(Via Gardening Question of the Day (from the Old Farmer's Almanac))

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-29, 19:00:00

I got some bulbs late last fall and didn't find time to plant them. They've been in my barn. Can I plant them in the spring? (answer).

From The Old Farmer's Almanac.

(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-29, 14:11:41

Michele is concerned about how the slowing economy is going to affect her gardening budget. We in the garden center business are also concerned. We know when money is tight, or it seems tight that the first place we cut back on is what we consider extras. These non-essentials of course vary from [...]

(Via Idaho Gardener)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-29, 12:48:17

I have spoken publicly now, four times since yesterday morning at 9 am. it’s 2:30 on Saturday, I have one more to do at 4pm. I thought I had a great audience for Dazzling Desert Garden Design Ideas today. A nice, considerate, knowledgeable, attentive and eager group. That is heartwarming. I really like taking the questions afterward …..a chance for a little one-on-one, and to perhaps, help folks get their garden underway and going in a direction that will work for them. More than anything, I want to encourage people to color outside the lines in their gardens, to really have fun.

The point of the Dazzling Design topic is to show gardeners, some new, some who have been here forever, that you can create wildly colorful or quietly elegant xeric gardens. Soooooo many people have the notion that xeric means silver, gray, dusty, bleached bones, maybe some sulphur yellow blossoms here and there gardens. That wasn’t really a sentence. But you get the idea. No. I want them to see purple, orange, hot pink, cherry red, golden yellow cha cha cha gardens.

Having said that, now I will clean up my little corner of the planet and will prep my perennial beds for the new Purple Majesty salvias I ordered from High Country. To go with my wonderful orange, good clear orange, globemallow. I can hardly wait. Oh, yeah, and it would be really flipping nice if we could get the temp up to about 65 here. Just for a couple of days. Thanks.

Post from: Idaho Gardener

talking the talk, and walking the walk

(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-29, 12:30:53

Home gardeners are often disappointed with the performance of their perennial bedding plants and the appearance of their herbs and sub-shrubs. Pruning at the right time is usually the key to successfully growing such plants. At no time is this more important than in the spring.

(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-29, 12:23:53

Hydroponics is a method of gardening that uses no soil, but instead the plant's roots are immersed in a liquid solution of plant nutrients. Depending on the types of plants you wish to grow, you might want to select organic gardening supplies that would include organic hydroponic nutrients. Why is it important to grow plants organically?

(Via An Iowa Garden)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-29, 06:11:00

Snowdrop 'Trotter's Merlin' is thought to be a hybrid of Galanthus elwesii x plicatus. It is noteworthy for having the inner petals completely covered with green, except for a dainty white edging at the bottom. I assume the Trotter in this case is Dick Trotter, a well known gardener who has one of the most beautiful, deep colored colchicums named after him, and also a strain of hellebores. Now the next question is, why did he name this snowdrop cultivar Merlin? Was it because it was so magical that a snowdrop would pop up in his garden with all-green inner petals? I've alternatively tried to talk myself into thinking that the shape of the green spot resemble a magician with his arms extended, casting a spell. Maybe Dick's dog was named Merlin.
One thing I do know for sure, is that Trotter's Merlin is quite lovely on a bright spring day; now if I could just wave my magic wand and make my tiny clump of these bulbs turn into a thousand!

(Via gardenauthor)

Posted by admin to Lily Pond, bufflehead ducks, wood ducks on 2008-03-29, 05:33:00

"Drop-dead Gorgeous!"..... An exclamation reserved for well-dressed humans, sporting the finest in fashion. But for an admirer of the extravagant beauty of our natural world, this term is reserved for the most flamboyant of backyard guests. Below you see a case in point. This morning, I witnessed the return of two pairs of Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa). They nested on the shores of Lily Pond last year, so I'm hoping these little ducks (17-20") will resume their residence. I mean, what other duck is worthy of such an accolade?.....


Unless it's the little Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)... a flashy black and white sensation, who returned to the shores of Lily Pond, just yesterday (last season, they stayed for several weeks, but did not nest here). The showy male is accompanied, everywhere he swims, by the darker, more compact female. She sports a white cheek spot and white wing patch. At 13-15" long, these fast-moving ducks are constantly diving (even during yesterday's mini snowstorm) and certainly deserve any compliment I pay them...