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(WARM WEATHER & SUNSHINE ARE ON THEIR WAY)
“Is it really spring?” This is the question most of us have been asking ourselves and others. “Yes, it is spring, folks!” I know the cool temperatures and the cloudy skies have been putting a gray cloak over spring this year but don’t despair. Let’s look on the bright side, shall we?! What are the advantages to the cooler, wet weather? Are there any? Of course, there are. Here goes, I am going to try and make you all feel a little bit better.
ADVANTAGES TO A COOL, CLOUDY SPRING:
Advantage #1: With clouds, comes the rain. We have had lots of rain. This is a good thing friends. We have been struggling with moderate droughts for 2 seasons now. The rain is bringing us super green lawns, deep root growth on all of our plants, and saving us some time when it comes to watering our outdoor pots.
Advantage #2: We may not have as big of a gypsy moth problem this year. For the last 2 years, gypsy moths have been devastating our big oaks and many more because our springs have been so dry. This year, the rain will hopefully kick up the NPV virus and naturally eliminate some of these voracious eaters.
Advantage #3: The prolonged, cool weather has extended our grass seed & sod laying time. Grass thrives at this temperature. The rain has helped tremendously with the establishment. Keep sowing that seed. You still have time.
Advantage #4: Planting trees, shrubs, roses, and perennials are ideal in this weather. The cool temperatures and rainy days will really help plants establish themselves before the hot weather sets in. Keep planting!
Advantage #5: The cooler temperatures make it so much easier to work in. You can actually plant and mulch and weed without breaking a sweat and getting dehydrated. Take advantage of these cool days.
Advantage #6: Critters, such as chipmunks and squirrels are a little slower to wreak havoc in our gardens. I know they are waking up but they are still a little slow. Now is the time to start putting repellents out before they get too crazy. Start training them now to stay away in the future.
Advantage #7: Insects are just coming awake. There have only been a few aphids and lily leaf beetle sightings. Be proactive and arm yourself with the appropriate insect controls. You could even spray your garden down with Horticultural Oil and eliminate a lot of insect problems before they even start.
Advantage #8: You have plenty of prep time. Prep your veggie garden with lime, compost, and even a little green sand. Wake up the soil and get it ready for those tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers.
Advantage #9: Everything is a little slower to bloom this year but when they do, they will delight our eyes. Now that is a treat worth waiting for.
Advantage #10: Without the cold and rainy days, it would be more difficult to appreciate the warm and sunny days.
Patience really is a good thing. We spend so much time racing around and we want everything right away. “Good things come to those who wait.” Maybe that is the lesson Mother Nature is trying to teach us this cool, cloudy, rainy spring.
Come see us at Van Wilgen’s, where so much is already in bloom. We would love to help!
All of us at Van Wilgen’s and Proven Winners know one thing for sure, a better garden starts with a better plant.
Healthy plants with strong root systems are the hallmark of a PW plant, and we know strong roots = strong plants. This week we will be showcasing Proven Winners plants in every part of the garden center. Our team members have compiled lists of their favorites that we know you should grow in your own yard. Listed below are our selections you can click on each plant name for video guides, plant guides, pictures, and more!
This week May 15-21 All Van Wilgen’s locations you can enter to win one of 10 Proven Winners Butterfly Pollinator Kit ( with purchase) – all winners will be notified by phone by 5/22
Kit includes Weigela ‘ My Monet ‘, Leucanthemum ‘Banana Creme’, Hemerocallis ‘Ruby Spider, Cuphea ‘ Vermillionaire’, Petunia ‘Vista Bubblegum’, Petunia’Vista Fuchsia’
Jason our Nursery Manager favorite PW Shrubs :
Will our Perennials Manager favorite PW perennials :
Darlene our Greenhouse Manager thinks these are the best PW plants for your containers, window boxes, and garden beds.
As urban gardening continues to trend, container gardens are popping up everywhere! Container gardens are perfect small-space solutions. Not only do they provide added appeal to your space, they also give you delicious food right at your fingertips. If you have limited space, or simply just want to add another element to your existing crop, grow these container plants on your patio this summer.
