Small Business Saturday

Please allow me to get on my soapbox for this blog (those of you who know me well would say I never get off of it). I think it is a great idea that they are pushing shopping at small, locally-owned businesses for the holidays on a national level. It is especially important when you live in a small town and really know the owners of these businesses. We have so many incredible small companies in Silver City there is no reason why everyone can't do at least 50% of their holiday shopping at them. Aunt Judy's Attic is perfect for crafters, there are several locally owned clothing stores including Morning Star and Gila Hike & Bike, cooking supplies can be found at The Curious Kumquat and Pots, Pans & More, the many art galleries and gift stores downtown have unique local goods, Tune Town for cds, gift certificates from a restaurant, coffee house, gelato store or salon, a donation in someone's name to any of our local non-profits like the Volunteer Center, Single Socks, High Desert Humane Society or the Food Pantry and the list goes on and on. So before you head to Walmart or get online please think about what you can do to improve the economy in our little neck of the woods by pledging to spend at least 50% of your holiday dollars at locally owned businesses.

I'm off my soapbox for the time being. Happy Holidays to all!

November (Dorothy)

I guess I jumped the gun on the fall color last month. I was really anticipating our Midwest trip and the friends, family and FALL COLOR we would see. We drove as far east as Bowling Green, KY to see a friend and the Corvette Museum and as far north as Green Bay, WI to bow down at Lambeau Field. The foliage turn in KY, IN and IL was pretty good, WI had peaked, IA was great and the Cottonwoods in southern CO and northern NM were electric. When we got home in late October nothing had really changed here. I was disappointed and we decided to go camping at our favorite spot in the Chiricahua Mountains, Sunny Flat, for a few days. We hiked to Maple Camp and what a sight. The maples were the best we had seen anywhere. Reds, oranges, yellows and the Sycamores were golden. We just returned from that respite and our own back yard is amazing with color. Does anybody know where I'm going with this? The Dwarf Burning Bush, Crabapples, Dwarf Plumbago, Rugosa Roses, Japanese Maple, Peaches, Apples, Spiraea, Bradford Pear is just starting and the Autumn Sage and Pineapple Sage are still in bloom. So you see Dorothy, you can travel to OZ (ok Lambeau Field) in search of something and quite often it is right in your own back yard!

Which brings me to Thanksgiving and plants that don't go dormant in the winter. I hope that all of your fall gardens are going well. Our herb garden supplies us with fresh Sage and Parsley for our Turkey Day stuffing and I can almost always find oregano and chives under the frosted tops. I have lettuce, radishes and spinach up that I planted only 2 weeks ago under floating row cover. So there is still a lot of gardening to be done this year.

As I type this it has been very dry so don't forget to water. Plants naturally do 80% of their root growth in late summer, fall and winter so it is especially important to keep them hydrated during this time. I usually give anything permanently in the ground a good soak every 3 weeks in fall and winter if conditions are dry. Plants in containers will need water much more often. Just stick your finger in and if it is dry 2 inches down it is time to water.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

