Last Friday, a break in the cold, wet weather created a window to perform must-to-do chores. One such important duty is to spray the rhododendrons and azaleas with a solution of Deer Stopper which includes a solution of putrefied eggs with the nasty smell tempered with rosemary oil. A few arborvitae in the sales area […]

Now that almost all the purchase orders for spring stock have been finished and the necessary tax reports all done, the next phase of our winter projects is to get ready for our annual employee meeting in a few weeks. The meeting includes safety videos on such subjects as ladder safety, extinguishing a minor fire […]

December 25, 2015 Today as we celebrate the birth of Jesus along with the miracle of his ministry some 2,000 years ago, miracles are all around us today of which a few include… – Water expands as it freezes so that it does not sink to the bottom of bodies of water killing fish and […]

With the turn from the relatively cold April to May, the temperature department has finally risen to more spring-like weather. How amazing the effect of the sun and warmth has on the growth of the greenhouse products and the budding and blooming of outdoor plants. Applying a crabgrass preventer is still not too late although […]

The Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea along the road have put on their array of the strawberry blush against the large white blossoms. So easy to grow in full sun or partial shade. Another winner is Bobo growing to 3-4 feet and now a cluster of three is in the lower garden and packed with flowers. In the lower garden is […]

The construction of grave blankets is full steam ahead as we have discovered and cut Colorado blue spruce branches all day on Monday. The branches are of such good quality that it enables the speed up of production. Many scotch pine pillow and blanket forms are all ready made and only the decorations need attached. […]

Contrary to last year, there is certainly no shortage of rain this spring. Many customers coming into the nursery have been more aware of wet areas in the yard and are wanting ideas for plantings which might include the Buttonbush (Cephalanthus), Calycanthus (Carolina Allspice), Winterberry (Ilex verticilata), Variegated Dogwood (Cornus elegantisima or stolonifera), Variegated Willow […]

The mild winter weather still continues and with it the lack of snow. While most of us don’t mind the lack of snow with its driving problems it can create and of course shoveling it out of the driveway and off sidewalks, snow in the north is the most significant contributor to the water table […]

The flowers in the landscape beds are gorgeous and with no frost predicted through October 26th it will be difficult to throw them out to the compost pile as we must start planting flower bulbs within a week. This year we are getting close to 15,000 bulbs that will be… The mum season is all […]

Saturday our winter series and for sure it’s the most popular as it deals with “What’s New” for 2020.  As always, the new stuff is quite extensive and some thoughtful consideration must go into our selection process as we decide what to offer our customers the next spring season.  Most of the new plants are […]

Saturday is the last of our series of winter seminars and still one of the most popular for revealing all the new “stuff” for 2019 in herbaceous perennials, annual flowers, trees and shrubs. It is amazing that so much “new” becomes available every year as in the “old days” new products were much slower to […]

Next week starts the beginning of filling up the sales yard at the nursery as shrubs will be pulled from the over-wintering structures and truck loads of stock will be received from nurseries in Lake County. This past week though has seen the repotting of about 1500 small azaleas and yes even more perennials and […]

As the season starts to wind down, the nursery greenhouse work seems to never end. Repairs and maintenance go on to be sure that the equipment and infrastructure are ready to hold up to the mayhem of another not-to-distant spring. Inside the greenhouse, soon shipments of poinsettias will make way for more room for production […]

With the onset of warm days and more importantly warm nights, the planting of vegetable and flowers seems to be in full swing. Even tropical plants that like plenty of sun and hot days will be planted outdoors in the ground and in pots for outdoors. This weekend will finish up the late blooming lilac […]