Come On In

This is the time of year at Garden Works that we run pretty hard getting everything set up for a great fall season. The growing operation is in full tilt boogie. The growers in the greenhouses are filling pots with soil and getting them laid out on the tables as fast as they can go. The germinated seedlings are going into the pots and roots are already beginning to look good. We’re growing lots of perennials this year since fall is the perfect time to plant them. I’ve seen lots of Foxgloves back there, all the different colored pansies, and so many more plants that are for planting in the fall and that will bloom or get ready to bloom all the way through our winter. We grow our first crop upfront at the retail area so customers can gauge the timing on how far along our plants are. The ground is beginning to cool down some and as we watch our nights stay in the 60s the time to plant is getting closer. I think people could go ahead and plant their pots if they need refreshing although a lot of the summer plants are just enjoying this new cool down so they may last a little while longer.

Our Tree and shrub area is filling up every day. We have gotten in our Camellias and Sasanquas and Encore Azaleas and all those great things that people like to plant in the fall. The retail guys in that area have done a great job of lining things out and making it easy to shop. The plant material that we’ve gotten in this year so far has been outstanding. There were a few days last week that we had trucks lined up waiting to be unloaded. Unloading the truck is one thing but getting everything put up in nice neat rows with signage and prices is a whole other part of what has to happen. Our aquatics area is looking great, nice and full of plants that are ready to go in back patio containers or ponds. We have one area now, dedicated just to fall decorations, pumpkins, gourds, and cornstalks in bundles. The bedding plant area is looking mighty full right now with herbs, vegetables, annuals, and perennials ready to be planted. Inside the store, as usual, they have done a great job in the sunroom of bringing in the new products that go along with the fall season and there is a corner dedicated to the early Christmas decorations.

The house plant area called the upper atrium and the lower atrium. Looks wonderful with all the new house plants and the new product that is going in there now. Upfront closer to the highway is where our pottery is displayed with unusual plants and trees that do well in pots for inspiration. We are doing our best to leave plenty of space for the artisan market that will be setting up there for Saturday, October 17 for our big fall celebration called Plants Pumpkins and Pinot. Up there there will be space for a band, food vendors and tents set up by some of America’s best artists. Our landscape company and color pot department has never really slowed down this summer. There are lots of people that need help in their yards and that crew stayed plenty busy. I know Justin has a lot of jobs piled up for October and November since some of our customers did not want to get the work done in the heat of the summer. I don’t think the nursery could be any more ready for this season, I hope you’ll find time to come by and give it a look.

Back at our home gardens Mimi and I have begun the process of getting ready to plant for fall in different places in our yard. Last weekend we pulled everything out of our raised beds in our garden area that we won’t be needing any longer. Yesterday we topped off those beds with mushroom compost and some of our famous soil that we grow our bedding plants in back at the greenhouses. I plan to wet that soil down really good and then mulch on top of it until we feel like it’s time to plant some of the things that are going in there this year. The ornamental grasses around our place are beginning to put up their heads and sway in the wind just like we hoped they would. We still have lots of summer annuals and perennials blooming right now so we probably won’t get in a big hurry about replacing those with winter annuals anytime soon. We are really focusing on keeping the place weeded by attacking it a little bit at a time whenever we get a chance.

We can feel it in our bones that in just one or two more weeks the whole place will probably begin to look a little different as the leaves begin to fade and drop. During that time. We will have to pull our summer annuals and either prepare for what’s coming next or go ahead and plant what’s coming next, it kind of depends on how the temperatures are acting. We like to see that ground cool down a little bit before we plant our pansies, but not too much so the roots can get a good start before it gets too cold. I feel like October 16 has always been the magic planting date when it’s not too soon and not too early. I am keeping a close eye on our irrigation situation during this notoriously hot and dry month. I’m pretty sure it’s been over a month since I got over a 10th of a rain here at the house and I don’t wanna have to replant much after this little drought is over so I’m focusing hard on it. I’m learning to use plants that can take these types of summers better than others. I have also learned over the years that the soil that the plants go in makes all the difference in the world when it comes to getting through these unusually hot and long summers. It sounds like we better get used to it as long as this El Niño is hanging around. I hear the effects from this will last three or four years and even then things are just heating up.

I think it is a wise choice to begin learning those plants that can take the kind of summers that are coming our way. Otherwise it’s a long relentless fight that you might get through one summer, but maybe not the next, it can be deflating to get a plant three years old just to watch it wither away in one of these cruel summers. The garden centers that you shop at should be able to guide you towards those plants that have done best for the landscapers and gardeners around town. We are dedicating our new planting areas at home that we are creating now to just those types of plants, it should be an interesting look when we are finished.

Next week on October 6 Pam Pybas has invited me back to be on her show which runs on Tuesdays live and again on Saturdays. The name of the show is Fix It 101 and this time we’re going to talk about taking care of your lawn and what to plant in the fall. We take phone calls, but generally, we just chat about things going on in the garden at least for that day. I hope you’ve had time to give some thought to your garden needs this fall and have gotten out to check out the new stock at all the garden centers in town. It’s a fun time to be in the garden centers after a long, hot summer. We are all glad to see you pull up in our parking lot.