Growing Tip

If you wake up one morning and unexpectedly find a layer of frost on your plants, there is a chance that they still can be saved: Simply hose off the leaves with a garden hose. This must be done before any sunlight reaches them, however. Once the sun reaches them, it is too late. This little trick doesn't work every time, but more often than not, you can salvage your plants in this manner. Of course, it's always best to protect them ahead of time.

Plant Profile: Kniphofia (Redhot Poker Plant)

Classification: Perennial
Height: 30-36 inches
Width: 20-24 inches
Exposure: Full sun

Redhot Poker Plants are natives of Africa, and feature brilliant flower spikes in the red/yellow range (from where they get their name). They have refined sword-shaped leaves, and the flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds and are excellent for cutting. They bloom from July through August, and require well-drained soil.

Progress Report

As I promised last month, here are a couple current pictures of the roses. There are a few slow-starters in the group (there always are), but all-in-all I'm pretty happy with their progress. They received their first feeding last week, and the warm weather that we've had really has them zipping along! Some of them are starting to set bud, and may even be showing some color by Mother's Day. It's all up to the weather, now.

The Bleeding Hearts are a-Bloomin'

One of the advantages of growing plants under poly is that it allows us to stay well ahead of the weather... which leads me to the above photos. As you can see, once again the Bleeding Hearts are blooming ahead of schedule. This happens every year. They bloom in April, and then by the time the main selling season arrives in May, they have wrapped up their show and are just green plants, sitting there. Oh well... I thought I would post a couple pics of them now so everyone can enjoy them.

This is Awful!

Just look at that mess up there! That is the main sales area in front of our biggest greenhouse (we will be cleaning it up in the next couple of weeks). We have already moved some of this year's perennials into the shade area (which we have to get covered), and we are getting things arranged and working on getting the annual transplanting finished up. Once all of that is done, we'll turn our attention to this sales area and THEN work on transplating vegetable plants.

I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

Growing Tip

When spraying your plants, be sure to always rinse out the sprayer afterwards - both the tank AND the hose. Not doing so could allow the valve and the nozzle to become clogged with residue.

It is also a good idea to apply a coating of Armor All^® to all the rubber parts of sprayers at the end of each growing season.

Tech Stuff

It has been brought to my attention that this site will sometimes "hiccup" when it's first being loaded; it will start to load, and then go to a blank screen. If this happens to you, just hit the "back" button on your browser, and the site should load properly.

This is not unique to this site - I have experienced the same problem when trying to view other sites on the Blogger network.

Just a minor glitch that I thought I would mention.

That is all.

Plant Profile: Iresine H. Brilliantissima

Classification: Annual
Height: 18-24"
Width: 15-18"
Exposure: Part shade

Iresine are tropical Brazilian natives (where they are grown as perennials) grown mostly for their striking foliage. Brilliantissima features beautiful ruby leaves with lighter pink veins. Iresine need to be protected from too much sunlight, as it will scorch the foliage. They prefer rich, well-drained, fertile soil.

Progress Report

Here are some photos that I snapped earlier today of our biggest greenhouse. Compare these pics to the ones from last week, and you can see that we've made pretty good progress, overall. Last weekend, we moved the majority of the hanging baskets over here from the intermediate greenhouse, and we have been busy with transplanting. The geraniums are budding up, and the petunia baskets are starting to bloom. Everything is pretty much on-time, and should be ready by the middle of May!

Growing Tip: Ants & Peonies

There is an old wives' tale that says that peonies will not bloom unless the unopened buds are covered with ants. While this is not true, any ants that you may find on your peony plants are pretty much harmless; they are simply feeding on the sap of the unopened bloom. Once the flowers open, the ants will go away.

The Peppers Have Sprung!

The above photo shows some of the pepper plants that were being germinated in the March 16th photo. We got about a 95% germination rate out of them, and we will be transplating them into packs for selling in the next couple of weeks or so. Won't be long now!

Geraniums!

As you can see, we now have the biggest greenhouse opened up. We finished cleaning and sterilizing this house last week, and have now begun to move our plants in here to be transplanted. We have finished transplanting the geraniums, and as you can see, they take up the entire center bench of the greenhouse! There are literally hundreds of the newest and best patented geraniums on the market today on that bench.

I'll post another photo or two next week to gauge our progress.

Plant Profile: Lobelia Cardinalis (Cardinal Flower)

Classification: Perennial
Height: 30"
Width: 18"
Exposure: Full sun to part shade

The Cardinal Flower is a perennial that blooms in late summer and features dense flower spikes of bright red. Its blooms are very attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies. It makes a stunning accent or border plant, and is especially effective when planted in groups. It is ideal for waterside settings and hummingbird gardens.

Cardinal Flowers prefer rich organic soil in moist locations, and will tolerate full sun in cool areas.

Growing Tip

To determine if your hanging baskets need watered, check the weight of them. Simply lift up on the bottom of the pot; if it feels heavy, hold off on the water for a while. If it is very light, and the soil feels dry, it's time to water!