May is typically the busiest month in our business, with Mother’s Day weekend usually being the busiest. Many of you showed up for our Sharp Event in spite of the weather, and we thank you for making it a successful weekend. Our Marigold, Snapdragon, and 6-packs of Petunia shelves are empty. May 1st is a major restocking day for us as we have two big deliveries coming to fill those empty shelves. Marigolds are very popular due to their insect-inhibiting properties in the vegetable garden. Our vegetable tables are pretty full, but as things go, we could be sold out of the variety you are looking for.
So what other flowers are good to plant with your tomatoes besides Marigolds that deter white fly and soil-inhabiting root-knot nematodes? Nasturtiums are well known for repelling aphids, whitefly, and cabbage moth caterpillars. They also attract hoverflies that feed on aphids. Nasturtiums are wonderful, but do not fare well during our hot summers. Plant them where they will get some shade from our intense heat and sun. Calendulas, along with Borage, repel tomato hornworms, aphids, and nematodes. Lavender can repel flea beetles and is pollinator-attracting. Chives kept my zucchini from being infested with aphids by mid-summer. Zinnias, Cosmos, and Alyssum are great predator insect attractors, along with being pollinator attracting. So, as you are planning and buying your vegetable gardens, be sure to add these great flowers and herbs into the mix.
The days are getting hotter and drier. I do not know about you, but on my to-do list is to run through my stations on my electrical/irrigation valve timer and fix any leaks that magically appear over winter, although it was fine when I shut it down. I have checked my battery timer lines, and they are fixed, so my trees down at the greenhouse are getting water every other day. In case you do not remember, the soil down there drains so fast that it is hard to keep anything down there hydrated. Before our last rain, I planted a five-gallon plant and was startled to find the soil completely dry already to the bottom of the hole in my backyard.
I was a little surprised to see our fully blooming Snowball Viburnum still here after our sale. We also have a lot of Viburnum tinus that did not sell in bloom, but still look good. It makes a great hedge plant in sun or shade, looks its best in winter when other shrubs do not, is usually pest and deer free, and is a Mediterranean native, so climate appropriate. Our Rockroses, another Mediterranean native, are starting to put on their spring show. Varieties in stock go from low growing ground covering types like Sunset and C. salvifolius to the massive-growing 4 by 6 ft C. purpureus. Our Japanese maples are looking good, too. These do not fall in the climate-appropriate category, but are a beautiful tree and a bonus for any yard. Plant out of the wind and hot afternoon sun for best results. They do not like to dry out, so keep them evenly moist through the growing season and feed with an acid fertilizer.
Some have been mentioning a lack of flowers on their fruit trees. I just read an article that made me question if we are underfeeding our trees. It even mentioned giving them 0-10-10 more often than just fall. It is recommended to feed them in spring, again in June, and again in late summer. Maybe this will help. I have had a few people whose trees collapsed overnight, including a shade tree. This is usually a sign of root failure. Trees store enough starches and sugars in their trunks and branches to bloom and send out some leaves without needing functioning roots. Then, seemingly overnight, the tree dies. Roots of young fruit trees are full of sugars when dormant and can dissolve over winter. Other culprits include gophers, who are not visibly active in winter but can still cause serious damage.
Our roses are almost all budded and could be blooming for Mother’s Day. Usually, only a few are flowering in early May. They look good. We have been using Fungicide 5 on them for the second year, and I am really happy with the results. Yes, we have some aphids, but the last check says the ladybugs took care of most of them. I did get some blackspot on some of the old roses and did get out the copper for that. We do have some peach leaf curl (UGH!) on our fruiting and ornamental peaches, but considering our wet spring, it is better than expected. Last year, a customer turned us on to seaweed as a good fix for the curl once you have it. Copper can be hard on actively growing plants whose leaves have emerged. I used the Fungicide 5 on my nectarine and only have a few infected leaves.
Some of you have asked if the soil special is still happening. Yes, it is, but May is the last month, so stock up. We typically run it for three months- March, April, and May. It is good to see how many of you have added worm casting to your soil regimen. The nutrients in worm castings are in a form that plants can use immediately, as the soil has been broken down by a macroorganism. Fertilizer, unless sprayed on leaves for absorption that way, is not in a form plants can use until macro and micro-organisms in the soil break it down for them. This fact is a big shout-out to organic practices and also no-till methods of growing that keep your soil alive. Plants just do not thrive in dead soil. There is a saying. Feed the soil, not the plant.
Succulents are still popular, and we try to keep our succulent table in the back well stocked with Hens and Chicks, Echeverias, Sedums, and more. As some of you have discovered, some are not as cold-tolerant as others, and cold, wet soil in winter can also rot them if not well drained. Make sure you are aware of the cold tolerance of the variety you are buying and know you might need to protect it in winter. Most look best with a little protection from our hot summer afternoon sun and good drainage.
Our cutting grown Petunias are looking fabulous. These are varieties you can not find in 6-packs, and the colors are amazing. Many of our hanging baskets are filled with them, and we plan to have lots of baskets for Mother’s Day as they are always a favorite. Our gift certificates are always a good bet, too.
May Specials
20% Off
- Glazed Pottery
- Chitalpa trees
- Fruiting Mulberries
- Azaleas and Camellias
2 cf Organic Potting Soil
Buy 3, 4th Free
