Monthly Archives: January 2025

How to Transform Your Garden This Year: One Note and Five Minutes at a Time

How to Transform Your Garden This Year: One Note and Five Minutes at a Time

The new year brings an opportunity to refresh not just our homes, but our gardens too. Whether you’re an avid gardener or just starting out, one of the best ways to improve your outdoor space this year is simple: spend five mindful minutes in your garden every day, paired with your favorite beverage and a notebook.

Morning Coffee or Evening Wine: A Ritual for Connection

Life can be busy, but dedicating just five minutes each day to your garden can create a rhythm that’s both relaxing and productive.

  • Morning Coffee: Step outside as the sun rises, coffee in hand. Feel the crisp morning air, listen to the birds, and take in the sights of dew-kissed leaves.
  • Evening Wine: End your day with a calming stroll through your garden, a glass of wine or tea in hand. Watch the golden hour light illuminate your plants and reflect on the day.

This simple ritual can do wonders for your well-being, while also building a deeper connection to your garden.

The Power of Note-Taking

Improvement starts with observation. Bring a small notebook or use a garden app on your phone to jot down quick notes. Here are a few things to track:

  • Growth and Changes: Is that hydrangea putting out new buds? Did your tomatoes grow an inch taller overnight?
  • Challenges: Spotted a pest? A plant looking droopy? Write it down so you can address it later.
  • Weather and Conditions: A quick note about rain, frost, or sunny days helps you track patterns for better planting next year.
  • Inspiration: Jot down ideas for new plants, design tweaks, or even a whimsical addition like a sundial or a white swing.

These notes will become your personal garden journal, capturing the story of your space across the year.

Witnessing the Progress

Over time, those small daily moments add up to something beautiful. By year’s end, you’ll have not only improved your garden but also cultivated a habit that keeps you grounded and inspired. And when you look back at your notes, you’ll see the evolution of your garden—and yourself as a gardener.

 

Let This Be the Year You Bloom

Gardening isn’t about perfection; it’s about connection. By taking just five minutes a day to observe, reflect, and take notes, you’ll nurture not only your plants but also a deeper appreciation for the process.

Make this the year you embrace the rhythm of your garden and grow alongside it. Your future self will thank you, as will your flourishing outdoor sanctuary.

 

 

Feeding the Birds

When a bird’s natural plant food has waned or withered away in late winter, a few well-placed feeders can entice a feathered friend to stay nearby. There are four basic types of feeders, but the type of feeder and food it’s filled with will determine which birds will visit. Which do you want in your yard?

Feeder Types and the Birds They Attract

While birds will visit a variety of different feeders, the best options for winter birds are…

  • Tray / Platform Feeders
    A tray or platform feeder with low sides and a wide, open base placed one to three feet above the ground will lure ground-feeding birds like juncos, towhees and mourning doves. Grouse and quail may also visit this type of feeder, and these feeders are ideal for offering food to large flocks of birds.
  • House Hopper Feeders
    Hung from a tree or hook or mounted on a pole, “house” style feeders with seed hoppers and perches on the side will usually entice grosbeaks, cardinals and jays, as well as sparrows and finches. These feeders help keep seed dry and can hold a larger quantity of seed so refills are not as frequent.
  • Tube Feeders
    Long, cylindrical tube feeders suspended in air will bring in an array of small birds, including finches, titmice, nuthatches, siskins, redpolls and chickadees. These feeders may have either mesh-like sides where birds can easily cling, or they may have multiple perches to accommodate more birds. Sock-style feeders are also popular.
  • Suet Feeders
    A cage-like feeder that holds a cake of rich, fatty suet is a bird magnet for woodpeckers, wrens, titmice, nuthatches, titmice, mockingbirds and jays. A standard suet cage can hold just one cake and can be hung from a pole or branch. Larger suet feeders may hold multiple cakes, and some suet feeders are even designed as logs or other shapes to hold suet plugs or balls.

