How to Prune Ornamental Grasses
5 Reasons Why You Should buy Your Trees Online
5 Reasons Why You Should buy Your Trees Online:
Imagine a world where you can get the perfect tree or plant with just a click, a better tree than even you would have even picked. Thanks to Bower & Branch this is now a reality.
CONTINUE READING5 Thoughts on Fall Decorating
5 Thoughts on Fall Decorating
Fall is one of the best times to decorate. There is just so much that you can do. Sure, spring is beautiful, but there are some of us that just have a sweet spot for fall.
And this is certainly understandable. Fall is just such a beautiful time. Whereas spring is full of greens and pastels and colors, fall brings solid earthy, colors like reds, yellows, and oranges.
If you are trying to decorate for fall consider these tips:
Remember the standby items
One of the most important things with fall decorating is to start with a good foundation and that foundation generally is best done with the standby items like mums/asters, kale/ornamental cabbage, and pumpkins. Get even 2 of these items and you are on the right track.
Don’t forget about gourds
Gourds are something that are often underated. There are just so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Consider using several different types to add in to your displays or even to make an entire display.
Straw Bales make a good base for displays
Straw Bales say fall. Consider using some in your display to add to the fall look. You can get either small bales or full size.
Corn shocks can be a nice touch
Corn shocks are a nice touch in a corner or on posts. Consider putting them on porch posts or on your lampost.
Consider using some non-traditional colors
Although when we think of fall the first thing that we often think of is reds, oranges, and yellows, there is a place for other colors. Instead of using only orange pumkins, consider using white pumpkins, gray blue hubbard squash, or long, skinny neck pumkins.
Do you have any other thoughts on fall decorating? What do you do? Comment below!
What are Rose Slugs (Sawflies) and do I have them?
Chances are you have not heard of Rose slugs (also known as Rose worms or Sawflies) and chances are that you would not be interested to find out what they are unless you are having trouble with your roses. However, it is good to know what they are even if you do not. You do not know when you will need this information.
All About Field Pansies!
The History and Tradition Behind Field Pansies
What are field pansies? They are the same pansy seed that we use for our pansies in packs, just grown out in the field compared to being grown in a greenhouse. The growing cycle for a field pansy begins quite a long time before they are ready to be sold!
Timeline
We seed field pansies in the summer, where they get their start in the greenhouses. Following the first frost and right before transplant, the field pansy beds are steamed. This is a tried and true method that has been done for well over a hundred years. Steaming the field pansy beds allows a chemical free method to kill weed seeds and fungus in the beds. The steam is at a certain temperature that kills undesirable soil pests but does not kill the beneficial microbes.
Around mid-October the pansies’ bare root plugs are ready to be transplanted into the field hotbeds. Once in the field, they will grow all winter under glass sashes. The sashes protect the pansies as well as trapping heat and moisture, ideal growing conditions for pansies! This field method of growing gives the pansies a better formed root system, as well as making them hardier against the cold. The field pansies have bloomed by mid-winter and are ready to be dug out once the ground has thawed enough.
Tradition
So why does Ken’s Gardens invest so much time and labor into field pansies? Tradition! Pansies were always traditionally grown in fields. Our Smoketown location has been growing field pansies for over 100 years, as both Glick’s Plant Farms and as Ken’s Gardens (all in the same family). We really love that our customers can remember coming to dig up field pansies at our garden center as children, and can now bring their own grandchildren to dig them up too!
Beautyberry
Beautyberry is a deciduous shrub noted for its brightly colored, tightly clustered berries that remain on the bush into winter. Other common names are American beautyberry and American mulberry. About This Plant Fast-growing deciduous shrubs, beautyberries grow 4 to 8 feet tall and wide. Plant them in a natural woodland setting under tall shade trees or as an informal hedge along the perimeter of a property. Beautyberries have small, lavender-pink, lilac-like flowers in spring, followed by vivid purple or white berries in fall. The berries attract birds, as well as provide winter color. Although the berries are edible, they aren’t the most desired food of birds and often hang on the bush into late winter. The foliage turns an attractive yellow in fall. Special Features-Four season interest