweet Broom), Forsythia, Ornamental Quince and Coleonema (Breath of Heaven). We also have some lovely deciduous Magnolias.

The vegetable season is ongoing at Bay Laurel Garden Center. We have some giant artichoke plants. You can plant lettuce, broccoli, celery, herbs and lots more. Search the internet for recipes for Escarole (it’s big in Italy). And we finally succumbed to the tomato devotees and brought in a limited number of 6 packs and some 4″. Strawberries are here in jumbo packs.

For tomatoes beware the cold night temperatures of March – or even possibly April. If you have a greenhouse, you’re safe. Otherwise be prepared to cover them. A couple of solutions are available at Bay Laurel Garden Center. We have sheets of row cover. The other protection is “Kozy Coats”, formerly known as Walls of Water. These water filled reservoirs will protect the plants and can be kept on until the weather warms. Each package contains 3 coats and they can be used for several years.

Perhaps you neglected to plant all the glorious fall bulbs that should be blooming now. We can help at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. We have plants of Ranunculus and Italian Anemones. And we have small containers with dwarf daffodils and violas.

This is a great time to fertilize and there are quite a few options. We stock Down to Earth organic fertilizers for fruit trees, citrus, vegetables and more. A popular local product is Black Diamond worm castings. This product will maximize the effects of your fertilizer. Many soils lack sufficient iron, or they require more acidity; we have solutions. Gypsum will help break down heavy clay soils.

A few more early spring inspirations for your landscape. Erysimum ‘Sunstrong Violet’ is available in 3 sizes at Bay Laurel Garden Center. It sports bright violet purple flowers, needs minimum irrigation and blooms when you most need it! Pair it with some dark purple Osteospermum and white Iberis (candy tuft).

Dahlia tubers have been very popular and therefore we have ordered more at Bay Laurel Garden Center. A new offering this year are the cold hardy bulbs of the orchid Bletilla. The pink flowers will bloom for about 6 weeks in spring or early summer and the plants become dormant in winter. Bletilla requires at least part shade and does well as a container plant. We also have some lovely, fragrant lily bulbs. If you’re planting bulbs or tubers in the ground we highly recommend using wire baskets. We have some new very sturdy quart baskets.

The potting of bareroot fruit trees has begun at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. If you have trees on order to pick up or wish to buy those still bareroot, hesitate no longer!

Ceanothus, one of the most spectacular native California shrubs is about to burst forth! This drought tolerant shrub has brilliant blue flowers as well as white and light blue. We recommend using Ceanothus as an accent as it can be a bit temperamental, often living only 5 to 7 years.

The bare root season has been in full swing for a month at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero – many delicious varieties remain. Please call us at (805) 466-3449 to check availability. Rain can complicate gardening, but we remind you to spray the peaches and nectarines with copper in between the showers. A sticker spreader will help keep the spray on the tree.

Bare root roses are no longer available this spring at Bay Laurel Garden Center. We do, however, pot them in biodegradable pots so you can plant them without disturbing the roots. If the rose of your choice is sold out we will order additional varieties later in the season. Please call us at (805) 466-3449 to check availability.

More delights to fill your cupboard – vegetables! Lettuce is in high demand and we’ve brought in lots more at Bay Laurel Garden Center. We also have 4 inch and gallon artichokes and jumbo packs of strawberries.

Potato lovers rejoice. You will find the inspiration for any potato recipe with our potato starts. The selection includes French fingerling, German butter ball, Purple majesty, Russet Burbank and more. Garlic mashed potatoes? Add some California garlic or Elephant garlic bulbs to your shopping list at Bay Laurel Garden Center.

Take advantage of the rain – spread the seeds of our native wildflowers about. We have packages large and small of California poppies and mixes of native California wildflowers. Great for ground cover are white and strawberry clover in 1 pound packages.

There’s never a month without California native plants in the nursery. Newly arrived at Bay Laurel Garden Center are 1 and 5 gallon Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia). A tough plant with many attributes – glossy leaves, evergreen, bright red berries and extremely drought tolerant. The deer may nibble at the bottom leaves but you can trim the shrub into a standard tree. A native iris Iris x Pacifica ‘Native Warrior’ sports raspberry red flowers.

