It’s Time, It’s Time!!!
But What’s it Time For?
Our End of the Season Plant Sale!
20 % off of everything except the seasonal color plants
It’s Labor Day Weekend, school is starting, the growing season is starting to slide away and that means that it’s time for all of our trees, shrubs, fruit trees and fruit shrubs, herbs, perennials, fall vegetable starts and color pots that we have left to find new homes. And these plants are not the dregs left over from a hard summer’s non-care…NO!!!...we pride ourselves in taking care of any plants (or animals!) that are under our management. These plants have been watered, fertilized, dead headed, pruned as needed and otherwise maintained at a quality level. Ask us how we do it when you come in to check out what could work for you in your yard! We’re always happy to walk people through new ways to keep their plants healthy… One caveat: None of the new mums, fall asters and other fall color plants are included in the sale!!! No surprise there but it does need to be said ☺
The cool thing about this sale is that you can get almost the same biological value out of planting these plants this fall as you would have if you had planted them in the spring! We’ve taken excellent care of them so their roots and shoots are in great shape. They’ll spend a long fall and probably a mellow winter rooting in getting ready to shoot in the spring. A win-win for sure!
Now for a close up look at what’s still available:
Trees: we have three white barked birches (a classic, stately look), three weeping willows (excellent for that low, wet spot but do keep it away from septic systems!!), one Green Mountain sugar maple (excellent fall color – and maple syrup in 15 years or so!). There are also a couple of dogwoods and some small native trees like white oaks and black walnuts (more on them in the next newsletter – there’s a whole story around them!).
Shrubs: There are the classic rhodies and azaleas of course, but also a few Potentilla (have been in bloom all summer!), Weigelia (hummingbirds love the blooms), a couple of Aronia (chokeberries that are both a phenomenal native plant for pollinators and a berry shrub in the same league as elderberries for immune support), some Caryopteris (blue mist shrub that withstands drought and pollinators love for late season food), rugosa roses (the classic beach rose known for easy care), and a few others tucked in here and there…
Perennials: You’ll find Astilbes, Salvias, Veronicas, Echinaceas, Eupatoriums, Agastaches, Hibiscus and an entire array of native pollinator support plants like mountain mint, Phlox Jeanna (selected specifically for pollinator support in September!), Chelone, Tiarella, Lobelias, wood asters and more than I want to list! Check out the huge array of visitors we have on our variety of plants. We’re going to post some of them to Facebook so people can see them and maybe help us to identify them. I’m good with plants but not with the wide array of insects that we’re watching circle these plants! There are also a few shade plants left including some of my favorite ferns. You’ll find those plants behind the greenhouse in the shade house area.
Herbs: We still have a few thyme, rosemary, mint julep mint, sages, lemon balm etc. Also, some valerian and salad burnet (cucumber tasting leaves for salads or drinks – one of our staff couldn’t believe that it actually tasted like cucumber!!).
Fall vegetable starts: And speaking of cucumbers, we have late cukes, late summer squash (and both of these are looking EXCELLENT in biodegradable pots that you just sink into the ground), lettuce (4 kinds), cilantro, dill, parsley, chard, kale, collards, Chinese cabbage, Italian broccoli, dandelion, and callaloo (a green that was requested earlier and I wanted to try…). Several people have used these starter plants to replace tired window boxes with a fall productive plant and have mixed lettuces with the dill and cilantro for both effect and flavor – thought that was a really cool idea!
And now onto one my favorite groups – The Fruiting Trees and Shrubs! Although – actually – I like all the plants we have! All of these plants are behind the greenhouse walking down along the wall.
Here’s the list of what’s still available although there may not be many of any one species or cultivar left. We have apple (7 varieties), cherry, paw paw, peach (3 varieties), pear (2 varieties), persimmon and plum (2 varieties) trees. Then there are the blueberry, raspberry, honeyberry, strawberry, bush cherry, lingonberry, and cranberry bushes. And one vine – these hardy kiwis are vines but bred to produce at 6 ft instead of the standard 10’ and are self-fertile. We’ve sold out of the dwarf bananas but still have several gingers and figs for those interested in tropical fruits and we’re happy to walk you through how to manage them.
Let’s end our sales list with the Color Pots – those mixes of annuals that provide color on the corner of the deck or the front steps. We have several that are in excellent shape. They’ve been fertilized right along and, as long as you continue that support, they will provide color deep in to the fall – most likely mid-October – before a killing frost takes them out. Just what’s needed for that September event that you can flow the mums around. And these will last longer than the mums!!
Personally, I know mums are the color plant of the season but I’ve never been a huge fan. These mums really are from a hardy genetic base but only when planted in the spring (when NO ONE!! has them available) with plenty of time to develop an independent root system and then bloom at the appropriate time (the fall). The problem is that we try and plant them when they’re in full bloom and find them not to winter most of the time…A plant can either spend its energy rooting or flowering – almost never both!! They’re great for those quick color pops that we don’t expect long duration from though! If you do get one that you really like and want to try and keep it as a perennial -enjoy its bloom for most of the season but then shear it back and see if you can force the underlying rosette to form. That’s the part of the mum that’s actually going to winter over and you’ll be able to see it before winter really sets in. – Handy huh!!
Now – that’s enough about the sale plants…this is also the time of year to refresh lawns – or patch them! There’s a lot of skunk activity at the moment as they go after grubs and earthworms. Skunks LOVE grubs (high protein and fat – and aren’t you glad you’re not a skunk?!?!). If you can tolerate letting them do their job then they’ll do a better job than any chemical can. Skunks have a marvelous sensor pad on their front paws that allow them to sense any vibration in the ground. They only dig where there is active food! If you think that through then you’ll have an entirely new awareness of what’s happening in your yard and how much is going on below your feet that you’re not aware of! Very humbling ☺
Whichever way you decide to go after damage has occurred, you’ll need to rake out the area, apply a thin layer of compost or loam, starter fertilizer, grass seed and some kind of very light mulch. September is a GREAT time to sow grasses but the September sun and warmth can still dry out baby grass seedlings. The mulch helps to buffer that reality.
And now for the upcoming workshops and events:
September 7: 10:00-11:30am Houseplant Care and Re-potting. Houseplants are hot!!! And so incredibly critical to a healthy indoor living environment for the winter. We’ll go over how to safely bring all kinds of plants inside and either store or grow them for the winter and we’ll go over how to effectively pot on a favorite houseplant. Bring one (1) houseplant that you want to work on and we’ll go over each plant individually. $15.00/person plus the cost of potting mix and any pot needed for the repotting.
September 21: 10am – 3pm
Fall Festival at The Good Earth!
Join us as we celebrate Fall (and our 2nd anniversary!!)
And as part of the celebration – let’s talk about trees!
September 21: 1:00-2:30pm Looking at Trees of all kinds. There is HUGE pressure on our local tree ecosystems and there is so much more to adding trees to your landscape than the standard Bradford pears, crab apples, red maples etc.! There’s nothing wrong with those trees, but how about an edible forest? Or a pollinator/insect support forest edge plan? Or how about introducing hardwood seedstock trees to those damaged woodlots? Join us as we look at all things tree. FREE as part of our Fall Festival
October 5: 10:00-11:30am Fall Mineral Mixing. If you have a yard or garden then you probably know that gardens don’t always perform the way they’re supposed to. Most soils are damaged and are non-functional or intermittently functional. Poor nutrient cycling is inherent in how these damaged soils operate, but fall is THE time to fix this! Join us for a mineral mixing day at the store on we walk everyone through how to mix different minerals together to wake up and strengthen soil systems. $15.00/person plus the cost of the minerals you take with you.
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