Another Chapter

Steve and I have moved on from Moonfire & Sun Garden Center. We will be enjoying more of Bend now. Happy Holidays all!

GMO's

Since I can't shout it from the mountain tops (well actually I could but would just get strange looks) thought I would post this here. Also wondering if anyone looks at this anymore. Read this! It is a long article and very eye opening. Bounty of GMO Crops? 

We are well, working and 'Living the Dream' in Bend, OR.

Au revoir

In case you haven't heard, Steve and I have sold the nursery and Country Girls Nursery will be taking over our space on June 30th. Before the rumors begin and to squelch some that have already started, we are NOT moving to France, are NOT retiring and Walmart has NOT put us out of business. We have had 20 successful years here in Silver City but we are 20 years older than when we started. Contrary to popular belief the thousands of bags of Compost, Top Soil and Potting Soil do not magically float into customers vehicles and trucks full of plants do not unload and arrange themselves...and they haven't for 20 years. We are moving to Bend, Oregon. And before you start with rain and grey skies, it is on the dry side of Oregon, high desert and about 85,000 people. There is only one Walmart and it is on the far South side of town so we are thinking we won't ever have to see it and certainly not hear the name every day. Other words we are looking forward to leaving behind are deer and Ace, quite often in the same context. We will both continue to work. I will hopefully get a job at a nursery of which there are several really good ones and Steve is thinking REI (so he can get a discount on his toys) or something similar. So there you have it. The real story. We have enjoyed our stay here in Silver City because of good friends and loyal customers and will be forever grateful for your support but we are off on a new adventure! We are planning a 'Meet and Greet' with Kendra Wolf and the Country Girls crew from 9-5 on Friday, June 26th and Saturday, June 27th. On Saturday there will be hot dogs and beverages from 11-2. Come and welcome them to their new location. Be nice, support them and help them transition into the nursery. You need a nursery here with the quality products, great advice and fair prices we have tried to provide since 1995.

We are stocked up and our Weeks Roses are absolutely beautiful! 
All trees, shrubs, roses, perennials, vegetables, annuals and ceramic pottery are 25% off June 2nd through the 13th!

This will be Silver Heights  Nursery's last blog post. If you need inspiration you can refer to earlier posts that will hopefully answer a lot of questions. Just search a subject in the upper left hand corner. Country Girls has updates on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Country-Girls-Nursery/189676084471403

Our house is 'for sale by owner' so if you know of anyone who might be interested the information is at http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/141-Armijo-Rd-Silver-City-NM-88061/2102688352_zpid/. The number for a qualified buyer to call for an appointment to view this property is 575.956.3158

Thanks again for 20 great years! 

Couldn't have done it without you!

May 2015

THINGS TO DO:
Prune spring flowering shrubs. As I write this post on April 26th it is snowing. Crazy weather. And it is supposed to be 80 when I publish it on May 1st. Welcome to the high desert! Because we have had such a long warm spring many spring flowering shrubs like Lilacs (Syringa), Forsythia, Red-twigged Dogwood (Cornus), Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles) and Spiraea bloomed long ago and are ready to be pruned. Pruning now will encourage growth and since most shrubs bloom on new wood you will have more flowers next spring. Start by removing the 3 D's. Anything that is dead, diseased or damaged. Next prune out all crossing or rubbing branches and anything that is heading toward the center. Lilacs, Dogwoods and Forsythia should then have 1/3 of their oldest woodiest growth taken all the way to the ground. Spiraeas that bloom in the spring such as 'Snowmound' should be pruned by removing the branches that flowered this year. Flowering Quince blooms on old wood, so prune it to shape down to an outward facing bud on each branch. Although it is not a shrub, Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) can also be pruned after flowering. I sweep off the spent flowers with a broom and then cut the foliage back by 1/3 to 1/2. These are the most popular spring flowering shrubs in our area but these rules can be applied to almost any shrub that flowers in the spring.

