Plugging Pansies

 

We have spent the past week plugging pansies and violas for fall sale.  They will be ready for planting in your garden about the end of September.  Snapdragons, annual dianthus, ornamental cabbage and kale were also done.  

 

I’ve enjoyed these last couple days of cool weather.  I love this time of year when summer dies down a bit.  Perennials can breath a sigh of relief and the fall bloomers can really start to kick in.  I’m thinking some fall related blogs might just be in order.

Its Raining Lilies

 

A couple of days ago the rain lilies decided to all open at once. 

Zephyranthes

 

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Aren’t they lovely!

WHERE’S ALLEY?

 

 

I see you there girl…..

 

No.. that pumpkin mustache doesn’t

fool me one bit..

 

Silly girl

Where is Alley?

Throughout the years, the owners at Big Bloomers have employed  many teenagers as summer and part-time help.  They usually end up doing much of the grunt work.  Putting up an endless supply of annuals, moving them around here and there and everywhere as well as weeding and a huge list of other chores.

I am still somewhat of a “teenager” in my heart and so I thoroughly enjoy working with them.  Too many names, faces and smiles come to mind to name them all but every one of them have brought something unique and singular to our nursery.

This year, like every year, we will be losing some as they leave to make their own way in the world.  We will miss each one and are wishing them the very best of everything.

Many of my “Where’s Alley” blogs were from pictures taken by one of our “kids” leaving us this summer.

Over the years her and Alley have created a unique friendship.  Alley can usually be found somewhere around Ashley whenever she was working.  I think Alley thought of Ashley as her personal publicist considering all the great poses Ashley has caught her in.   So for Alley a working relationship turned into a lovely friendship.

One of the last days Ashley was here she “captured” Alley in an extremely rare hiding place.  None of us have ever seen her there before.

 

Can you see her?  That pot in the left hand corner.

Ah yes there she is…the little rascal

Can’t you see I am resting…I mean doing some undercover work.

 

This one’s for you Ashley.

HUMMINGBIRD DAY-2009

 

 

This year’s Hummingbird Day was the best ever.  Susan Campbell caught a record (for us) 9 hummers and tagged 8.  One got away.  Sneaky rascal.

Heather and Ashley manned the caging and did the actual capturing which I am pretty sure made their day.

Heather

Ashley

When a hummer came to feed they pulled the string and caught them in the cage.

They got one!

This is a video of Susan bagging the hummer.

 

after catching

 

Banding the Hummer

 

 

and then letting it go

What a wonderful way to spend the day!

PLANT OF THE MOMENT-COREOPSIS GRANDIFLORA "PRESTO"

So...I've been wondering??? What does it mean when customers are selling YOU plants? Hummmm.......

The other day a couple of our "regulars" came in. The couple are a "couple" and I always enjoy seeing them and what they are buying. You can always spot "kindred spirits". People that enjoy growing things and being able to appreciate hard work and the beauty of what you can create. Of course all the hard work is never appreciated as much as one simple bloom on a flower.

I asked if I could help them find anything and they showed me two plants they were looking for.

The first was a salvia and we happened to have a four-pack of the one they were looking for. Gotta take advantage of those four-packs of perennials whenever you can.

The second plant was a coreopsis. They had picked a stem cutting with flower and leaves to try to match it to some they are growing already, since they were not sure of the name. They told me it was very short six to twelve inches tall. I was a bit intrigued by their short stature but I am not usually swayed by coreopsis, for reasons you will later learn.

We went down the bench that contained all our coreopsis, looking at size and flower color and couldn't find one we could be sure was the right one. He walked down with me looking and comparing flowers and leaf structure while she stayed behind. We were all the way down the bench when she said she found it. Actually, right where we had started looking. It was Coreopsis grandiflora "Presto". Actually.... a very cool name for a very cool plant.

I commented after looking at and admiring the short and stocky growth habit of this nice little plant, that I don't really grow coreopsis that much. I love the threadleafs but I just can't seem to make them happy enough to grow in my sand and the grandifloras need too much deadheading for my liking. He got a sly smile on his face when I mentioned the latter and said,"Its no problem for me, I just wack em with the weed wacker". We laughed and I thought that wasn't a bad idea at all.

Didn't think much else about it till the couple came up with their purchases. He had eight of the coreopsis and I commented "Oh my, I guess you really DO love this plant". They laughed and explained they were starting a new bed and really wanted that solid splash of yellow up front. He commented that they bloom for a good, long time and when they get tired he just wacks them with the weed wacker and in two weeks they are blooming their little heads off again.

OKAY....I told him...you sold ME.

After they left, I walked back into the greenhouses and retrieved one for myself and and for this reason Coreopsis grandiflora "Presto" is my plant of the moment.

Plant of the Moment-Rosa Zephirine Drouhin

So.....Today at work I was in the "white fenced area". This is the area we keep most of our roses. I was there to collect some Knockout roses to restock an area where we also have them closer to the entrance of the nursery as a convenience to our customers.

While I was there I noticed a rose that was growing very vigorously about two feet taller than the other climbing roses in that area. I also noticed that this rose was almost fully green to the bottom, which is a bit unusual here in the south where older growth usually starts showing signs of black spot even for the most diligent gardener. Hummm, I thought...It has a name I can't pronounce and I don't know very much about this rose. So I picked out the Knockouts that I needed and made a beeline into our office to "google" this Zephirine Drouhin. I clicked on the first link that was listed and saw that I NEEDED to grow this rose.

http://roses.toytrains1.com/zephirine_drouhin.htm

Zephirine Drouhin is considered an heirloom rose. It is vigorous, floriferous, highly scented and blooms spring through fall with the strongest flushes of bloom being of course in the spring and in the fall. OH OH OH did I say it was completely thornless? Well I guess I just did.

I promptly walked back out to the "white fenced area" and claimed one for my own. My only problem being now where do I put it. I have an archway at the entrance of the walkway leading to my house and thought I would put it there but then after much rethinking, I was sure it would be to vigorous a rose to use in that area since the archway is very lovely and decorative and I was worried it would be completely hidden by this vigorous grower.

In the meantime I pulled Cinda (one of our greenhouse managers) into the "white fenced area" to show her this vigorous rose that SHE needed to grow too and also showed her the link that made me fall in love with it. I expressed to her my concern about it taking over my lovely, metalwork archway. She said to me "well...don't you have a deck".    EUREKA..."Yes...YES" I said (well I might have screamed that part). "I do...I do have a deck, and...and..and I have a nicely dug and amended spot right in the corner where I recently lost a shrub."  To which I added "You are a GENIUS" (I might have screamed that last part also).

Tonight after I got home from work I planted my lovely Zephirine Drouhin in that already amended spot on the corner of my deck right next to the stairway that my husband and I love to sit in the early morning and look out into the back fields and woodland. I imagine that in the coming years when we sit there with our morning coffee we will have the added pleasure of enjoying the fragrance of this strongly scented and lovely rose and for this reason Zephirine Drouhin is my Plant of the Moment.