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grEen News from Smithfield Gardens October 2008
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Dear Fellow Gardener,
We realize that with financial times being what they are, and with the constant distraction of political ads - many of you may not have your mind on gardening. We would like to change that this coming weekend Oct 4th and 5th with our annual Fall Festival. For the budget conscious we will be having lots of items on sale, both advertised and unadvertised. For free entertainment we will be having two classes on Saturday and one on Sunday, and you can follow the link below to register on-line. The good people at Bon Vivant Market will let you vote early for your favorite vintage at their wine tasting on Saturday from 12-5 p.m. You can sample 4 varieties for only $5.00.
On Saturday our friends next door at Governor's Pointe will be holding their Fall In Love With Virginia Market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This will be a showcase for handmade, homegrown fresh goods from the Old Dominion. You can shop and stroll while hearing live music, and we have heard that you will be safe from pollsters.
Back at our store you can visit with some of our regular Fall Festival guests including the Moonlight Beekeeper. The Isle of Wight Humane Society will be here as well selling BBQ and baked goods and trying to find puppies and kittens a good home. There will also be opportunities to win some great door prizes. If you would like to save even more money, stop by the week before the festival to pick up a coupon sheet good for those two days.
We certainly hope to see you soon!
Your friends at Smithfield Gardens. | |
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Upcoming Events and Classes at Smithfield Gardens
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October 4th & 5th (Sat.& Sun.), Smithfield Gardens Annual Fall Festival Please read the above paragraphs for more information, or feel free to call us at 238-2511
October 4th (Sat.), 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. "Beauty From Bulbs" This class will teach you what you need to know to get beautiful spring bulbs to bloom in your garden (taught by Margie Cooper).
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October 4th (Sat.), 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. "Basic Home Landscape Design"
This class will introduce you to important considerations you need to make before starting a new garden or enhancing an old one (taught by Jeff Williamson).
October 5th (Sun.), 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. "Great Trees for Tidewater"
Come here which trees do best in this area, from small ornamentals to giant shade casters (taught by Les Parks).
October 11th (Sat.), 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. "Home Landscape - Beyond Basics" You can consider this the next step after our "Basic Home Landscape Design". Bring your pictures and your ideas and be prepared to start transforming your landscape. This hands-on class is limited to 12 people (taught by Jeff Williamson).
October 18th (Sat.), 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. "Frequently Asked Gardening Questions" Have you ever wondered what other gardeners most common concerns are? Come here the answers to these most often asked questions (taught by several of us).
October 19th (Sat.), 2:00 - 3:30p.m. "Rebloomers - The Best of Daylilies, Iris and Encore Azaleas" Plant breeders are increasingly trying to get plants to bloom more than once a year, and this class will tell you about three successful efforts (taught by Les Parks and April Riley)
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Register for classes
Other Events:
October 4th (Sat), 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. "Fall in Love with Virginia Market" at the shops of Governor's Pointe. See the opening letter for more details.
October 8th (Wed), 9:30 a.m. "The Freedom Lawn is for the B's: Honeybees, Ladybugs and the Chesapeake Bay" Russell Memorial Library, 2808 Taylor Rd. Chesapeake, Registration Required, please call 410-7016
October 8th (Wed), 10:00 a.m. "Bulbs as Companion Plants in Four Seasons" by noted local bulb experts - Brent and Becky Heath, sponsored by the Virginia Beach Council of Garden Clubs, Virginia Beach Central Library, 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd., $10.00, please call 422-2612
November 1st (Sat) 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Camellia Show and Plant Sale, hosted by the Virginia Camellia Society at Baker Hall, Norfolk Botanical Gardens, please visit www.vacamelliasociety.org for more details | |
Thinking of Spring in Fall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Well, it's October in the garden center and we all know that means it's spring in my office. As crazy as it sounds I have just finished buying product for spring of 2009. Lots of hard work goes into getting our garden center ready for spring and purchasing decisions are made at this time of year. Already I have been to Atlantic City (no, not to play the slots) and Baltimore where large trade shows allow me to see new products, innovative tools, and stylish outdoor living items. There are many new trends in our industry this year so I thought you might like a preview.
Earth-friendly Organics - Probably the largest trend this year - everyone wants to prevent global warming and recycle as much as they can. Many companies are stepping up to the plate and acting in a responsible manner by rethinking the use of petroleum-based materials and substituting these with recyclable materials wherever possible. We will be getting in weed cloth made of paper, rice hulls and corn by products. There is also a line of recyclable decorative pots for the home, and Scotts has a new line of organic pesticides meant to kill pests quickly by organic means. Also look for many more products that contain mycorise fungi, which provide a head start on transplanting and overall plant health.
Outdoor Living - Huge trend! Everyone wants to be on vacation at home and what better way than to create a vacation destination in your own backyard. We will be getting several sets of outdoor furniture again this year. There will be wicker, wood, and metal. Look for a new and unique display of arbors and gazebos.
Container Gardening - There seems to be no end to the interest in this category. Everyone loves it. New pots this year with great color, glazes, and popular shapes, unique fiberglass, and log look forms. Also new potting soils to fill them (organic)! New pot trellises in several unique shapes.
Individualizing the Garden - Making your gardening experience as individual as you are with colorized watering wands, sprinklers and hoses, but it doesn't stop there. How about yellow, red, and blue tomato cages? Hawaiian print kneeler pads? Top end tools that look like they came from an English potting shed? Six different colors of our favorite glove (the Atlas 370)? Yard stakes in the forms of fish, ducks, or gazing globes.