October

The nursery is closed until March 29th, 2011 and here it is fall. I love fall. The cool nights are perfect for sleeping (so why am I up at 3AM blogging?), the mornings beg you to enjoy a cup of coffee (maybe that's why I'm up at 3AM) outside while watching the birds and there are apple pies, applesauce, apple chutney, dried apples and did I mention apples. But my favorite thing is fall color. In the Gila you will see predominately yellow with Cottonwoods and Aspen (Populus acuminata, alba, tremuloides). There are some reds provided by the Sumacs (Rhus trilobata, typhina), the native Virginia Creeper or Woodbine (Parthenocissus inserta) and the occasional Big-Tooth Maple (Acer saccharum grandidentatum). Around Silver City you will find some exotics that really extend the season. Two of my favorite trees are the Bradford Flowering Pear (Pyrus calleryana) with its white spring blooms and incredible red fall foliage and the 'Prairiefire' Crabapple (Malus) that has magenta flowers in spring and orange, yellow and red fall color. The Ashes you see are the wine red  Raywood Ash (Fraxinus oxycarpa) and the golden yellow Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina). The best Arizona Ash for our area is 'Berrinda' since it is the native variety. The non-native Red Oak (Quercus rubra) turns the color its name implies. Some shrubs that go orange to red are the Dwarf Burning Bush (Euonymus alata 'Compacta'), Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica), Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), Spiraea and Viburnum. Some of the species in the Salvia genus provide color in the form of flowers in the fall. Autumn Sage (S. greggii) blooms spring, summer but most abundantly in fall in a variety of hues. Pineapple Sage (S. elegans) with its red flowers and Mexican Sage (Salvia leucantha) with its velvety purple blooms are both herbaceous perennials that die to the ground in the winter but will regrow in zone 7 in the spring. Neither of these Salvias should be planted on a north side. This is a short list of some things to add to your landscape so that you have color in the fall. Keep them in mind and come and see us in the spring as we will have all of these plants and many more.

If you have any plant questions please feel free to hit the 'Comments' tab and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

SALE!!!

Our sale starts today, September 24th at 9:00. Come early for the best selection. All plants, pottery and Pecan & Eucalyptus Mulch are half price!!! We will be open until the 30th. See you in April. Thanks again for the support.
Regina and Steve

Fall Stuff

We have received our last shipment of the year!!! Pansies, Violas, Snapdragons and Mums. They are full of buds and blooms. We also have a good assortment of fall vegetables. Things are already selling fast so hurry in and get some fall color now!

September

Fertilize Lawns. If you understand the growth cycle of grass you will know when to fertilize it for optimum growth and health. Cool season grasses such as Fescue, Rye and water-guzzling Blue Grass begin to grow in spring by using food stored in the winter. The blades then produce enough food on their own to provide energy for rooting, thickening and spreading. When the heat of the summer sets in the lawn needs more food than it can make on its own. It relies on food stored in the previous fall to survive. If no food was stored in the fall you will see damage to grass blades and roots. This is when your cool season lawn is most susceptible to insects, diseases, weeds and drought. If your lawn was properly fertilized it will go dormant and survive on stored energy. As summer rains come and autumn approaches the lawn comes out of dormancy and begins to rebuild itself. Towards winter blade growth slows but the grass continues to produce food and builds up reserves that will help it through next year's time of stress. Knowing this you will want to have nutrients available for late summer growth as well as for late fall food storage. Fertilize your cool season lawn in mid-spring and early September with Gro-Power Hi-Nitrogen 14-4-9 and again in late October with Gro-Power Flower & Bloom 3-12-12 as a winterizer. The winterizer will encourage root growth and winter hardiness. Do not fertilize in summer when the lawn is dormant or barely growing. Only the weeds benefit from this. Warm season grasses like Bermuda and Buffalo grow more aggressively in summer, slowly during spring and fall and go dormant in the winter. Fertilize these grasses heavily in the mid-spring, lightly again in mid-summer and use a winterizer fertilizer in mid-fall.

Plant Pansies and Violas. OK, if you don't know it by now I will tell you one last time: Pansies & Violas are cold hardy, cool season annuals that will live and bloom through the fall and winter in our climate. Now is the time to plant them. When you start pulling out your Marigolds, Petunias, Zinnias and other warm season annuals, replace them with Pansies and Violas. Use Uni-Gro Potting Soil to refresh your pots and improve your beds with Back to Earth Compost.

We will be closing for the season on September 30th. Our sale will start on Friday the 24th with 50% off all trees, shrubs, perennials and other selected items. We will reopen in April 2011 so stock up on Uni-Gro Potting Soil, Back to Earth Compost, Manure and Top Soil. 


Thanks for making this a great season for us and we look forward to being bigger and better next year!!!!!!!!

2011 Seed

Our 2011 Lake Valley Seeds have arrived. It is time to plan/plant your Fall garden. If you have questions come in and let us help.