We are officially into Spring here at the nursery. Our first order of baby herbs are planted and growing in our little greenhouse. Our second order of plugs, mostly petunias and calibrochoas, arrived today. Some of them will go into our baskets and some into 4-inch pots. If all goes well, they will be ready for sale in 5-6 weeks. We are almost finished potting up our bare-root roses as they are budding out, and feeder roots are starting to grow. We offer these at 20% off the regular price in March. Our planted containers of daffodils are blooming along with the anemones and ranunculus we have brought in. Pansies and viola six-packs are in stock now. Spring hours begin March 1. We are back to 9-5, 10-4 on rainy days, 7 days a week.
Although my nectarine tree is blooming, the bare-root fruit trees are still sleeping for the most part. I have noticed a few blooms cracki
ng on the plums, so they will be the first things to go into containers. The window is beginning to close on bare-root fruit trees, so if you are thinking of adding some food security to your domain, the sooner, the better. Remember that one of the most beneficial times to spray fungicide on your peaches and nectarines for peach leaf curl is at 2/3rds petal drop. The bees and other insects are done foraging, and they can carry the bacteria back onto your tree. The leaves have not started to emerge yet. Our experience is if the Spring is dry, then peach leaf curl is not a big issue. If you have no idea what I am talking about, curl causes the leaves to become distorted with red blotching. The tree will eventually drop these leaves and will have to put out a second set, which can be very stressful and weaken the tree. It is best to avoid a bad case. If you do get a bad case, we recommend spraying the tree with seaweed. This seems to help the tree recover from this unsightly fungal disease.
Plenty of cool season vegetable starts are available now. More seed potatoes are due to ship March 10th and are running late. Our summer bulb order is due to ship on March 15. We have a few tomato starts for those of you who have a greenhouse and want to grow them on to a bigger plant to put out after the danger of frost has passed. Keep in mind that the last average frost days for Lake County are May 1-15th. Planting warm season vegetables out before the soil warms up does you no good. They just languish in the cold soil. It takes longer for the soil to warm up than the air. We do not get the full line of summer starts, i.e., melons, in stock til almost May. A lot depends on the weather.
A lot of you are doing your own vegetable and flower starts these days. We like to use a seed-starting mix with some potting soil added for the long haul. The biggest danger to your young seedlings is damping off disease. Avoid keeping the soil too wet, and the light seed-starting mix is helpful for this. Soaking seeds overnight can be beneficial to germination, specially seeds with thick coats like beans, peas, corn, morning glories, and nasturtiums. (We have had trouble getting nasturtiums to go, but we have not tried soaking them in warm water first.) Smaller seeds need only a damp towel for a few hours. Some seeds like beets and chard really benefit from a soak as it washes off their natural growth inhibitors. Eggplant and peppers are hard to germinate as they need pretty consistent 85-degree temps to sprout, but now, along with tomatoes, would be the time to start them. Squashes, beans, and pumpkins grow fast, so I do not like to start those until later. Cucumbers and melons can not be planted until the soil is warmed up, so again, maybe wait a few more weeks on them too. Peas would be a thing to get going now as they do not like hot weather. Lettuce, beets, chard, carrots, and spinach should get planted now and could go straight into the ground. For broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts, you might be better off buying starts at this juncture. Marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers are easy to start from seed. Just keep in mind that you will not be planting them til the end of April and into May, so do not start them too early. Closer to April would work.
So what is blooming now or soon shrub-wise at the nursery? The hellebores are show stoppers. The tulip magnolias are gorgeous, along with some early varieties of camellias. The spring-blooming viburnums and spireas are budded. The quince is blooming. We see buds forming on wisteria and Lady Banks. The potted lilacs might give a bloom or two, but the ones in the ground here are showing promise. The wild lilacs, California natives, should be opening to blue any day now. The native coast iris is another winner for early spring color. Early blooming perennials include candytuft, Veronica Georgia Blue, nemesia, lungwort, and diascia. Don’t forget Sure Start when planting.
Are you a fan of our metal chickens? New ones are here, along with quail, hawks, owls, and more. Our spring Smart Pot order came along with arches, trellis, and heavy-duty plant cages. Have you seen our houseplant and succulent liquid fertilizers or our tanglefoot tree wrap? Check out some of our amazing philodendrons and we always have some variety of pothos, sansevieria, and peace lilies in stock.
Plants put on their biggest growth in the Spring, so if you want to get maximum growth, it is time to start fertilizing. We are fully stocked on steer manure. This is tried and true and always good to put some around your plants, amend your vegetable and annual beds, etc. In addition, Green All Natural Firmulch can not be beaten as a top dressing for containers and everything else. Our EBStone Organic Soil Booster is formulated to replace the nutrition those hungry annuals and vegetables take up. (Annual means germinates, grows, and dies in a year, not that it comes back every year. Those are perennials.) Start feeding your citrus again. More fertilizer options include our EB Stone organic dry fertilizers. The All Purpose and Rose and Flower are what we use for all our containers. March is the start of our annual crowd favorite ‘Buy 3 GreenAll Organic 2 cu.ft. Potting Soil, 4th is free’ sale.
Get off those devices and get out and garden. Your well-being will thank you.
March Specials
20% Off
- Camellias, Roses, Liner Pot Lilacs, Cyclamen
- Quantity discounts on bare root
Green All Organic 2cf Potting Soil, Buy 3, 4th free
Steer Manure, Buy 7, 8th free
