What are you doing this week? Have you started planting already? Frisky! Are you keeping an eye on the weather and your tender plantings? Attentive! Do you have your garden planned and ready to go? Your plant list in hand? Opportunity meets preparation!
If you have answered yes to the questions above than you are ready to put spring in to motion we have three suggestions that may help to make your shopping experience more enjoyable;
- Tip One – Be Observant
When you walk into the nursery your senses are bombarded with the color and the aromatics of all of the wonderful spring blooming plant varieties. Our first tip for you – When you zero in on the gorgeous blooming tree, shrub, perennial or annual variety that screams out to you, whether it is a Rose, Azalea, Rhododendron, Lilac, Hydrangea, Geranium, Leucanthemum, etc. you should look for the one that has the most buds that have not opened yet. This will encourage a fuller blossom for longer this season once you get your new find home and planted.
- Tip Two – Be Pro-active
If you have a particular plant in mind that you would like to place in a planter or have the perfect spot by the pool, odds are if it is an annual you will not find it after mid June the first of July. If it is perennial you could probably have it ordered up to about August or early September and certain trees and shrubs it really depends on the time of year they can be dug. Re-search the plant you have in mind and ask an associate at the nursery how long this particular plant will be available. You will have a much better shopping experience if your timing is right.
- Tip Three – Be KIND
Imagine you work in the Green Industry. Your anticipating the business of spring as well as the many familiar faces you are accustom to seeing this time of year You know you will work so fast and so hard through early spring by mid-June you will feel like you are on autopilot. Your average day of work will more than likely consist of 14 hours not including drive time, though 16 to 18 hours is not unheard of this time of year. You could have chosen another trade, a different craft; none however, offer the challenges and joys you experience in this trade. Then it happens – another long day is coming to an end, one of many long days, the abundance of the beautifully blooming flowers and shrubs that surround you as well as the joy on the customers faces as they meet some of these plants for the first time helps to make the day easier. Then there is that one customer, you know the one, the one not wanting to wait their turn to be helped, the one tapping their toe impatiently as you try to give the customer ahead of them your, very well deserved, undivided attention. The one who is reminiscent of Chicken Little running around, tantrumatically, screaming something about the sky falling? You know who you are – Flowers are meant to cheer us, revitalize drab scenery, and add a splash to some random corner of life. So for tip three please remember, if you are the one in a hurry – we understand your need and want be of assistance to you, please have patience. If you are one of the customers exposed to a tantrum, we all apologize, not one of us should be subjected to such things, please have patience. If you are a Green Industry Professional; you know what to expect, please have patience.
We implore everyone to take a breath the next time we feel impatient in public, lest we forget our humanity, lest we forget empathy and compassion. Lest we forget we garden for fun!
Purchase a batch of Captains Jacks Bug Brew to treat your Dogwood and Rhododendron for borer. In the past Dogwood were known to thrive mostly as an under story tree and in woodland edges and other protected areas. However, with the changes in the environment the typical areas fro dogwood has promoted detrimental fungus and borer activity. It is now being recommended to plant Dogwood species in open areas where they are not in an area that may remain damp and they have the benefit of mostly full sun.
Last week we mentioned the Bees and their benefits to mankind. This week we want to give a shout out to the Monarch butterfly. As we have mentioned in the past, recently it has been said that the Monarch population has been reduced by almost 75% due to weather and other detrimental affects. If you have an area you can donate to the benefit of the Monarch it would help to give an old friend a much needed helping hand. It is as simple as planting an asclepias tuberosa or such variety, an annual parsley, a Buddleia variety as well as an aster or one of many annuals. Ask what the nursery has in stock to attract these lovely creatures. Just as the story of the small boy on the beach with the starfish – it made a difference to that one.
Give me a call or drop an email if you have a garden questions, want help picking out a plant, wanting to plan out a planting area or set up a time for me to meet you at your site for a consultation –
Most of all remember life is hard enough – Make Gardening Fun!!!
