I don’t know about you guys but this is a smack in the weather-reality face. We have been experiencing such a mild winter and spring-like temperatures but then bitterly cold days and now SNOW! There is one good thing about snow, it is a natural insulator. Any plants that have started to break dormancy will have a nice blanket to protect them. My dad always says March snow is like the poor farmer’s fertilizer. The ground has a chance of slowly soaking up the nitrogen and micronutrients that the snow grabs on its way down from the atmosphere. That’s the upside! My daughter Nora has especially been loving the warmer weather, she has been going to the park almost every day. So what do you do with a very active toddler when it is too cold or snowy to head to the park? Well if you are Nora, you get to run your heart out in the greenhouse! My wife and I bring her to the garden center and set her loose. She loves to run around being “chased” by mommy and daddy. Nora has also made friends with our greenhouse manager Darlene who lets her feed the Koi fish. Nora had a funny little surprise hiding in among the pottery this weekend, a chipmunk! It was so hilarious watching Nora trying to find the chipmunk as it ran from one stack of pottery to the next, Nora even laid face-first right on the floor looking under benches. The chipmunk snuck back outside- much to Nora’s disappointment! ‘Where chipmunk go?’ was the question of the day. One thing is for sure in the Van Wilgen house, we are all ready for spring to sweep in for real! If you are like us and looking to get out of the house, we have planned a fun-filled weekend for everyone, no matter what the weather! See you this weekend!

As for our special guest…

Dr. Allan Armitage will be joining us for our Perennial Rose Rally! Allan wrote the handbook for

perennials and is full of useful plant knowledge. The VW team sat in on a talk with Allan last fall and we enjoyed it very much. Anyone from the beginner to even the most perennial gardener will get a plethora of great information and no shortage of stories. So for the clues, Allan worked at the University of Georgia alongside Dr. Dirr. It is pretty amazing that 2 huge horticulturalists worked on the same campus. Two, if you have seen me in person or in a photo, I almost always have my signature hat on. Three, I grew up in Canada and received my B.S. in science from McGill University, as they say or just maybe just Dr. A says, the Harvard of the north. We are very excited for June 3rd!

What is a Freshtival?

Well, to us it’s a weekend full of fun, food, and planting. It’s how we celebrate our community and the arrival of Spring. Live music, great food, and fun for the whole family.

Just like years past our favorite food trucks will be here all weekend long. Van Wilgen’s greenhouse will be alive with plants & demo gardens. If you’re like us and want to get your hands dirty we have 3 fun workshops planned.

Ready to start talking about your garden? Saturday, March 18th Kerry Ann Mendez award-winning author, speaker, and garden designer, will be giving a presentation Spectacular Plants for High Impact, Low Maintenance Gardens Kerry Ann is a ‘passionate perennials with over 25 years of hands-on experience. As a consultant, designer, and teacher, she specializes in low-maintenance, sustainable garden and landscape design, incorporating perennials, ornamental grasses, flowering shrubs, bulbs, and no-fuss annuals.

Our Kids Klub is also throwing a big party this weekend with FRESHkids! All weekend long kids will get to hang out with baby animals, play some games, make a craft and plant some lettuce with Mom & Dad. Fun for the whole family!

The Van Wilgen Kitchen will host our favorite Chefs, right next to our Beer Garden celebrating local breweries and wine with tastings. Visit our Kitchen to see :

3/18 AT 11 am GUILFORD MOORING

3/18 AT 1 PM THE STAND BRANFORD

3/18 AT 215 PM CASEUS

3/19 AT 11AM BILL VAN WILGEN

3/19 AT 1 PM OLD QUARRY OLIVE OIL & SAM & OLIVER

In our Beer Garden we will host tastings with:

J Edwards Winery, Black Hog Brewing, Thimble Island Brewery, Stony Creek Brewery, and Duvig Brewery.

All details can be found here. We also have a printable schedule here!

See you this weekend in the greenhouse!

St. Patrick’s Day is a good time to think about greening things up in the yard.

If green is the color of good luck shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to green up our lawns and gardens this year?! Who couldn’t use an extra bit of good luck?! Let’s think green. Let’s make our lawns and gardens happy, healthy, vibrant, and thriving green machines this spring. How do we do this? With 3 lucky charms…good soil, good food, and a good drink.

Lucky Charm #1 = Good Soil:

*pH is important to good soil. If it is too high, crops like potatoes will suffer. Too low, and your lawn will not be very green at all. Come to Van Wilgen’s and I can test it for free or head to the CT Agriculture Station for more comprehensive testing. I will tell you just how much Lime or Soil Acidifier your soil needs.