- Blueberries – These sweet summer fruits grow great in containers. Because blueberries are so small, you can get a big harvest with very little space. Blueberries love acidic soil, so check the pH level of your soil and add Espoma’s Holly-tone if necessary. Check out more on growing blueberries here.
- Tomatoes – With tons of varieties, there is a tomato for everyone. Some of our favorites to grow in containers include smaller varieties like grape or cherry tomatoes. These are easy to pick right off the vine and are perfect for gardening with kids. Learn more about growing tomatoes in our ultimate tomato-growing guide.
- Peppers – Like tomatoes, peppers come in many different shapes and sizes. Whether you’re looking to add some spice to your garden with jalapenos, or prefer milder bell peppers, these colorful veggies are a vibrant summer sight. Peppers love lots of direct sun, so plant these containers in a bright area.
- Zucchini – One of our favorite summer veggies, zucchini, is a bit larger than tomatoes and peppers and needs more room. Grow in a container with at least a five-gallon capacity with proper drainage. Use Espoma’s Garden-tone to get the most out of your zucchini plants. Like peppers, zucchini will thrive with 6-8 hours of sunlight, so plant in a sunny spot.
- Herbs – Because herbs are small, they are the perfect fit for any container garden. Kitchen staples such as rosemary, basil, and mint are great additions to any dish or even a refreshing summer drink. Grow herbs in Espoma’s Organic Potting Mix in containers inside or out.
If you have limited space, don’t let that discourage you! With the right containers and a little bit of planning, you can have a delicious summer harvest in no time.
We have a flock of overachieving flamingos that landed at Van Wilgen’s this week. In celebration of Mother’s Day, we would like to let everyone know that we have a huge batch of Flamingos available for sale. We will still have our Pink Weeks in June 12th-18th but since this flock landed early, why not show support for Mom and support a great cause. Even Major League Baseball gets into Mother’s say with pink apparel and equipment! We all know someone affected by cancer, and if you know the story of Bill Van Wilgen, you know he has been affected twice. Once with male breast cancer and once with Leukemia. In Bill fashion, he puts a positive spin on his experience and says “I got to meet so many nice people along the way”.
Come in and purchase a flamingo for $10 and the entire $10 will be donated to Smilow Cancer Hospital. We had a lot of fun last year and we are expecting to have even more this year. Come in and check out our flock of overachieving flamingos.
Last week I harvested the first round of asparagus from our garden. There is nothing better than food fresh from the garden but asparagus must be one of the best tasting fresh veggies. Perhaps it’s because of the Zen-like patience it takes to wait for your plants to get established enough to start producing “harvestable” amounts.
A good asparagus bed takes several years to hit its stride. Year one only takes a few shots, let most of them grow so they can work on growing roots, year 2 harvest only a little bit more. The greedier you are in the beginning, the longer it will take for the plants to get well-established roots. The wait must be what makes them taste so good. I think the biggest misconception about asparagus is that the thick shoots are not as tender or tasty, but in truth, there is no difference in deliciousness based on the diameter of the shoot.
When I lived and worked for a garden center in Oregon, my boss Jack, who I call my Oregon dad, had a 20′ by 100′ greenhouse dedicated to his asparagus beds. I learned a lot about plants from Jack, but I learned the most from him watching him grow food. I worked at the “farm” where all the annuals and perennials were grown for their stores and Jack’s house was in the center of acres and acres of greenhouses. His “garden” was just a few steps out of his back door, I use quotations because his “garden” was acres and consisted of a dedicated greenhouse of asparagus. And yes, acres with an “s”. He had it down to a science; what goes where, how many days each variety took to harvest and what varieties were his favorite. If you weren’t growing his favorite varieties, you weren’t doing it right. Often Jack and his wife Dee would invite me to lunch at the house and every time there were pounds of produce, berries, etc. ready to be cooked, baked into something delicious, or processed. Always extra to put away for winter. On the days I had lunch at the house, at precisely 12:30, Jack would grab me and we would walk through the asparagus greenhouse; “grab that knife kid” in his distinctive voice that I will never forget. He had 2 knives stabbed into the wood of the greenhouse doorway, they weren’t very sharp and they looked 20 years old, probably about the same age as the asparagus beds. It doesn’t take much to cut the tender asparagus and I can just imagine those knives must have harvested tens of thousands of shoots. As we harvested, I didn’t have the heart to tell Jack that I didn’t like asparagus or that I thought I didn’t like asparagus. I did what he told me, helped cook lunch and if you know Jack, there is no way I could say “no” when my plate came. Turns out, maybe the freshness or the experience changed me but I did like the asparagus.
