That was some rain total we received over 3 days! My weather station registered over 16 inches. That is one-third of Middletown’s yearly average rainfall. I am thankful the sun is shining today and that we have some dry weather ahead. All of our tree, floral, and wreath deliveries were delayed due to the closing of Interstate 5, but they are all here now and available for sale. If you are looking for cut trees, we did not receive very many Nobles this year, but the Nordmanns and Dougs look great, and for now, we have plenty. Our first few Poinsettias made it, and we have lots of Cyclamen and Christmas Cactus. We just got in the cutest little Alberta Spruce in 2-inch and 4-inch pots. Cedar garland is another customer favorite. The wreaths look great and really add to the holiday spirit. This time of year is the best availability for a living conifer. We just get one order from Oregon every year, so if you have been wanting a Blue Spruce, Green Spruce, Doug Fir, or Noble growing in your own yard, now would be the time to get it.
Now that the weather has cooled and the ground has softened, it is a perfect time to plant bulbs. We still have most of the varieties we ordered for fall in stock. We also received our organic seed potatoes and still have onions and garlic to plant. Get those wildflower and sweet pea seeds planted. Plant some cover crops like Favas or clovers in your bare vegetable beds if you are taking a break from the edible garden. I planted Favas in all my grow bags and plan on eating the beans, too.
We had frost on all the roofs this morning, even though it had been colder for a few nights. This is a reminder that we do sell N-Sulate cloth covers for your outdoor cold-sensitive plants. It works great on our Citrus here because we will be getting below 25 degrees at some point here at the nursery. I like to spray our shrubs with anti-transpirant, too. I especially spray my oleanders and olives to limit any cold damage they might receive. We sell a product called Wilt Pruf, a pine resin. This helps seal in moisture since winter damage is attributed to the drying of the leaves as much as temperature. I know my skin needs extra moisturizer in the winter, which is the season of cracked hands and chapped lips. Remember to water some plants in pots and in the ground if we do not get rain for a few weeks and the cold weather is drying them out. Most deciduous shrubs and trees will be okay, but we do have a lot of evergreen shrubs that you do not want to dry out completely, especially in pots.
I probably do not have to mention that fruit and roses should be pruned in the next few months. Dormant spraying with copper and horticultural oil is recommended to kill overwintering disease and insect eggs. Roses really should have their leaves removed for two reasons. One is to force them to a rest period as our climate isn’t quite cold enough to do it for you. The other is that the leaves are almost guaranteed to get fungal growth like black spot, sooty mold, and rust. Sooty mold often appears on other things if there was a lot of insect secretion from aphids and the like. The sticky honeydew that they secrete onto the foliage gets moldy, overwinter, and looks like your foliage is turning black. Hopefully, the rain we got thoroughly washed our plants.
We need to cut back a lot of our perennials, but you might want to leave seed heads on for a while. They do provide food for our feathered friends that opt to stick around all winter. One question that we have been asked is if it is okay to feed the hummers in winter or not. Is it keeping them from doing their natural migration? Our research found that hummers are here in our climate year-round, and it is okay to feed them.
Our year-end regular inventory sale begins the day after Thanksgiving this year since it is so late. That means our whole store, including gift certificates, is 25% off the regular price through December 24th. The only exclusions from this sale are cut Christmas trees, wreaths, garland, and newly arrived conifers from Oregon. It is a great deal on garden art, benches, arches, plants, and more. We often sell a lot of more expensive plants like Japanese Maples, Dogwoods, Redbuds, Citrus, Daphne, and Hellebores during this great sale because these all make great gifts to ourselves and others.
Small Business Saturday is November 30th. There is a county-wide promotion going on called Eat Drink Shop Local Lake County. Please remember to support your local businesses this holiday and keep your dollars local. For more info about this program sponsored by the Lake County Economic Development Corp., go to tinyurl.com/EatDrinkShop.
Most of you know we take a small break and close for a few weeks at Christmas. This year, we will be open from 10-2 on Christmas Eve and closed through January 10th. Back open on the 11th. It remains to be seen if our bare root trees will come before or after we re-open, but we expect them the 2nd or 3rd week of January. If you want to know what we ordered (but not always guaranteed to get) you can go to the Dave Wilson website. https://www.wheretobuy.davewilson.com/home-gardens-variety-list/star-gardens . The potted berries, grapes, figs, pomegranates, Illinois Mulberry, and Jenny Self-fertile Kiwis are already here.
The Jan/Feb Newsletter will come out mid-month in January. At that time, I will be including the 2025 Rose list. Roses will arrive around February 1st and are available bare root for a very short window.
Mark your calendars for Christmas in Middletown, December 14th, from 3-8, rain or shine. We will not be open late as I will be manning the Merchant Assoc. booth on the corner by the Middletown Art Center. This is always a great community event. You can get more details at the Middletown Area Merchants Assoc. Facebook page.
Thank you all for our 20th year in business. We look forward to serving you in the year ahead. Happy Holidays.
Our Big Year-End Sale
November 29th – December 24th
25% Off Everything
except for cut and living trees from Oregon, wreaths, and garland
