I feel like it’s finally here.

Spring!

We just had our Spring Kick-Off Weekend, and for the first time this season, I finally felt like spring was really here. Things were blooming, birds were chirping, and our store was full of folks ready to do some planting.

After a very LONG winter, it’s nice to see...and hear...all of those again! I can’t stress how good it is to see familiar faces. As winter winds down, I get anxious to see signs of spring returning: perennials emerging from the ground, buds starting to swell, and the emergence of the first colorful flowers of the season.

But I also long for our customers.

After endless days working at my desk through a winter that seemed like it would never end, I rejoice at the opportunity to get back out on the floor and see people again. Getting the chance to talk with folks again about gardening, landscaping, and plant choices gets my blood flowing.

What can I say? I enjoy what I do. We all do!

Thanks to everyone for coming out and making our Spring Kick-Off Weekend successful. If you haven’t made it back out yet this season... come see us when you have a chance.

We’ll be waiting for you.

—Cameron

An Amazing Start: Magnolias

Early spring flowering trees are one of the first signs of the new season. Magnolias, flowering cherries and plums, redbuds and flowering crabapples are common sights blooming away on the front end of spring.

But this year, the magnolias have been especially impressive.

So often, their early flowers get nipped by late frosts. We saw a little bit of that on the front end of their bloom cycle, but for the most part, we’ve been watching the magnolias finish off their bloom cycle naturally, not prematurely due to cold weather. That’s not always the case!

They come in whites, pinks, violets, and even yellows, and yes, they are perfectly winter hardy here. Don’t confuse these types with their more tender southern cousin, the Southern Magnolia. These forms are very well-adapted to thriving in our climate.

As the magnolias wind down, we’re seeing redbuds, flowering crabapples, ornamental cherries, and plums take over.

The color just continues!

bare is good!

Spring is a good time to set out new fruit trees. Spring is also a good time...in fact, the only time...to set out bare root fruit trees.

Bare root trees are just that, trees with bare roots. These plants have been harvested during the dormant season, graded, bundled, and stored in cold, damp, refrigerated storage. And we keep them in cold, damp, refrigerated storage until you’re ready to purchase and plant them.

Most of the trees we bring in are three years old, so they are pretty good-sized. Being bare root, they are easy to transport, easy to plant and easy to get established. We offer fruit trees in both bare root sizes and container-grown sizes. We typically will have the potted versions year-round, but the bare root offerings are an early spring-only option, usually in March and April.

If fruit trees are something you’ve been thinking about adding to your garden, stop on by and see what we have to offer. We can also answer questions and help you understand the advantages of planting bare root.

time is running out!

If you haven’t gotten your Red Bag down yet...you need to get on it!

The Red Bag is Fertilome For All-Seasons Crabgrass Preventer. It’s what we call a pre-emergent, and we use it in our lawns to keep unwanted summer weeds away, especially crabgrass.

It needs to be applied early in the spring season and then watered in. Both are important.

Hopefully, you get some rainfall to take care of that last part, but if not, pull out the sprinkler. Remember, your application hasn’t been activated until it has been watered in.

Don’t battle summer weeds; prevent them!

Inventory highlights!

New plants are arriving on the regular these days. We are stocked with the best quality plants for all your spring planting. Come out and browse our inventory.