Let's Celebrate!

June rolls in and I’m still counting our blessings. Our spring has been absolutely perfect as far as the weather has treated us. We have finally moved on from those fall and winter hardy bloomers. It hurt but we pulled our snapdragons, sweet peas, foxgloves, Nigella, (love in a mist) and our Larkspur. Some were still hanging in there but we had to make room for the heat hardy plants. I like to give them enough time to get some size on them before they flip into flower mode which is controlled by the day length. As the days get longer many of our favorite flowers start to put on buds, if the plants aren’t developed enough they wont be able to hold themselves up. I will disbud some plants just so they will bulk up enough. To me it’s worth the wait rather than seeing plants flop over on each other. You have probably done this with young tomato plants, it’s the same concept. Right before a plant flips to flower mode they have a huge growth spurt, that’s when you know it’s coming. A good example of this is Magnolia trees. All around town I saw the trees flush out then the blooms began to show up, just a beautiful bloom that we Mississippians are proud to call “ours”.

I am in a holding pattern at the big flower bed that runs the length of our business on highway 51. My 6 year old giant pink petunia hanging baskets will make it through another year but the pink super petunias on the ground will begin to fade away as it gets hotter. I have planted Rudbekia ‘Marmalade’ and cascading vinca around the petunias so when they do go I wont be starting from scratch. I have also begun to fill holes with Everillo sedge grass. They are neon yellow and have a beautiful texture that seems to work with everything that I plant out there. They were out there this winter with my pansies and snaps.

Now I have backed all of this up with 5 different colors of coleus, variegated Aztec grass and Indian Summer Rudbekia, all of that is being peered over by my Amaranth plants that are now 4 feet tall and blooming their heads off. The reason I am holding my breath for all of this working for another 2 weeks is because of all we have going on at the nursery for the next 2 weeks. Saturday, June 7th is the day we will have a Bonsai and Beer demonstration by the talented Jakob Clark. This a sign up event geared to be a Father’s Day gift, we do have gals signing up as well. The folks who get a spot will leave with a lot of knowledge about Bonsai and they will also leave with a Bonsai tree that they have designed themselves along with some Bonsai clippers so they can keep it looking keen. Signees will also enjoy some sushi being created by Garden Works biggest fan, Kevin Kantor. Kevin loves the adventure of preparing food for hungry people and the love shows through the quality and richness of the food he prepares.

The next week we will start our 40th anniversary celebrations. Starting the week on Tuesday, Emily Grohovsky, the owner of Cedar Hill Gardens will demonstrate some gardening tips and structure placement. If you haven’t met Emily or seen her work on her website you should do yourself a favor and come check it out. Emily has taken our state like a storm. I so respect the work that she does and we always love someone who enters this industry and makes us all look good with her and her husbands wonderful, high quality garden design and service.

The next day we will feature a container garden demo with Jackson's own, Justin Branton and Leigh Sargent. You have probably seen their work all over town, if there are some beautiful planted pots near a business front door it was probably them. They spend their time designing pot scapes and fountains for residential clients as well as commercial applications.

On Thursday, we will have YouTuber, Andrew Ewing, come to show us all how to have a water garden in your yard that wont break the bank or your back. I’ve seen most of his videos, its lots of fun and very relaxing to see Andrew doing his thing for not just Mississippi, but he is getting attention from lots of states because of his huge variety and wealth of knowledge.

On Friday, Mayor Gene McGee will join us for a ribbon cutting to celebrate 40 years and a newly renovated building designed by Mimi, so you can imagine, it’s very special. My mom, who started the whole thing with my father, Rita and Billy Martinson will be honored after Mimi’s mom, Hilda Robinson will bless our new building and all who are there to celebrate with us. Later that evening we will have live music from a Greenville, South Carolina musician and his sister in law, Trey Duncan and Margaret Splawn will sing their hearts out while the new fad of Permanent Jewelry will have a pop up store along with treats and beverages being served. We will do it again on Saturday, the 14th with a plant swap in the morning and that evening we keep partying with live music from the infamous Terry Powell, permanent jewelry pop up, and local treats. It should be a week to remember.

We have been here a long time alongside this wonderful community of folks who work so hard to keep our city and county looking so good, good reason to celebrate. As if that isn’t enough for your planner the Fondren Bottle Tree festival will be happening on that Saturday as well. There is enough time between events to do it all. Im going to try my best to make it to that on Saturday as well. I believe I saw a hint of stink eye from Mimi when she overheard me telling someone that I was going to dash out to Fondren to see the incredible hidden gardens in our own Fondren, land of the Maverick gardeners and bottle tree heaven.

Last fall this was a wonderful event and I finally got a peak into Don and Becky Pott's yard, something I have always wondered about. It did not disappoint . Plenty to do in the next couple weeks for every level of gardener so pack up some cold water and gas up the mule, take a journey with your favorite person or pet to see what our town has going on, lots of fun! The week following all of this we have a group of 30 or so people coming to tour our yard at home so I’d best be on my way out to the yard to make sure that everything will be as perfect as can be. I guess I am a glutton for punishment but this is my idea of a good time.