News from Otten Bros. Garden Center & Landscaping

I have found that gardening is a great ice breaker. (It's a close 2nd to chatting about the weather) There is a lot of pride that goes into gardening. I could easily spend the entire day in the garden center listening to customers share their gardening successes, tout their favorite plants, and explain what they learned from some of their failures.

Our employees are no different than our customers. Mary, Queen Bee of our annual department for the last 20 years, has a list a mile long on the varieties of tomatoes she grows. Her list includes Juliet, a grape-style tomato that she grows just for herself, because her husband doesn't like them. Stacy, our Accountant, bragged about her brother's successful pepper crop he grew in a pot on their deck last year; over 40 peppers from 2 plants! Mark Howard, one of our Landscape Designers, told me all about his salsa garden and the Topsy Turvy Upside Tomato Planter he bought this year. He also plans on planting raspberries, primarily for his families' consumption, but he figured that the birds would get their share, and he was okay with that.

I would love to hear your gardening stories. Why don't you send us an email about you and your garden and you could be this month's lucky recipient of a $50 Otten Bros. gift card. For more information, see Gardening Stories farther down in our newsletter.

The Secret is Out!

Environmentally friendly, a renewable green crop, and locally grown; it just doesn't get any better than that when it comes to a gardening product. Otten Bros is proud to introduce you to Alfalfa's Secret Alfalfa Mulch. It is a soil additive/fertilizer/mulch, made from 100% alfalfa, grown on a 5th generation farm in Cokato, MN.

There are many ways a successful gardener can use Alfalfa's Secret.

-Alfalfa's Secret can be mixed into any existing soil as an amendment. It builds up your soil's organic matter, reduces run-off & helps with drainage in soils.

-Alfalfa's Secret is a slow release fertilizer that will never burn. It feeds the microorganisms in the soil and supplies a wealth of nutrients to your growing plants.

-Alfalfa's Secret is a great mulch around veggies, roses & perennials. It reduces weed growth, reduces disease, and helps maintain moisture in soil during dry spells. At the end of the growing season, the original application can be tilled into the soil for the benefit of the following growing season.

Alfalfa's Secret is a safe product for kids, pets, and gardeners! Vegetable gardens, shrubs & trees, perennials, container plants, and especially roses can all benefit from Alfalfa's Secret. If you want to learn more...click here.

Otten Bros. & The Flower Farm are the exclusive retailers of Alfalfa's Secret.

Now Premiering at Otten Bros.

Introducing Twist-n-Shout, an absolutely extraordinary reblooming lacecap hydrangea.

This incredible performing hydrangea will shake things up in a big way this spring. It is only available in limited quantities for 2009 to independent garden centers.

Twist-n-Shout's gorgeous season-long blooms, vivid color, sturdy red stems and deep green foliage will have fans screaming in the aisles, while season long flowering combined with Minnesota hardiness will keep the rave reviews coming.

Otten Bros. just received another fresh crop of blooming Twist-n-Shout's; just in time for spring planting! Stop in today to purchase your Twist n-Shout Hydrangea today!

Look Who's Coming to Otten Bros.
5.2009.LoJphoto

Lori & Julia, from FM 107.1, will be at Otten Bros. Garden Center Tuesday, May 12th from 3-6pm.

Listen Wednesday, May 6th - Monday, May 11th to FM 107.1 to win beautiful mix combination planters that will be given away throughout the day.

Better yet, stop and shop at Otten Bros. from 3-8pm on Tuesday, May 12th and register to win one of 3 beautiful mixed flowering planters that will be given away in-store that night by Lori & Julia!

Your Gardening Stories

Tell us your gardening story for a chance to win a $50 gift card.

Your story doesn't need to be long, complicated or even successful. Just send us a ditty about your favorite plant, or your most beautiful flower combination for your window boxes, or how you will never grow zucchinis again, or how you plan on trying Black Krim tomatoes, or how your son mowed over your grandma's peony...you get the idea!

You can even email a photo to go with your story, if you want. We just want to hear from you. Email us at email@ottenbros.com We will draw one story from the entries and tell your gardening tale in the next e-newsletter. That lucky gardener will win the $50 gift card. Don't worry; we will only use your first name to identify whose story it is.

I will share my 'veggie tale' to get you in the mood. I first saw this product at a trade show last fall and couldn't wait until spring to buy one. I am so excited about my newly purchased Potato Planter Bag! Yes - my family is going to grow potatoes in a BAG! My son, who is 9, is just as excited about it as I am. However, my 13 year old daughter could care less about our new gardening venture. (She will care when it comes time to eat the potatoes, however!) My son and I are planting our potato bag this Saturday. We are planting 5 Norkotah seed potatoes and using Otten Bros. garden mix for the soil. I will keep you posted about our potatoes' progress and what kind of yield we get!

Congratulations to our Customers!
Winner!

Otten Bros. wants to congratulate Meg J. of St. Louis Park, who is the winner of the Landscape Imaging Design Package, a $500.00 value, from our Spring Open House.

Also, congratulations to Laura L. on winning a $50 Otten Bros. gift card for correctly answering last month's U$ele$$ Trivia Que$tion. What is the hottest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. and where was it recorded? 134 �F on July 10, 1913, Greenland Ranch, California.
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May Gardening To-Do List

wheelbarrow *Plant annuals after the last chance of frost...about May 8th in our area.

*Repair bare patches, dog spots, and over seed thin lawns while the nights are still cool and spring rains are plentiful.

*Mulch garden beds with Alfalfa's Secret or pine bark mulch to help conserve moisture and reduce weed growth.

*Prune lilacs, forsythia, azaleas, and other spring flowering shrubs after they have finished blooming.

*Work fertilizers and soil amendments into veggie gardens before planting.

*Protect your plants from hungry critters by using repellents such as Liquid Fence or Messina Organic Repellents.

*Water freshly planted trees and shrubs once a week - especially during dry spells.

*Begin using fruit tree spray after the blossom drop.

*Set up peony hoops.

*Fertilize established trees, roses and other shrubs to encourage growth.

*Apply Preen in shrub and planting beds to deter weed germination.

I have just a few last thoughts for the month of May; don't want to keep you away from your gardens for too long.

Don't forget to visit our website www.ottenbros.com to find out what's new and to check on our specials for each week.

Please, remember to recycle. You keep the plant, we'll take the pots. You can drop off all of your pots, hanging baskets, and trays in the large black bins we have located at our garden centers. We recycle all year round.

And finally...
Happy May and Happy Gardening!

Otten Bros. & Flower Farm Staff

2350 West Wayzata Boulevard
Long Lake, Minnesota 55356
952-473-5425

$1.00 off per bag of Alfalfa's Secret	GRO Members Only Coupon For a limited time receive $1.00 off per bag of ALFALFA'S SECRET alfalfa mulch. We love this product and we know you will love it too! Must be an Otten Bros. GRO Members (You can be a GRO Member, too! It is FREE to sign up.) Must present coupon at time of purchase. Feel free to buy as many bags as you would like!
Offer Expires: May 18th, 2009