October Newsletter

I am getting back into the swing of regular life after my big adventure. For those of you who do not know I took 4 weeks off to cross the big pond. My son and I started in Venice and ended in Istanbul.  The biggest chunk of our trip was in Croatia on the southern Dalmation Coast , the Island of Mljet and Plitvice National Park. We did lots of hiking and I just wanted to mention some of the native plant life.  In the Adriatic Sea region the coolest ting I saw was a shrub with reddish berries that was later identified as a type of pistache. There was plenty of Erica, Viburnum tinus, Arbutus unedo, and rockrose growing wild. A type of cyclamen was bloomong everywhere. There was a wild honeysuckle vine loaded with seed berries along with dried sea holly, a low growing green teucrium, euphorbias, shrub oaks and Aleppo Pines. I made a list of all the plants I recognized but alas I can not find it as I write this. Suffice to say there was more I recognized as plants we sell here at the nursery and it was very cool to see them in their natural habitat.

Fall is here and I should not have to remind everyone that a shrub, hardy perennial or tree planted now will be twice as big by next fall as the same thing planted next spring. We also start having sales on lots of things to sell this year’s stock so please take advantage of this prime planting time. This month starting October 5th we are offering 30% off all 4” and 1 gallon perennial ‘flowers’, all roses and deciduous fruit trees. (Limited to stock on hand.) In addition if we get our soil order we will offer the crowd pleasing Green-All Organic potting soil special of buy 3 and get the 4th free for one last time for the year.

If anyone is planning on planting bare-root fruit trees this winter and has anything in particular you want please have your order in by the end of October. Dave Wilson has the S.O.F.T. Program (special order fruit trees) where we only have to order one of a kind. Maybe you want an apple or a pear that I do not usually stock. Well here is your chance to get it but your deadline is Oct 31st.

Star Gardens is hosting a Big Read event here on October 12th. The big read this year is ‘The Joy Luck Club’ and we will be giving a presentation about some of the diverse plant life native to China. Mikki says she will serve tea and cookies too. All of you are welcome to show up. It starts at 1:00.

Bulbs for fall planting are here along with onions and garlic. We have a large selection of winter vegetable starts and the sooner you get them in the better they perform through the cold months ahead. I have reordered sweet pea seeds as I have already sold out of a few varieties. Now is the time to plant these thing. Do not miss out on a yard or pots full of daffodils and tulips next spring. They work great in containers and we have plenty of beautiful pansies to plant in those pots so you will have something to show as you are waiting for your bulbs to bloom. We have other bulbs like hyacinth, paperwhites, crocus and scilla. Iris rhizomes are here too.

October is prime time to start a lawn from seed or to overseed an existing lawn. It is a good month to apply 0-10-10 Bloom Food to your fruit trees and spring blooming shrubs like lilacs and quince. It is also time to feed your camellias, azaleas and rhodies if you have not already done so. Get the most out of your long blooming perennials and roses with a fall feeding and grooming. We still have several weeks before a killing frost if this year follows the last few years.

Happy Fall Gardening,
Tanya