Displays plays.

You got it. We finished it! If you've been following me on twitter, we've been doing displays for three days. This is just one of our four displays of junk left over in the greenhouse. It's hard to make random stuff look good with very little props to aid as possible. With this one, we just stacked the skids like jenga (oh come on, you know the game) and stapled landscape fabric over top. We found this zebra pattern from an old display hiding in a box and vola, instant stage. With the other displays, we had less to use but I forgot to take a picture of them while I was running out the door yesterday. Hard goods are never easy to set up because they require a lot of simplicity. But when you jumble them together, they start to look like a big heaping mess and it's difficult to make something look good when you only have one of this.... two of that... five of this.... three of that.. But it worked. We did it.

Now it's Saturday and time to relax the sore muscles.

Scott's Miracle Gro No Miracle - Terra Cycle is the way to go

To those that work around me, I am not a fan of Miracle Gro (despite the fact that we sell it). I don't believe in pre mixed fertilizers unless they are all natural like TerraCycle. Let it be known that you do not always know what they put in those fertilizers. Some change the PHD of your soil and remember what you put in your soil always gets recycled back to you.

I like Terra Cycle because not only is their fertilizer 'worm poop' but they also buy back all the recycled bottles (no matter what the size) and are the only company known to do that (also accepting old recycled bottles from the public and drop offs).

This is my own opinion and by no means reflects the company I work for. We can't always stand by all the products that companies sell but you can educate people, so that they can form their own opinions.

Food for thought - Plants are like people

Constantly, people come into the garden center and they ask their questions, but one that comes up often is why did it die? There's always a number of factors as to why plants die, even ones that come from us at times. But when all the factors have been listed off, and there really should be no reason why the plant died, there still is the number one reason: plant health.

I always explain that plants are like people. Some are healthy, some are not. Some get big, some don't. It's just the nature of the beast. No two trees grow alike. Similiar yes, as people are similiar to each other, but never exactly the same and you have to remember that when creating symmetry. Nothing is nature will be the same and why not enjoy it's difference instead of ripping it out and buying a new one to match the other?

Isn't it true that when two people spend lots of time together, they become more and more alike? Never the same, but always alike. That could apply to plants too.

The bang for your buck -Perennial Hibiscus

Perennial Hibiscus. One of my favourites. Sure, they can get boring if you stare at them all day long in the greenhouse but really, I've always liked them for the reason that you can see them from the road. Once established, they bloom big (flowers like dinner plates) and they bloom LOTS. In Canada, these babies start now (early July/mid august) and bloom until mid september or until the heat lifts. There's two varieties, dwarf (3 feet) and regular (4 feet). They have a good spread of 18 inches at LEAST. Most people put them at the back of their garden, somewhere where they don't have to look at them until they are suddenly in bloom.

The key to growing hibiscus. DON'T PULL IT OUT IN SPRING. Hibiscus needs heat to push out of the ground, so while everything is green and flush int he garden, hibiscus sits there like a stump, looking very dead in your garden. Don't pull it out!!! They come up Late June and once they're up, they push like crazy. A little water goes a long way with them and helps the plant come up better, but for the most part, this is a very drought tolerant plant. They also need nothing short of fullsun (think, the less sun, the less blooms). I have four of them sitting on the balcony, pending planting for October. Can't wait either. Can't wait!

Brandy Punch.

Moy Grande.

Fantasia. Turn of the Century.

Peppermint Schnapps.
Fantastia.Cherry Brandy.

Grenache. (dwarf)
Pinot Grigio. (dwarf)
Pink Elephant.
Plum Crazy.

Any Questions?

Popular Growth Retired

The Move.

I moved my blog for the main reason that if I was going to keep posting in it, I better have a name I like and not one that I look at everyday and think of different ways I can change it. Since I'm always gabbing on about the Greenhouse and what's in the works for us, this name fits me much better. I suffered through a bit of laughter from my fellow coworkers, trying to come up with a name that didn't compromise what I was posting about. It's simple but it works.