Start a new perennial bed. Creating a new perennial bed can be a very simple, satisfying undertaking that you will enjoy for years if you do some planning before you plant. And don't be surprised when it evolves over the years with new plants added as less appealing ones are removed. A perennial bed is a great way to reduce water vs grass. By preparing the soil properly, mulching well and watering effectively a perennial bed will use 25-50% less water than a lawn, depending on the plants used. First choose a location for your new bed. It can be a small, intimate area where you sit most often, a border along a walkway or a wall or an island in the center of your yard. Outline the area using a garden hose. Curving lines are more appealing than straight ones. When you have the shape and size the way you want it, and if it is a lawn area Here is a great article on several methods to remove a lawn without the use of herbicides. Prepare your new area for planting by working in Back to Earth Compost at a rate of 1 bag per 25 square feet. The addition of an all purpose fertilizer such as Chickity Doo Doo or Yum Yum Mix is recommended. Till or turn the soil to a depth of at least a foot; I know, you have hard soil/rocks/granite/caliche, we all do from here to San Diego-just do it. This will help the root development of your new plantings and make them more drought tolerant. Choose a theme for the area. Native, butterfly and/or hummingbird gardens can have color and interest all year long while using very little water. You will want to pick an anchor shrub or two for your bed. Butterfly Bush (Buddleia), Dwarf Burning Bush (Euonymus alata), Photinia, Bamboo (Phyllostachys), New Mexico Privet (Forestiera), Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) or an Ornamental Grass would all make a good starting point. Plant your anchor towards the back of the bed, anywhere but in the center. Taking into consideration the exposure (full sun, part shade, full shade) choose your perennials and work out from your anchor using plants that descend in height down to ground covers in the front. Groups of plants in odd numbers such as 3, 5 or 7 create the best impact when in bloom. Plant these groups in a natural formation, not straight lines. Be sure to include plants that flower in spring, flower in summer, color in the fall or have some winter interest such as berries, attractive seedheads or evergreen foliage. Late flowers or foliage plants should conceal gaps left by earlier flowering varieties. Be sure to mulch your new area to minimize weeds, conserve moisture and give it a finished look. A new perennial bed will take some work and planning but reward you with less watering and lots of visual interest.
                     

PLANT OF THE MONTH:
Echinacea species. The Coneflower is a tried and true perennial that will give you color all summer long, attract butterflies and other beneficial insects and provide some winter interest with their attractive seedheads. There are several cultivars now in a variety of colors. 'Purple' is the most common with flowers ranging from pink to mauve, 'White Swan' is a pure white as its name implies, 'Magnus' has reddish-purple blooms and these three will reach 2-4 feet depending upon conditions. 'Pow Wow Wildberry' was bred to have darker red-purple flowers and a more compact habit at 16-24 inches. Our new favorite, growing to 2 feet, is 'Cheyenne Spirit' which is a mix of scarlet, gold, pink, orange, cream and red. All of these Coneflowers will grow to 18 inches wide, can take full sun or part shade and fit well in a perennial bed or xeriscape.

Echinacea purpurea

Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit'

Echinacea 'Pow Wow Wildberry'

                             

Color!

 We are loaded with colorful annuals, perennials and hanging baskets!

Our Weeks roses just arrived and as always they are 10% off through Mother's Day!

Small Steps

Lowe's To Stop Selling Neonicotinoid Pesticides That May Be Harmful To Bees

Reuters

Posted: 04/09/2015 2:38 pm EDT Updated: 04/10/2015 2:59 pm EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc will stop selling a type of pesticide suspected of causing a decline in honeybee populations needed to pollinate key American crops, following a few U.S. retailers who have taken similar steps last year.

The class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or neonics, are sold by agrichemical companies to boost yields of staple crops but are also used widely on annual and perennial plants used in lawns and gardens.

Scientists, consumer groups, beekeepers and others say bee deaths are linked to the neonic pesticides. The bee die-off is worrisome for agriculture because honeybees pollinate plants that produce about a fourth of the food consumed by Americans.

Lowe's said it will phase out neonics in shelf products and plants by the spring of 2019, as suitable alternatives become available.

