OGS banner Dec 2012
 Issue No. 9
December 2012 
In This Issue
Al's message
Protecting your plants for winter
Thinking about next year's garden
OGS Top 10 Gift Idea List
Unusual plants found around the Nursery
Upcoming Events

Helping you to realize your garden visions for over a decade.
Dear Friends,   

These frosty mornings make us all too aware that winter is approaching and it is time to think about putting the nursery to bed.

Frosted leaves

 

We are busy putting the plants under wraps in our polyhouses and protecting them from the elements and various critters.  

  

Putting the nursery to sleep  

  

This is something you should be thinking about too and we have some items to help with that. If you have any questions about what to do for specific plants, please give us a call.  


Plant protection  

The nursery will be closing at noon on Saturday, December 22nd, but until then, we have some great items that might work for the people on your list! First up, of course, is the Oriental Garden Supply Gift Certificate - available in all sizes, guaranteed to please any recipient, particularly if you are not sure what they would like. We are offering 10% off if you bring in the coupon below for certificate values up to $100. As an extra incentive, buy a $100 gift certificate, and get a $20 one for yourself! If you can't make it to the nursery, email or give us a call and we will work out the details with you.

We also have some fun items that are new to us this year, perfect for an unusual stocking stuffer.


New products

We encourage you to come visit us at the nursery before we close. Just a reminder though, be sure to wear your mud boots. Hours are 9 AM to 4 PM every day, closed on Sundays, until noon on December 22nd. We look forward to helping you finish your gift list here at OGS!

 

Cheers,


Al Pfeiffer, Owner
Oriental Garden Supply

 


Protecting your plants for winter 
 

Our climate zone often requires that we take extra measures to protect our plants over the harsh winter. Selecting plants that are hardy to our area is the first step, along with making sure that the plant goes into winter with enough moisture to fend off the drying winter winds. Here at the nursery, we have the polyhouses to protect the tenderest of our plants, but out in your landscape you may need to use other means to protect your investment from the elements. Correct siting, windbreaks, and temporary protective barriers such as burlap screens, hinged wooden covers, and newer products such as Shrub Coat will help. Certain plants may benefit from the spray application of antidessicants, but never use them on Chamaecyparis (Hinoki or other false cypresses) or Thuja (arborvitae) since the waxy coating prevents transpiration in these plants.

 

Paper or plastic tree wraps are helpful in preventing sunscald on thin-barked plants such as Japanese maples. They are also useful in reducing damage to susceptible young tree trunks from deer, rabbits, moles, and other animals. The use of sprays or granular applications of critter repellents like Plantskydd in later winter months can also help remove your plants from their dinner menu.

 

We want your plants to survive and provide a great deal of joy and beauty for you for many years to come so if you have any questions on how to protect specific plants, please give us a call.
   

Thinking about next year's garden

Take a look around your gardens right now and see if you have some spots that might use beefing up to extend your garden enjoyment just a little longer. Although many plants are beginning their winter snooze right now, there are others that are still showing good coloration - ornamental grasses, spireas, larches, and beeches. Remember this grass from the last newsletter? Here it is in its tawny winter coloration.

Pennisetum Hameln 

And what about plants with berries that the birds love (until they clear them off!) - the hollies with their red berries, beautyberry with those amethyst colored berries, even the crabapples.


Frozen crabapples

And let's not forget the conifers! 365 days of awesomeness in just about every color imaginable! Check out this Chief Joseph lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta 'Chief Joseph'). Although not that noticeable for the rest of the year with light green needles, once the colder weather rolls around this dwarf conifer puts on a coat of stunning yellow gold and throws its beacons of light around the landscape for the whole winter season! Mature height 6 to 8 feet, once established prefers minimal moisture, rare and pricey. Here Chris has placed this beauty next to some dark purple-leaved heucheras - ooh la la!


Chief Joseph lodgepole pine

If you have the room, another cold-activated color changer to consider is Siberian cypress (Microbiota decussata). Its feathery fronds change from a medium green to coppery-purple as the temperature dips. It is a low grower, but can get 8 feet wide or so at maturity. Great as a ground cover for slopes. We also have it available in tree form.

 
Siberian cypress

And who doesn't love the blues of the Colorado spruce (Picea pungens cultivars)?


Blue spruce

This is a good time to come out to the nursery and consider some new conifer color combinations. The conifer house is stuffed full of plants to pique your interest.

Conifer displays

If you find one you like, put a deposit on it and we will keep it safe under cover until spring. If you already have a particular variety in mind and we don't have it in stock, let Al know and, with a deposit, he will keep an eye out for a special one for you while on his buying trips to the Northwest in mid-winter.
 


Top 10 Gift Idea List from OGS
  1. Gift certificates - Now 10% off on values up to $100 if you bring in the coupon below. If you buy a $100 gift certificate, you can get a $20 one for yourself. Other discounts available on higher amounts! 
  2. Gift certificate

     

  3. Bonsai plant or ceramic bonsai dishes
  4. Bonsai

     

  5. Layaway a plant or tree or preorder one for next year, deposit required
  6. Oculis

     

  7. Granite fountain or birdbath
  8. Granite frog birdbath

     

  9. Succulent garden container - low maintenance and not hardy; great for an unusual indoor container.  
  10. Succulent container garden 

     

  11. Al's organic form ceramic vases or dishes

  12. Al's ceramic forms 

     

  13. Marble puzzle balls - each layer carved separately! 

  14. Soapstone puzzle balls 

     

  15. Granite owls

  16. Granite owls 

     

  17. Granite mushrooms

  18. Granite mushrooms 

     

  19. And did I mention Gift Certificates? See coupon details below!

Gift certificate

 


  

 Unusual plants found around the Nursery:

  

We have some great plants at Oriental Garden Supply! Highlighted this month:   

    • Australian tree fern (Cyathea cooperi 'Brentwood) - This particular variety of Australian tree fern is a massive fern that can grow to be huge. Unfortunately, it is not freeze hardy and must be protected indoors in the winter in our climate zone. This fern must not be allowed to dry out. Needs high humidity, bright and airy, and warm - otherwise you can consider it an annual! Isn't it a beauty?    

 

Australian tree fern
    

 



Upcoming Events


The National Meeting of the American Conifer Society (ACS) is coming to Rochester in 2014! If you are interested in conifers and want to know more, perhaps become a "conehead," this meeting is one you will want to put on your future calendars. Visit their website at http://conifersociety.org/.


Cones of Picea abies Aurea
 

 

 

Hours: 9AM to 4 PM, closed Sundays

Nursery closing for the season at noon on Saturday, Dec 22nd

448 W. Bloomfield Rd.
Pittsford, New York 14534
585-586-3850
 
 
Save 10%
CouponGift Certificate Special
Bring this coupon to Oriental Garden Supply and receive 10% off your gift certificate purchase at our nursery for amounts up to $100. For a $100 gift certificate, you will receive a $20 one for yourself. Other discounts available at higher amounts.
 
Offer Expires: 12/22/12