*Nutrients help your plants thrive. Incorporate a good compost into your exiting soil. Use Van Wilgen’s Premium Planting Mix for anything new you are going to plant this year or mix in a little Fafard Garden Manure Blend into your veggie garden. A little compost will give any crop a lot of good luck.

*Aeration will really give plant roots luck. If soil is compact, plants cannot thrive. Alleviate compaction by tilling up soil and adding amendments such as Peat Moss, Gypsum, and Green Sand. Don’t underestimate the bad luck of compact soil.

Lucky Charm #2 = Good Food:

*Fertilizer is crucial to producing green, healthy plants. We can help you pick the perfect fertilizer for every plant. Plants are big eaters. Don’t just feed them an appetizer. They want the whole St. Patrick’s Day feast. Trees and shrubs are hankering for some Espoma Plan-Tone and Holly-Tone. Perennial flowers would be so satisfied with some Van Wilgen’s All Purpose Slow Release Plant Food. Veggie gardens are hungry all the time. Feed them for plenty of good luck.

*Fertilizer for new plants is key to lucky establishment. Use Van Wilgen’s Jump Start or Root Boost for every new plant you put in the ground.

Lucky Charm #3 = A Good Drink:

*Water. Water brings luck to everyone and every plant. Make sure that is a moderate drought hits CT again this year, give your plants a good drink. The more they have to drink, the greener they will be!

For an extra good luck charm fuse Iron. Iron is the key to greening up the yellowest of plants naturally and stress free. Use it on everything. Encap’s Fast Acting Iron or Espoma’s Iron Tone are my favorite good luck charms for the lawn and garden this year!

SHOPPING LIST:

*Lime

*VW’s Premium Planting Mix

*Fafard Garden Manure

*Encap’s or Espoma’s Garden Gypsum

*Espoma’s Green Sand

*Espoma’s Plant or Holly Tone

*VW’s All Purpose Slow Release Plant Food

*VW’s Jump Start or Root Boost

Did you know that Houseplants can turn carbon dioxide into oxygen? According to NASA, they also remove Airborne Volatile Organic Chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene. These chemicals are commonly found in things like detergent, paints, and tobacco smoke. Plants also have the ability to increase humidity levels inside, provide you with a less stressful, happier, and greener environment. NASA recommends at least one plant per 100 square feet of living or office space for efficient air cleaning. Some of our favorites include sansevieria, spathiphyllum, areca palm, bromeliads, and golden pothos.

Our Glasshouse is an oasis all year long, bringing you colorful plants for all the seasons. Our team is eager to help you find the perfect plants for your home. Curious about which plants will grow best in your light conditions? We’re here to help just ask, success grows here.

Is spring coming early this year?

Am I jumping the gun by changing the words to an old rhyme?! It doesn’t quite feel like I am. We have had a mild winter and the warm weather makes me feel like spring is already here. What does this mean? It means, all of us gardeners and people who just like to be outdoors, don’t have to chomp at the bit anymore. Let’s get going. Let’s open up those garden sheds and start shaking those tools up a bit. There is so much fun work to be done!

Where to begin…? Which tool to start with…? I know….

*Rake: Get the rake out and start raking. Clean out those garden beds and clean up that lawn. Start with a nice, clean slate.

*Cultivator: Use this sharp pronged tool to help you pull out some of those unwanted weeds that are sprouting up. The sooner the better.

*Shovel: Dig up a few soil samples from your lawn and garden and bring them in for me to test the pH level. The proper pH level is key for a successful lawn, veggie garden, and perennial bed.

What products do I need now…?

*Preen: After you spend all that time raking up the garden beds, apply Preen to help keep those pesky weeds at bay all season long. Don’t do all that hard work for nothing!

*Lime: The snow has melted and the lawn & veggie garden needs some sweetening up. It takes a while to raise the pH of your soil, so get going now. Please.

*Fertilizer: Get ready. Lawns, trees, and shrubs can wait a little bit longer but as soon as those yellow Forsythias start to pop, it is time. Usually, the Forsythia start showing off in April but I have a hunch they will start to show yellow earlier than that.

I don’t want you to feel rushed. I just want you to be prepared. If you need a little inspiration, come to Van Wilgen’s and get yourself a little treat. We have happy pansy faces of every color and they can handle the temperatures down to 28 degrees. If they don’t get you in the mood for spring, I do not know what will.

Come see us at Van Wilgen’s. We would love to help!

Your Shopping List: Preen, Fast Acting Lime by Encap, and Espoma’s Plant Tone

You just can’t help but smile and believe spring is just around the corner when you walk into the garden center this week.