Summer flowering bulbs are here at Bay Laurel Garden Center. We have a great selection of dinner plate dahlias. None of the growers are offering them in containers later in the season so now is the time to purchase the tubers. The large, colorful flowers are quite spectacular. The plants require good soil and regular fertilizer. It’s important to head them back when young to ensure strong, full plants.

The Italian Anemones are a great improvement over the old varieties. The flowers are much larger and display more dramatic colors. We don’t have a source for the tubers but have received 4 inch containers from Premier Color Nursey. The current selections are ‘Blue’, ‘Bordeaux’ (dark fuchsia) and ‘Tiger Wine’.

The popular ground cover thyme has returned. Currently in stock at Bay Laurel Garden Center are flats of pink, red and elfin thyme. Elfin is the tightest of the three. It’s great to plant in between stepping stones and unlike the other two it seldom flowers.

Bareroot trees take over Bay Laurel Nursery in January! Planting time is now – plant your orchard with the bounty of the season and there are lots of great trees to be found. For apples we still have lots of Pink Lady. Its many attributes include the tart-sweet flavor, crispness, attractiveness, size and the fact that it’s one of the last to ripen. Add to that, it’s self fruitful and is adapted to diverse climates.

One of the newest varieties of fruit trees developed are the inter-specific hybrids. A big word to describe hybrids of two different types of fruit. The pluots, apriums and plumcots have been around for quite a while. New arrivals are the pluerries – a cross between plum and cherry. All these varieties are quite unique and very tasty.

Don’t wait too long to make your bare root choices from our bare root website. You can visit the website https://baylaurelnursery.com/order-online.html to get the latest availability info. Of course you can also come into Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. If you are unable to plant at this time, you may reserve your plants to pick up at a later date.

No better month than January to sharpen the pruning shears and have at it. Most fruit trees benefit greatly from judicious pruning. The specific needs vary from fruit to fruit. The most important time to prune is when the trees are young so as to give them a good structure to build on. We have a great small book available at the nursery. You can also visit the Dave Wilson site –https://www.davewilson.com/home-garden/backyard-orchard-culture/. This is an extensive primer on fruit tree pruning.

Beautiful bareroot roses to tempt you at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero! A great array – hybrid teas, floribundas, climbers, shrubs, miniatures. And not listed on the web site, tree roses in three sizes. A special type, “Romantica” from Star Roses are similar to the old-fashioned full and fragrant ones. These, however, bloom much more frequently. Hybrid teas are much touted for cut flowers. Floribundas come in clusters and tend to bloom non-stop. Go to our Fruit Trees Online website at https://baylaurelnursery.com/order-online.html for pictures and availability.

Roses tend to grow quickly in our area. Once the branches have added 2 to 3 inches, apply fertilizer. Ones that have at least 10% phosphorous are best for promoting bloom. If fungus problems including black spot, mildew or rust are prevalent, spray with products such as Neem oil. This is also a great time to prune roses. We have some gloves to protect your arms from those prickly thorns!

Most peaches and nectarines are susceptible to a fungus commonly called Peach Leaf Curl. This fungus distorts the leaves and fruit and can kill very young trees. We carry the spray Liqui-Cop, the suggested remedy. It’s best to spray 2 to 3 times during the dormant season – the most important right before the buds open. You can purchase it in 3 sizes including one that attaches to your hose, great for treating larger orchards.

This week we are expecting an influx of bedding plants to bring color back into the landscape at Bay Laurel Garden Center in Atascadero. These cold hardy plants include pansies, violas, snapdragons, stock and primulas. We will also have Iceland poppies and California poppies in 6 packs. Additionally, we are expecting seed packs of California native wild flowers.

Vegetables? Yes-they’re arriving at Bay Laurel Garden Center. You can still get a planting of cool season vegetables in the ground. Expect several varieties of lettuce including green oak leaf. You might want to try the new Swiss chard named ‘Celebration’. We added to our strawberry collection jumbo packs of the everbearing types ‘Quinalt’ and ‘Eversweet’. And we have bareroot rhubarb and 4″ plants of artichokes.