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Caryopteris are deciduous shrubs in the verbena family.
They bloom mid-summer through fall, helping to add fresh color to your late season landscape. |
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Longwood Blue |
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Caryopteris are easy to grow in full sun and good drainage.
They are cold hardy and are a low-water selection.
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Summer Sorbet |
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Butterflies are attracted to them and deer are not!
If they don't die to the ground in winter, it is recommended to cut them back hard in early spring. |
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First Choice |
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Here are some of the varieties we have at the nursery:
Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Longwood Blue'
3 ft. x 3ft. with silvery foliage and sky blue flowers.
Caryopteris x clandonensis 'First Choice'
Grows more upright 3-4 ft. x 2-3 ft. wide. Flowers are indigo blue with green foliage.
Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Summer Sorbet'
This beauty has variegated, aromatic leaves, blue flowers and grows lower 18 in. x 18in. Quite lovely.
Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Dark Knight'
2 ft. x 2ft. with deep blue flowers and silvery foliage.
20% off regular price in August
1 gallon, 2 gallon and 5 gallon sizes!
August Specials
Plant of the Month
20% off regular price in July
1 gallon, 2 gallon and 5 gallon sizes!
Mole Max
10% off regular priced 10 lbs. bag of gopher repellant.
Digger Brand Root Guards
10% off regular priced 1 gallon, 5 gallon and 15 gallon sizes
Crape Myrtle
10% off shrub form
August
The nursery is flourishing, even in the heat. We are still adding mid to late season bloomers to the inventory. The Rose of Sharon's are beautiful, the Echinacea, Phlox and Black-Eyed Susans are in full bloom and the annual Vinca is loving our hot summer. Crape Myrtles are beginning to color and our selection is wonderful.
We recently got in 5 gal. bamboo plants, including the popular container variety Golden Goddess and the often requested Black Bamboo.
Tomatoes
One of the most frequently asked questions this time of year is "Why won't my tomatoes set fruit?" or "Why won't they ripen?"
Tomatoes set fruit in a narrow temperature range- usually the best production happens when night temperatures are in the 60 to 70 degree range, at least for part of the night. High day-time temperatures will also cause blossoms to fall off. Cobb actually has a better climate for growing tomatoes than I do here at the nursery. Their summer nights are warmer and their days are cooler. Just a few weeks ago I was getting low night-time temperatures in the 40's! Now that the night-time temperatures have risen, I am hoping to get some tomatoes to ripen. Of course the hot days we have had do not seem to help!
Too much water and too much nitrogen will grow a beautiful bush with no fruit :-(, especially in the first stage. Too much shade will also cause this.
Fall Planting
Now is the time to start thinking about the fall/winter garden. My seed supplier closes down in July to switch over to next years seeds. Look for the new order of cool season vegetable seeds around mid August, although I do have some in now. If you want to do your own starts of broccoli, cabbage, etc., this is the time to do so. Look for 6 pack starts in September. If you get your winter garden established before the cold comes, you can have fresh, home-grown veggies all winter!
Gophers
Pocket gophers are a problem and we get a lot of questions about how to control/eradicate them without using poison.
Gophers do not hibernate, although activity seems to be less in the winter months. This is probably because they begin breeding in February, and will be getting busy building their burrows. A gopher burrow usually covers a 20 ft. x 10 ft. area. They can have up to 5 litters a year, with anywhere from 2-10 young in each litter!!!
Traps- The easiest time to trap gophers is when they are excavating their burrow. The exit hole is left open as they are making frequent trips to the surface with dirt. Use cinch traps that are installed in the hole opening. It is recommended that you use the superior USA made variety. This sure beats trying to set traps in their runs. I found a great website www.gopherslimited.com that has lots of great information and how-to video clips.
Barriers- Gopher baskets are another way to avoid plant death. We sell Diggers brand at the nursery. They are made of ¾ inch galvanized steel. Buried aviary or chicken wire does not hold up under ground. One company called Napher is coming out with stainless steel baskets, giving new meaning to the "$10 plant, $100 hole" idea (Just kidding, I haven't priced them yet!)
The "gophers" website also has some great information about the proper way to lay down wire before installing a lawn. Although it is a lot of work, it can be worth it in the long run if gophers and moles are a big problem. The most important things to remember are to use the correct wire, and not to lay the sod directly on top of the wire. You will need a 1-2 inch layer of topsoil first. Too little and they will eat the roots to the wire, too much and they will be able to burrow over the wire.
Repellants- Sound repellants, or otherwise, are another way to go. I have not found the sonic varieties to work that well, but other people have. We sell Mole Max- a castor oil granule that works pretty well. The down side is you have to keep applying it. One company, Shake Away, makes a repellant from fox urine. If enough of you would like to try this product I will order it.
Predators- Cats, some varieties of dogs, and snakes can be effective gopher reducers. Don't have or want any of these? How about installing an owl box? Gophers often come to the surface at night to forage and are a favored food of owls. I read a family of barn owls can do in 1,000 gophers a year! Barn owls need open areas so this might not work for all, but other owls are not so particular. You can get more information on this at www.hungryowl.org which is the website for the Hungry Owl Project.
Please visit www.gopherslimited.com for links and more information.
Stay Cool,
Tanya
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