A study released by environment group Friends of the Earth and Pesticide Research Institute in 2014 showed that 51 percent of garden plants purchased at Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart in 18 cities in the United States and Canada contained neonicotinoid pesticides at levels that could harm or even kill bees.

In 2014, the White House announced a plan to fund new honeybee habitats and to form a task force to study how to reverse the honeybee declines.

Last year, BJ's Wholesale Club, a warehouse retailer said it was asking all of its vendors to provide plants free of neonics by the end of 2014 or to label such products.

Home Depot, the largest U.S. home improvement chain, also asked its suppliers to start labeling any plants treated with neonics and that it was running tests in several states to see if suppliers can eliminate neonics in their plant production without hurting plant health.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Bernard Orr)

April 2015

THINGS TO DO:

 

 

Fertilize. Since everything has decided to bloom and grow and forget that May 1st frost date you might just as well encourage and feed that growth with a little fertilizer. I have posted about fertilizers before but think it might be time for a refresher course. As you know there are usually three numbers on the front of a bag of fertilizer (N-P-K) as well as some trace elements listed somewhere else. The first number is nitrogen and produces dark green vegetative growth, increases protein content in food crops and helps plants use moisture more efficiently. P stands for Phosphorus and it stimulates rooting, fruiting and flowering. The last number is Potassium or Potash and helps promote disease resistance, overall vigor, winter hardiness and increased caliper in the trunks of trees. By knowing what these numbers stand for you should be able to decide which fertilizer you need. For anything fruiting or flowering you will want something with a higher middle number, an evergreen would benefit from a little extra nitrogen and something that just seems to lack vigor might like some potassium. We carry a wide variety of organic fertilizers. Organics work better than chemicals because they feed the soil and the soil feeds the plants. Chemical fertilizers feed the plants with high doses promoting fast, weak growth that insects and disease find very inviting as well as killing all of the beneficial organisms in the soil. Chemicals like Miracle-Gro create little plant junkies that need that fix very often to survive On the other hand organics create a healthy environment for plants to thrive with less feeding. Fox Farm has a granular All Purpose (5-5-5), Fruit & Flower (5-8-4), Rose Food (4-4-5) and Tomato & Vegetable (7-4-5) as well as liquid Big Bloom (.01-.3-.7), Grow Big (6-4-4) and Tiger Bloom (2-8-4). Two all purpose fertilizers are Yum Yum Mix and Chickity Doo Doo, they can be sprinkled around on everything and watered in.  If you want single nutrients, good sources of nitrogen are Blood Meal and Alfalfa Meal, phosphorus can be found in Bone Meal, Bat Guano and Soft Rock Phosphate and Potassium is available in Greensand, Sul-Po-Mag and Seaweed Extract. With any fertilizer, always follow package directions carefully. Come in to the nursery and chances are good we can find a fertilizer that fits your needs.

Read the Label. I am kind of a label reading freak. Grocery store, clothing store, bath store, I am always seeing 'what's in it'. So when a customer brought us in this label from a plant she got at Home Depot I really couldn't believe it.

I wrote about these systemic insecticides here and here and that Home Depot and probably many other big box stores are wearing this as a badge of honor and touting it as a healthyhome/garden is really insane...so the moral of the story is...read the label.

PLANT OF THE MONTH:
Lavadula. Lavender comes in a wide variety of species but the most reliably hardy for our area are angustifolia and intermedia. Both have narrow gray leaves, 2 inches long and flower on long spikes in July and August. Angustifolia is also known as English Lavender and is the most widely planted lavender used for perfume and sachets. 'Hidcote' is a variety that reaches 20" tall and has deep purple flowers. 'Munstead' is a dwarf 1 1/2' tall with lavender-blue blooms. The species intermedia is a cross between L. angustifolia and L.latifolia. 'Grosso' and 'Provence' both reach at least 3 feet tall and wide and have deep purple flowers. These lavenders are drought tolerant once established, cold hardy to 20 degrees below zero, adapt to full sun or part shade and attract beneficial insects when not treated with neonicotinoids (just seeing if anyone is paying attention). Plant them in an herb garden, near a patio where you can enjoy the fragrance or as a low hedge.