The colors of all the pansies definitely brighten any day. Our front patio along with the greenhouse is alive with colors of spring.

With the pansies’ arrival and the spring-like weather, I decided it would be a great time to plant up our display pots. It was so nice to get my hands in the dirt again! While planting, many customers stopped by to chat about what I was doing. The number one comment by far was, “Isn’t it too early to be planting the pansies?” Of course, my answer was NO. Pansies are not only pretty, but they are also one tough little plant. Did you know that pansies like it chilly and can handle temperatures as low as 28 degrees? This is what makes them the perfect spring plant in Connecticut.

Whether planting in a cute spring pot, or in a border garden, the pansy is sure to put a smile on your face and brighten your day.

Like pansies, we all want to think and feel Spring!

Darlene Granese

Every year at Van Wilgen’s customers bring me to plant samples in little, plastic baggies. When I see those plastic baggies, I run and hide in the back room. I’m just teasing. I am always curious to see what is lurking inside. Many of those baggies contain some kind of insect, weed, or disease. How come nobody brings me chocolate chip cookies or bouquets of flowers?! Teasing again.

This year, most of the baggies contain very unhappy pachysandra samples. What happened to our poor pachysandra over the winter? The winter seemed mild enough but our pachysandra is coming out of it looking pale, thin, and spotty. What is going on? There are a few culprits that could be adversely affecting your poor pachysandra.

POSSIBLE SIGNS OF WINTER INJURY:

• Yellowing, especially if in the full sun
• Brown scorching on the edges of the leaves, making them appear papery & torn
• Lack of vigor

POSSIBLE SIGNS OF VOLUTELLA BLIGHT:

• Dark brown & light tan concentric rings on the leaves with a dark brown margin
• Entire leaf may turn brown
• Brown cankers can develop on the stems as the disease progresses
• Leaf loss
• Laying down of plants
• Thinning of plants
• Dying off in circular patterns

SIGNS OF EUONYMUS SCALE:

• Oblong, white, or brown flecks on the stems
• Mottled yellowish & green top leaves
• Loss of leaves if the scale is severe
• Plant die-off

CURE:

Use Bonide’s Horticultural Oil Spray in the spring, summer & fall. This will help suffocate any scale insects on your pachysandra. Combine with Bayer All-in-One Rose & Flower Care by Bayer every 6 weeks throughout the growing season.

SIGNS OF TWO SPOTTED SPIDER MITE:

• Chlorotic/pale leaves
• Stippled/dotted leaves
• Very light cob webbing on undersides of leaves
• Leaf loss is spider mites are severe

CURE:

Use Bonide’s Horticultural Oil Spray on an as need basis at 1-week intervals between sprays.

There are many reasons your pachysandra may not be looking so hot this season but let’s focus on VOLUTELLA BLIGHT. This has been a very troublesome disease this spring for our poor pachysandra beds. Many customers have brought in baggies full of sad pachysandra infected with the Volutella fungus. There are some definite things you can do to improve the health and look of your pachysandra.

STEPS TO HELPING YOUR PACHYSANDRA RECOVER FROM VOLUTELLA BLIGHT:

• Rake out all leaf and plant debris that has built up in your pachysandra beds. Improving air circulation & reducing moisture is key to reducing disease activity.
• If you would like to replant in that area, remove all pachysandra manually or apply Glyphosate to kill plants down to the root system.
• If replanting in the pachysandra bed, choose a different plant that is not vulnerable to Volutella Blight.
• If you would like to revitalize affected pachysandra, cut all pachysandra down to 1 inch tall.
• Fertilize pachysandra with Holly-Tone using 15 cups per 10’ X 10’ area.
• Water in the Holly-Tone.
• Apply Daconil Fungicide beginning at spring bud break. You will need 3 applications at 10-day intervals.
• The organic fungicide of choice is Serenade. Apply 3 X’s, beginning at spring bud break, at 1-week intervals.
• Keep pachysandra beds cleaned out of leaf debris always.
• When watering pachysandra, avoid overhead irrigation. Soaker hoses work best.
• Keep your fingers crossed and talk sweetly to your pachysandra to encourage growth.
• One extra trick to improve ailing pachysandra is Iron-Tone. Iron adds a quick green-up, helping to restore pachysandra’s beauty.

This is a very puzzling pachysandra problem (say that 10 X’s fast) we are having this year. There are steps you can take to greatly improve the health of this struggling ground cover. Keep bringing your little baggies of goodies to me and we will do our best to find a solution to the problem lurking inside.

Come see us at Van Wilgen’s. We would love to help!