Now I can’t wait to see those shoots pop up in our garden. I ate a few shoots raw right out of the ground, so crisp and tasty. We made a little pasta primavera with peas, parmesan, and asparagus with our first bunch and I’m looking forward to more so I can grill them! Mmm, a little salt, pepper, and olive oil, then throw them on the grill. Helpful hint: If you have a grilling basket, it makes it a lot easier so you aren’t losing precious shoots between the grates.
Ryan Van Wilgen
We have the perfect little plant for Mothers’s Day. Spread the love with our ‘Queen of Hearts’! Take a close look and you’ll see there are five striking red hearts on each bloom. Blooming from early spring until late autumn, this spectacular petunia will perform its heart out in pots, baskets, and mixed containers. We have paired this sweet petunia with an I Love Mom cover pot, which makes the perfect gift. ‘Queen of Hearts’ has a semi-trailing habit that will transform your patio or terrace into a colorful summer haven.
Give the Mom in your life a flower that says it all with hearts. Queen of hearts petunia will surely make any Mom’s heart smile.
Darlene Granese, Greenhouse Manager
Forget the thermometer, you know when the warm weather’s coming when you see the return of the
hummingbirds! They’ve been spotted already in Connecticut gardens!
Hummingbirds are incredibly smart, little birds. To attract these little birds, here are a few ideas and a few suggestions. These birds are capable of navigating great distances and are clever enough to
return to their previous summer’s feeding grounds. Their diet is basically nectar and small insects, with flower nectar their preference. Hummingbird feeders are great for photo ops but not a true substitute
for nectar-rich flowers. Planting a yard full of their favorite nectar-rich plants is the best way to get started. Below are three great annual picks that hummingbirds love.
Salvia guarnanitica ‘Black and Blue’ is a fabulous summer performer for full sun and an excellent hummingbird magnet. 2 to 3′ tall spires of rich, cobalt blue flowers begin in May and continue until October. This salvia dispels the myth that hummingbirds only frequent red flowers. Yes, these little birds are attracted to reds but forage from countless other colors too.
Cuphea ‘Vermillionaire’ or the “cigar” or “firecracker” plant is another great choice. Orange, tubular flowers (the cigars) cover the bushy plants starting in summer and continue until frost. Cigar plants have hundreds of flowers and are nectar-rich. More flowers mean more visits. This annual can be used as a bedding plant or in containers. Also expect to see Cupheas attracting butterflies.
Fuchsias, in their many different forms, are a great addition to the garden and great hummingbird magnets! Hanging baskets filled with Fuchsias are perfect for shady gardens and upright Fuchsias work great in window boxes. Hummingbirds love the pendant flowers and bird lovers love the eye-level show right outside their windows. Fuchsias also show that hummingbirds frequent more than just tube-shaped flowers.
All three of these annual picks are easy to grow. Of course, hummingbirds love many other picks! Visit us in our greenhouses and we can share even more great selections with you.
You know the sun hasn’t come out in a while when you start finding Crawfish walking around the bulk yard! This little guy, who we’ve nicknamed “Carl the Crayfish” was encountered by Dan and Jason last Thursday. This mini lobster look-alike had all curious, so with a little internet research, we’ve found out that there are actually 7 different species of these guys who live in CT. They are not only reserved for the bayou. Carl and his relatives can survive up here but only if the body of water doesn’t freeze to the bottom and only if the body of water is very clean/no pollution with lots of aeration. I guess this Pacific Norwest-like weather has more than just the ducks happy. Trust me, this feels exactly like Oregon, I lived through it out there!
Without the sun poking out for what seems like weeks now and the constant drizzle, Carl the Crayfish was able to get out of the river for an afternoon stroll. Little did Carl know he would end up know starring face to boots with Dan and Jason. He puffed himself up and opened his claws ready to attack. The picture immediately makes me laugh thinking of the scene in Finding Nemo when the Australian crabs start snapping their claws and barking “hey, hey, hey” whenever anything gets close to them.
