Last chance for bareroot roses. We still have some beauties left – shrubs including Abbaye de Cluny, Liv Tyler and Yves Piaget plus a great selection of tree roses. Amazing how early these plants start to leaf out. And if you haven’t already done so, be sure to prune your existing plants. Open them up and trim off the smallest branches and as soon as they start to show a couple of inches of growth, treat them with some hearty fertilizer. We have several brands available.
Our parched land has finally been hydrated! What a boon for gardeners. (some of the unfortunate aspects of the deluge are also recognized.) The planting opportunities are numerous. Start with spring blooming shrubs. A few of the earliest include Flowering Quince, Lilac and Forsythia. One of the loveliest of perennials is Helleborous. We have some exquisite dark flowered plants in 2 gallon containers and also 1 gallons.
Vegetables? We have a terrific supply. They have arrived in forms old and new. Plant lettuce, brokali, spinach, kale and pink raddichio. Add some tasty herbs to the mix – thyme, rosemary, parsley, chives and more. Beef up your soil with Bumper Crop, add a bit of Vermi-compost and wait for the spring harvest. You might want to start seeds for spring planting. We have bags of seed starter and bio-degradable pots for that very purpose.
Bedding plants add color and delight to the garden. We just brought in bunches of them for your gardening pleasure. We have Iceland poppies, calendulas, snapdragons and of course a great selection of pansies and violas. Be sure and check out the English primroses in the shade house. New this year are the Italian Ranunculus and Anemones. These varieties are known for their large flowers and extended bloom.
We continue to tout the virtues of Garvinea – the hybrid version of the Gerbera. Right now we have a couple of dozen on hand. The flowers are not as large as the typical Gerbera, but they are durable! They withstand frost and bloom for many months. They make great container plants.
A crazy season for bareroot. We are almost out of all fruit trees. Nuts remain. We have some excellent walnut trees – Chandler, Franquette and Pedro and the self fertile almond, All-In-One. The pistachio trees have just arrived. The male (non-bearing) is able to pollinate a harem of up to 10 to 15! We will have more berries, including blueberries in containers later in the season.
A reminder about plants tied to stakes. Be sure to remove the ties that the growers have very tightly attached to your plant. Remove totally if staking is not required; otherwise, re-tie the plants more loosely. It’s much better for the plant to gain strength with some movement. Also, the tie areas can be more susceptible to insect invasions.
It’s the Grevillea time of the year. These tough, very useful plants from the down-under are about to begin their northern hemisphere bloom. Two of the newer varieties are Grevillea juniperini ‘Lava Cascade’ and Grevillea lavandulacea ‘Penola’. The first specimen makes a great flowing ground cover. The plant grows to about 2 feet tall and 6 to10 feet wide with coral-red flowers. ‘Penola’ has gray green needle-like leaves with deep red buds opening to rosy pink, red and cream flowers. The plant will reach 3 to 4 feet tall and 5 to 8 feet wide. These are both excellent plants for the winter garden plus they are evergreen and look quite reputable all year long.