Welcome
to Hamlen's
Spring Newsletter!
We
hope to see many of our customers at the Garden Center happily
shopping for their spring annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs.
In
this issue...
A Good Read
May The Force Be With You
Winter Gardening
Don't Be Deceived by the Christmas
Cactus
A
Good Read
This time of year is a great
time to catch up on reading. It's when we can recharge our gardening
batteries and plan the coming years gardening adventures. One
book we were recently introduced to was "The Woodchuck's
Guide to Gardening". The book was written by Ron Krupp, a
Vermont author who practices organic gardening. "The Woodchuck's
Guide to Gardening" is divided into spring, summer, autumn,
and winter with a special section on children and gardening.
The book connects with other
gardeners and along with the author we learn of some valuable
personal gardening experience. The authors 30 years of gardening
experience shares with us wisdom that not only serves as good
gardening advice, but helps us understand our place in the universe.
The book is available in our store. We think you will find it
a great primer for your gardening pursuits.
May
The Force Be With You
Can't wait for spring blooms?
There are ways to jump-start spring. Forcing plants into bloom
is an easy way to enjoy spring early.
Forsythia (Forsythia Northern
Gold, pictured), lilacs, rhododendron, and spirea vanhoutte can
give you an early spring inside your home even though its still
winter outside. Cut a branch or branches 1-2 feet in length from
the terminal bud back.
Place them in a vase with water
inside the house.
In about 2-4 weeks depending
on what you are forcing you should start to see color.
Winter
Gardening
We garden spring, summer, and
fall, however lets not forget the fourth season winter. I'm not
talking about melting ice and snow and finally your frozen tundra
just to say you can garden all year while still living in the
north country. Winter gardening is appreciating plants that have
unusual interest or characteristics during the winter months.
Its natural for us to look forward to the blooms of spring, the
summer pastels, and the fiery colors of fall, but lets face it
we have about five months of nothing, or do we? The following
list are some notable plants we have come to appreciate for their
winter personalities:
Hertitage
Birch - Has beautiful cinnamon/white exfoliating bark, much
like a paper birch only more attractive and not susceptible to
birch leaf miner.
Ornamental
Grasses - Golden brown stems with silver plumes on certain
varieties that last from September - Spring.
Harry Lauders Walking Stick
- Named after the Scottish performer who used a crooked cane as
part of his routine. The plant has unusual twisted branches that
are only noticeable in the winter months. The one I have outside
my dining room window has our guests mystified as to what it is.
A fun plant for any garden.
Ivory Halo Dogwood -
Red stems that contrast nicely against the snow. Also has variegated
foliage the rest of the year.
Heathers - Heathers change
color from season to season and some varieties are great for early
spring flower color. Marginally hardy they do best in the North
Country when entirely buried by snow or in the milder areas of
our region.
Montgomery Blue Spruce
- Like a dwarf blue spruce with intense blue color that is great
in rock gardens or even used in a foundation planting.
Don't be Deceived
by the Christmas Cactus
Many people ask why does my
Christmas cactus bloom around Thanksgiving instead of Christmas?
The answer is your plant is not a Christmas cactus but rather
a Thanksgiving cactus, also know as crab-claw cactus. Its flat
joints are definitely "claw like" and its flowers are
less symmetrical than those of the Christmas cactus. The leaves
of the Christmas cactus are rounded and the plant blooms around
mid to late December.
What if your cactus doesn't
bloom at thanksgiving or Christmas but more like late March or
April? Then you have an Easter cactus. Its leaves closely resemble
those of the Christmas cactus, but its flowers are star-shaped
and rose-red in color.
These types of cactus need to
be repotted approximately every three years, however many individuals
report theirs seem to bloom better when they haven't been repotted
for years and are pot bound. Its important to remember after a
holiday cactus blooms you should let it rest by keeping it nearly
dry for six to eight weeks. When new growth appears, top dress
with fresh soil and water so the soil is kept fairly moist. Use
a cactus mix soil anytime you repot or top dress. After the flower
buds appear feed them with a liquid fertilizer such as "Blooming
& Rooting".