Someone once told me a day that goes by where you did not learn something is a day wasted. Last Thursday was certainly not wasted, we learned a lot about crawfish, crayfish, crawdads, or Carl, whatever you would like to call them.
Ryan Van Wilgen
May has finally arrived, and many of us are very eager to get our gardens started. While I would love to tell you to plant away, I need to ask you to be patient.
Did you know that during the month of May the nighttime temperatures are only in the 50’s a third of the time, but waiting until June it jumps to 80 percent of the time?
This is very important when it comes to your vegetable garden and your warm-weather vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and cucumbers to name a few. So, don’t rush you can plant most tomatoes as late as July 1 st, but don’t worry you won’t have to wait that long.
Warm weather veggies need nighttime temperatures to be at a consistent 50 degrees, and the soil temperature at 60 degrees. A very easy way to tell soil temperature is to take your index finger and stick it all the way into the soil, if you can’t leave it there comfortably for a full minute you will not want to put your vegetables in that soil.
If you plant before the ideal time your plant will not be happy, you are not doing it or yourself any favors the plant will not grow any faster because you planted it early. It will in fact not grow at all until that soil temperature reaches 60 degrees, and it can also cause you to cut your vegetable yield in half.
If you just can’t wait to buy your favorites make sure you protect them from any cold nights we have ahead of us, remember May can be very unpredictable so pay attention to your nighttime temperatures until that last chance of frost is finally behind us.
Darlene Granese, Greenhouse Manager
“AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE”
(TICK CONTROL IS NO JOKE)
Ticks are no joke. Ticks are one arachnid that no one should mess around with. The diseases that they carry and transfer to humans and pets are serious. There is even a new disease caused by ticks known as Powassan. Right now there is no cure for this and the long-term effects can be devastating. The control we take over ticks needs to be serious. Don’t wait till the infestation becomes so big that you are pulling 10 or more ticks off your dog at one time. Start now. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”
You can tackle tick control on your own if you follow a good DIY program. Here is what I recommend for the best tick control program in your own yard:
- Keep long vegetative areas mowed or weed-whacked down.
- Clean out all garden beds of leaves.
*Long, weedy, grassy, wet areas are breeding grounds for ticks.*
- Apply a liquid insect control on all the perimeters of your property and into the garden beds. It is best applied where the manicured part of your yard meets the un-manicured part. Using a liquid, hose-end, applicator such as Eight by Bonide(conventional) or EcoSmart Mosquito & Tick Control(organic) will make application easy. The liquid insect control knocks ticks down quicker than the granular.
- Apply granular insect control all over the lawn. Sevin(conventional), Bonide(Insect & Grub Control(conventional), or EcoSmart Granular Insect Killer are all excellent choices for all-over lawn treatment. They do not provide as quick of a tick knockdown but they do have a longer residual of control.
- Apply a repellent to your own clothing. Nantucket Spider Extra Strength Tick Control(natural) and Repel Clothing & Gear Repellent(conventional) work really well to protect you from ticks crawling onto your body. Read the label. It is important when using Repel to use properly. Repel would be great for campers. It can be sprayed on hiking boots and camping gear. This would give you an extra level of protection.
- Reapply liquid and granular control monthly. In the cool spring, when ticks are most actively breeding, you may need to reapply the liquid, quick knockdown product every 2 weeks. It depends on the tick pressure in your yard.
*Ticks do not like the heat. Although they are around in the summer, they are not as prolific and treatment is not as crucial. Ticks resurge at the end of summer when temperatures begin to cool off again. September or October treat
- Check pets, kids, and yourself nightly. The new tick disease is passed very quickly into the body so quick removal is best.
- Don’t freak out. DIY tick control is very possible. You can really get good control over ticks with these simple methods and the right product choices.
Remember, don’t delay treatment. The sooner the better. Ticks are really no joke!
Come see us at Van Wilgen’s. We would love to help!
SHOPPING LIST:
*Eight by Bonide
*EcoSmart Mosquito & Tick Control
*Sevin
*Bonide Insect & Grub Control
*EcoSmart Granular Insect Killer
*Nantucket Spider Extra Strength Tick Control
*Repel