I hope I haven't given away too much information, at lease it may whet your appetite for spring! Please, come to the garden center anytime if you have questions about what we have coming in this spring. We're here with the answers - see you soon!
Margie Cooper
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Native Beauties - American Beautyberry
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 Among gardeners, you can get into some pretty opinionated discussions about color. After all, color can be a very personal choice. I prefer bold colors myself, and one of my favorites is purple. Fortunately there are lots of plants that have purple flowers to indulge my preference. However, one of my favorite purples does not come from flowers, but from fruit. I am talking about one of our easiest to grow natives, American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana).
American Beautyberry can grow 3' to 10' tall by about the same width, although it usually stays closer to 6'. They will grow in full sun to a fair amount of shade, but the more sun you give them the more berries you will get. Although it is a tough plant, it will really appreciate its roots staying moist. In mid summer the plants will bloom with clusters of small, pale lavender flowers and although they are not unattractive, they are not very noticeable. The real show begins in September and October when the fruits begin to ripen. Their characteristic color can best described as a glossy crayon-box-purple. These will last until about December or until the mockingbirds and robins find them. Beautybush blooms and fruits on new wood, so every other year or so it will need to be severely pruned to about 1' from the ground.
If you are one of those people who prefer less vivid colors, some of the Asian Beautyberries can be more lavender. I find these varieties to have smaller berries but there tend to be more of them. Both the American and the Asian species have selections with white fruit. I don't care for these forms as much, not because of an aversion to white, but because they tend to turn brown before they fall off. No matter what species you pick, fall color tends to be the same - a pale yellow. On its own this color would be unremarkable, but it does contrast nicely with the purple fruit.
 Because of its somewhat wild and unkempt habit, I would put American Beautyberry at the back of the border or along the edge of the woods. You could also pair it with evergreens that have a more tidy appearance. There are many plants whose colors would work well with Beautyberry such as Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha), New England Asters or some of the hardy Chrysanthemums. One other thing you may want to consider in planting an American Beautyberry is that it repels mosquitoes. That fact alone makes this native worth planting, no matter what color the berries are. I hope that I have piqued your interest and that you may want to try this plant. Perhaps it will cause you to cross over to the bolder side of the color wheel.
Les Parks
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October is Perfect for Pansies
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 Though you started seeing pansy cell packs around the big box stores last month, October is an ideal time to plant these long-blooming cool season annuals. I recommend purchasing the largest size pots of pansies you can afford so that you'll get "instant gratification". Pairing them with some other cool season plants like ornamental cabbage and kale, 'Bright Lights' Swiss chard, delicate- textured parsley and 'Red Giant' mustard will yield some very attractive combinations to brighten the dreary days ahead. I can also recommend the addition of colorful evergreen Heucheras (oh, those peaches, limes and near-blacks!) to pansy planting schemes. Remember that these companion plants for pansies will provide additional foliage colors and textures ---all things that make the end result more interesting.
If you have not had great success with pansies in the past perhaps the trouble can be traced to a lack of sun and/or inadequate fertilization. I learned this lesson firsthand when I moved to Virginia from New York (an area where pansies bloom all summer, by the way). Without high light conditions you will not get many flowers and the plants will become leggy. Happy pansies will continue blooming until next June, so it's worth giving them what they crave. At this time of the year we also suggest planting 6" pansies because they provide instant impact and the larger root systems help the plants establish quickly.
When you shop for pansies you'll find flower sizes ranging from tiny Johnny-Jump-Ups to the very large-flowered Magestic Giant series, where each blossom may be as large as the palm of your hand. Recently introduced Panolas are hybrids between pansies and violas, and I can report that what they lack in flower size is more than made up for in the number of blooms. I have grown the Pandora's Box mix in containers and I was very impressed. See how lovely the Pandora's Box is in this photograph? The accompanying ivy's pink tones are repeated in the pansy flowers for a wonderful color echo.
When it comes to pansy colors everyone has their favorites-and they aren't shy about making suggestions to others! Some customers want bright cheery "faces" on their pansies while others are drawn to the soothing solid colors. Some employee favorites for the solid category are Delta mix---rose, pure white, bright yellow and a wonderful blue. Jeff, our "Do-It-Yourself" landscape designer likes to mix this solid blue with both the Antique and Copperfield blends. (Mixes or blends will often have two or three different colors in a 6" pot which makes them great for getting a wide variety of colors in a small spot, like a container.) Jeff is also fond of the Delta bright solid yellow with the Copperfield mix. JoEllen, our Retail General Manager, sings the praises of Ultima Morpho (a lovely blue and yellow combination in each flower) because of the beautiful flowers but also because of its performance in the landscape. Several employees have also fallen in love with this award-winning pansy that is named after an endangered butterfly. If you are partial to pastel colors, you might want to look for the following mixes: Cotton Candy, Watercolors and Antique Shades.
Remember that deer and rabbits are quite fond of pansy flowers too, but garden centers can help you with products like Liquid Fence. This has to be sprayed on the plants monthly, but trust us, this one works! JoEllen has used it in her garden in Smithfield for years. Because pansies perform their best with fertilizer we suggest Espoma Flower-tone or Ferti-lome Premium Pansy Food. Give your pansies lots of sun, apply these fertilizers monthly and keep the spent flowers picked off, and we predict that you, too, will be singing the praises of these cheerful bloomers.
Ann Weber
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