Potunias

Something new this year is the "Potunia". We saw these plants this past summer at a show we were at in Ohio. We were impressed and decided to give them a try this year. They come in several colours: pinks ,salmon, purple and red. Here is what the breeders have to say about this plant. *blooms profusely all summer long *Perfect in containers, hanging baskets and landscapes *Intense, vibrant colours *They bounce back quickly after a rain shower *compared to other petunias, Potunias require less water, saving you energy, time and worry while you're away on vacation! Here they are in a landscaped area. Beautiful! http://www.potunias.com/

Pansies are growing!

Good Morning! What a windy day! I'm hoping the recycling stays in its containers at the end of the laneway and not in the neighbour's field!

We are planting more pansies! This skid is stacked with 1204 flats which means there are 12 boxes of 4 plants per flat. These are the flats that other bedding plants such as impatiens, marigolds, petunias and snapdragons are sold in. We will be planting the pansies from the second picture into these flats and they will be ready for you by mid April. If you would like some colour before that, we have pansy bowls that will be ready in a couple of weeks. The bottom picture was taken at the end of last week and there were other buds just about to pop! It's so interesting to keep an eye on the plants. It seems that we should be able to sit and watch them grow but for some reason, this miracle of new growth eludes us.

Enjoy your day and keep thinking spring, garden and sunshine!

All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel it's energy, and my spirits soar.

Helen Hays

Looking through our window

Here is a sample of the flowers growing, getting ready to be planted into baskets, planters or pots.

Potunias (not a typo but a new type of petunia)

Bidens - Yellow Empire Scaveola - Blue Ice

Lobelia - Anabelle Blue Oxalis - in the shamrock family. Gets delicate looking lilac coloured flower but is used mostly for its foliage. I perhaps owe becoming a painter to flowers. Claude Monet

Vegetable garden workshops

Dave and Carol will be hosting some how- to -workshops on vegetable gardening this spring. If you are someone who desires to grow your own veggies but you'd like some information, this is for you. Dave and Carol have had many years of experience in market gardening before adding on the flower business. They will discuss 2 methods of gardening; a more traditional method using a garden plot with rows and the second method being container gardening. The latter is good for anyone who doesn't have a large growing space or doesn't want the maintenance that a bigger garden takes. I'll post more details later once we have dates set. If you are interested, please email Carol @ info@huronridge.ca

I've had a garden box for years that's approximately 4 x 16 x 3 ft. high. It's wonderful for planting early seeds, bunnies can't get to it and I don't have to bend over to weed! I arrange my plants in a careful way, similiar to companion planting (planting plants together that benefit each other) and it makes for a full garden with not alot of weeding.

About a week and a half ago, I planted some Mesclun Mix (a variety of salad greens) in this container in the greenhouse. We've been watching it and couldn't believe how fast it grew once it started poking up through the ground! Pretty soon, I'll be eating fresh greens!

Oh how they're growing up!

These are some of the pansies just after being planted middle of January. They've had sun, fertilizer, room to grow and water and here they are today! (bottom picture) I found about 5 or 6 blooms and with this sun, they'll keep growing and bursting forth with colour!

Look! A flower! Spring must be on the way!

"But each spring....a gardening instinct, sure as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground."

Lewis Gantt

Spring cleaning done yet?

What a cold morning! It is beautiful and sunny though which I know makes us happy here in the greenhouses. It makes such a difference when the sun is shining brightly....we can feel it's getting stronger despite the frigid temps out there today. Here's a quote I read that you may have heard.... God made rainy/snowy/cold days so gardeners could get their housework done. Anonymous I took the liberty of adding snowy and cold. :) It's time to organize closets, clean out cupboards,wash walls and wipe trim. If we get all that done, it leaves lots of time once warm weather comes to be outside and not have to think about spring cleaning because you already did it! It's a win win situation! Check out our poll on the right hand of this page. Take a second to vote. Thanks!