We still have pansies!

We brought in a bunch of wrought iron shepherd hooks, rings, bird feeder hangers and some garden art which is placed in this area just outside the front doors.

It's perfect pansy weather! They can go outside now!

Our pansy pots are on sale for $5.oo....

ovals, rounds and square.

These are our pansies in paks of 4. There are mixed flats as well as straight colours. You can mix and match them in a flat to make an assortment.

Here are some new planter boxes that we have. A 10" pot fits perfectly inside so I just popped a

pansy pot inside to show what they look

like with flowers in them. There's a trellis attached that is approx. 4 ft. high.

Where did summer go?

Temperatures are a little more spring like but I do miss the warmth. Our tulips will last a little longer this way. My uncle and aunt who live up on the

Ontario/Manitoba border received a foot of snow last week. Thankfully we didn't get that little surprise!

Thanks to all who came out for our openhouse this past weekend despite the rain and cool temperatures. We had a slow start Saturday morning but by afternoon it was busy. Hope you all had a good weekend perhaps even working outside. These are my double tulips blooming cheerfully in my back flower garden.

Huron Tourism Development Award

This award was initiated by the Blyth Festival 15 years ago in order to recognize a tourism related business or organization that shows leadership and creativity in and for local businesses.

Our business received this prestigious award for 2008! Pictured here is Carol with the award and the bottom picture is Carol and Liz Ihrig from Hessenland Country Inn who presented the award as last years recipient. We are all very honoured by this award but most of the credit goes to Carol. She is the one who gives her time and support in many ways to the community around us. She is an incredible, energetic lady who is forever optimistic, full of ideas and genuinely enjoys being with people. I am proud to work for and with her.

Openhouse

We are trying our hardest to get ready for the weekend and our annual Spring Openhouse. We are actually open all year round which most people don't realize but this is our weekend where we invite everyone to come see what's new and start thinking about what they might want to plant when it's finally safe to plant. This early warm weather has got us all charged up but I would advise some caution as it is really still to early to plant tender plants. Some seeds are ok but check on the back of the package before planting. Perennials are fine to be planted now as they come back year after year anyway. You can also clean up and prepare your gardens with new soil and/or compost. We do custom planting which is planting your containers with what you'd like in them. They stay here to grow until mid to late May but we don't hold individual plants, flats or hanging baskets. We grow so many plants and ship to so many stores that it would be too difficult to keep track of a pot of this or that and they are too hard to look after when placed apart from others they are like. These are just some assorted pictures that I took last week. The purple flowers are osteospermum, a daisy that likes cool weather and could actually go outside now. Red Star Spikes. If you're bored of the same old green spike, here is an option for you. We also have purple fountain grass and some other interesting tall flowering plants for centres of pots. Dahlias are a beautiful flower that come in lots of colours. They usually form a tuber that you can dig up in the fall, place in sawdust for the winter and replant in the spring. Mine has overwintered but we are surrounded by bush on the north side and I had them planted up against the house so it get lots of snow. Well, hope to see you this weekend and I hope you enjoy seeing everying. It always seems that no matter how long I have to prepare our retail area for this special weekend, I'm never ready. You just can't hurry plants. We do have lots and rarely run short of anything until at least long weekend in May. Then there might be a few specialty plants that are popular and gone but we try our best to anticipate this and grow enough. The Bayfield Garden Show is on in Bayfield this weekend if you're looking for something to do. We have a display there but couldn't spare a body to be there. So that's all until next week! Enjoy your weekend!

Patio Pots

These are our patio pots that we plant mainly for fundraising but also to sell here. The ladies and gents have been busy planting them along with many other plants.

See our website for more info on fundraising http://www.huronridge.ca/

This is a sample of what these pots will look like. This one was planted as a sample one when Carol was at Dining for Seniors in Zurich, demonstrating how our mixed planters are done. Now it's looking gorgeous!

Gardening Product

I'm working at stocking our shelves with items you might

need this up and coming spring and summer. We try to have a variety of items to suit everyone. Two whole sides of

shelves are devoted to environmentally friendly items.

We carry Miracle Grow as well as some other fertilizers.

One of our new items this spring is a variety of hen manure based granular fertilizer. This product contains calcium that helps plants grow. Simply sprinkle on top of the soil and nutrients are released with every rainfall and watering. After 6 weeks, it should be reapplied. It has no odor and is entirely natural! I'm excited about this product! I love the fact that it's easy to use, is non toxic to my kids and can be used for any type of plant life. Check out their website www.acti-sol.ca