Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Time to Plant

THINGS TO DO:
Plant. Now that it looks as though danger of frost has passed, at least for us in Silver City, it is time to plant everything. The 10-day weather forecast is  predicting nighttime temperatures in the upper 40's to low 50's which is perfect tomato weather. We are packed full with weekly deliveries of bedding plants including annuals, perennials, hanging baskets, herbs and vegetables. The nursery also just received a truckload of fruit & shade trees and our beautiful Weeks roses. We have a good variety of trees that do really well in our area and of course we are having our annual ROSE SALE! ALL ROSES ARE 10% OFF THROUGH MOTHER'S DAY! There are several new varieties like the red with yellow reverse 'Ketchup & Mustard', pure white 'Sugar Moon' and 'Julia Child' with, you guessed it, butter yellow blooms.



Keep it simple. With the internet and gardening books come way too much information on building soil. As I have written in the past we believe in keeping all things gardening simple. Whether you are talking about fertilizing, insect control or building your soil the less complicated the better. So if you are planting something in the ground simply mix 1/3 to 1/2 Back to Earth Compost or your homemade compost to your native soil. This goes for a tree, a vegetable garden or a perennial bed. If you are planting in pots use Uni-Gro Potting Soil. It is a complete soil that should be used without the addition of anything. You should never mix potting soil into the native soil as it often contains peat moss which tends to compact our soil not to mention it is about twice the price of compost. So there it is: Ground = Back to Earth Compost, Pots = Uni-Gro Potting Soil. No lasagna, no 5 kinds of compost just 2 simple products.

Thanks. Thanks to everyone who has subscribed to our blog. The winners of our giveaway have been notified and I am sorry if it wasn't you but you will receive some good gardening tips for our area and get the inside scoop on all of our new arrivals and sales.

PLANT OF THE MONTH:
Erysimum. The Wallflower is a great perennial for the high desert. Not only is it drought tolerant, evergreen and deer resistant but it blooms profusely all summer long. We are growing 'Fragrant Star' this year and it will form an 18" by 24" mound of cream and green variegated foliage. The mauve buds open to fragrant yellow  1 " flowers. It is a zone 7 plant or hardy to 0 degrees. We also carry the very popular 'Bowles Mauve'. This perennial has all the favorable traits of a Wallflower but with gray-green foliage and mauve blooms on a plant that reaches 2' by 2'. It is slightly more cold hardy than the 'Fragrant Star' at a zone 6 or -10.
Erysimum 'Fragrant Star'