Great Deals!

Please call the office or email us for 

Fall Specials!

Newtown  203-426-4037         Watertown  860-945-6588

or email: sbarbier@planterschoice.com 

Container evergreens at front entrance, Newtown.

As the weather turns colder and, I hate to mention, the holidays creep up on us, your customers may be looking to dress up the entryway of their home.  Certainly their summer pots are finished so you'll need to spruce up the entrance with seasonal winter interest.  While some customers may be satisfied with a holiday wreath, others will crave warm eye-catching displays of interesting colors and textures.  Try mixing broadleaf evergreens and conifers together. Then add some evergreen perennials and fruiting branches to create a well-rounded display. Choose good sized pots to fit in all the elements needed for a great winter container.

Gary's hints for successful pots!

• Make sure the containers have excellent drainage, and are raised up off the ground so the drainage hole does not get plugged up. Do not use a saucer to collect water.
  
• Containers should have a thickness of at least 1". Choose a pot that is good sized, the bigger the better - which means more soil to insulate the roots.
• Be careful with the scale of the plant material in relation to the pot size. The height of the tallest plant should not be more than 3 x's the height of the container. 
• Add Red-twig or Yellow-twig Dogwood branches as accents, the branches will last quite long.
• Dried Hydrangea flowers can make interesting accents as well, either lightly sprayed with floral paint or left natural.
• Use a good planting medium and add some water absorbing crystals like Stocksorb.
• An anti-dessicant such as WiltPruf can be used to prevent winterburn.
• Plant them soon so roots have a chance to harden off before a freeze!

Come check out our wide selection of evergreens for winter containers - smaller sizes of Baby Blue Spruce, Blue Hollies, Dwarf False Cypress, spreading Junipers and Arborvitae are stocked in both yards. Red-twig Dogwood and Winterberry add that needed splash of color.  Don't forget our small grasses like Blue Fescue and Sweet Flag (see photo below of A. 'Minimus Aureus') not to mention perennials like Iberis and Lamium. 

Stop by soon and get your customers excited about the cold weather!

While cleaning up your customer's beds and cutting perennials back it's easy to get a little carried away! Be aware that certain plants are susceptible to crown rot and winter-burn if pruned back in the fall.  These include:

Lavender 'Hidcote'

Buddleia (Butterfly Bush)

Caryopteris (Blue Mist Shrub)

Hydrangea

Lavendula (Lavender)

Perovskia (Russian Sage)

Let these stand through the winter until danger of frost has passed and the new buds begin to break. You can then safely prune them.

Anything that sets its flower buds on previous years growth like Azalea, Cherry, Dogwood, Forsythia, Hydrangea (Big Leaf selections-Lacecaps and Mopheads only), Lilac, Magnolia, or Rhododendron should also be left untrimmed to enjoy the spring or summer bloom.

More tips coming soon!

Colorado Spruce in Newtown

Incoming This Week:
Juniperus 'Gold Lace', 'Grey Owl' 3 gallon plants.

Malus domestica (Apples) see above.
Picea abies Pendula' (Weeping Norway Spruce) 6-7', gorgeous specimen plants! Limited!
Picea glauca 'Conica' (Dwarf Alberta Spruce) Many sizes...
Picea pungens (Colorado Spruce) 5/6', 6/7', 7/8', 8/10'

BULBS!
Now is the time to plant your splashes of spring color. Take advantage of flowering bulbs from late winter through June. Four months of continuous spring color! Say goodbye to March with early Crocus and hello to June with Alliums. Stop in and make your selections for smashing, long lasting color, but do it soon while the full assortment is still available!

(and...bring some bloom into the house this december with Paperwhites)

Acorus g. 'Minimus Aureus'