July

July 23, 2009

Welcome to MID-SUMMER!

No, it's not time to start thinking about autumn! It's time to remember that we have up to three more months to enjoy our gardens!  We buy annuals for your enjoyment all summer long - we just spiffed up our shade selection and added some ornamental kale and tropicals to our sunny choices. So if your containers need some revitalizing, or if you have some spots that need to be filled, there are lovely options available.

Next, please be patient with your tomatoes and peppers, it has not been terribly warm and they sure like it hot. Containers, as well as vegetable gardens often need a little fertilizer boost this time of year. Treat your plants to a taste of bat guano or another good quality organic fertilizer.

25% off - SALE on trees, shrubs, outdoor pottery and decor continues through mid-August. We have some great natives, tasty hazelnut, red-twigged dogwood, or a recent staff favorite, Comptonia Peregrina, aka Sweetfern. But is it a fern? No, it's:

• Not a fern, but a low, deciduous, rhizomatous shrub, 1'-4' tall
• Because it fixes nitrogen, does well on disturbed sites or sites with sterile soil. Drought and salt tolerant. Dry, sterile, sandy to rocky soils in pinelands or pine barrens, clearings, or edges of woodlots
• Fruit is edible.
• Sounds pretty good, especially if you are not fond of watering and fussing.

Perennials in color this week include: Coneflower, coreopsis, a fragrant true yellow day lily, a big bodacious yellow day lily, nepeta, a bright pink bee balm, butterfly bush, and some truly inspired sedum.

Mark your calendars for Monday August 3rd at 6 pm: Open Eye Figure Theatre's Driveway Tour will make a stop at the store to perform The Adventures of Katie Tomatie. It's a puppet show! Bring a blanket, pillow or lawn chair to sit on, some of your veggie garden bounty to swap (we'll donate any leftovers to Second Harvest). There is no charge but it's customary to pass the hat for the performers.

See you at the store - we'll list fall seminars in our next newsletter.