Best Winter Bird Foods

Birds will seldom drop or pick out unwanted seeds if you fill your feeder with only one type of seed rather than a generic mix. Black oil sunflower seeds are the most widely preferred, though white millet is popular for smaller finches, sparrows and ground-feeding birds. A tube feeder containing Nyjer (thistle) seeds will whet the appetite of goldfinches, siskins or redpolls. Jays, chickadees and juncos love peanuts or cracked corn as a treat in a tray feeder. Suet is another fine treat that offers great calories to keep winter birds healthy.

No matter which type of bird feeder you offer or how you fill it, you are sure to enjoy the company of a hungry winter flock. Keep the feeder filled and clean, and the birds will continue to visit all winter long.

Blooming Plants: Brighten Your Home & Office

It is no secret that houseplants can beautify your home and office as well as freshen the air, promote relaxation and improve concentration. But if you’re tired of plain foliage and miss the colorful bursts of your annual and perennial flowerbeds, why not opt for flowering plants indoors as well? There are many beautiful bloomers that can brighten up your home and office throughout the year.

Orchids

Orchids are favorite flowers that add an exotic touch to any décor. The most popular varieties for indoor blooming include…

  • Phalenopsis (Moth Orchid) – This favorite selection can continue to spike up to 9 months during the year and is considered the easiest to bloom
  • Dendrobium – Many fragrant varieties in lots of colors, can rebloom 1-4 times per year
  • Cattleya – Large standard variety blooms once per year, miniature varieties can bloom 2-3 times per year, many fragrant varieties, colors and sizes of flowers
  • Oncidium (Dancing Lady Orchid) – Blooms once per year and lasts 6-8 weeks
  • Paphiopedilum (Lady Slipper Orchid) – Blooms once per year with blooms lasting 6-8 weeks, very exotic.

Cyclamen

This popular plant produces a profusion of colorful flowers that bloom for a long time, ideal for adding reliable color and life indoors. Keep cyclamen evenly moist from September through May. Let them dry from June to August, so the tuber can rest and recover from the intense effort of the prolonged bloom cycle. Ideal light is a sunny east or west window. Cyclamen prefer a cool room (60-70 degrees). Feed them from September to May, then stop for the summer months.

African Violets

These small, robust plants are by far the most popular houseplant and among the easiest flowering houseplant that blooms all year long. Choose from a wide selection of pink, purple, magenta, white and blue options in both double and single blooms. African violets prefer bright, diffused or artificial light. Feed regularly and water from the bottom so as not to get water on the leaves, which could promote diseases and fungus. Be sure to empty any excess water so the roots do not rot.

Kalanchoe

These blooming plants’ flowers last for many weeks. Kalanchoes grow 8-12 inches tall with masses of small four-petaled leaves that are red, orange, coral, gold, yellow and purple. They have thick, waxy leaves with a succulent appearance and can withstand periods of dry soil, making them a good option for beginners or in offices that may be closed for holidays or other periods when the plants may be somewhat neglected. Water when soil feels dry to the touch and drain excess water from tray. Maintain flower color with bright, indirect sunlight daily for at least four hours.

Bonsai

If you haven’t tried it, the art of training a dwarf potted tree is a fascinating hobby. Because the soil around the bonsai plant is limited, these plants need watering almost every day, and sometimes twice a day during the hot summer. We carry a wide selection of starter plants and mature specimens from evergreen selections to tropical varieties. Some will bloom with true flowers, while others – though they don’t produce flowers – have such delicate and pleasing structures that their appearance is every bit as lovely as the most gorgeous bloom.

Not sure which blooming plant will be best for your home or office? Stop in and we’ll be happy to help you choose just the right plant to brighten your space!

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Insect Control Begins Now

It’s hard to think of insects in winter, but don’t forget the havoc these tiny creatures can bring to your garden – defoliating leaves, contaminating produce, even destroying complete plants. Before these pests begin to be a problem is the perfect time to take steps to control them.

Why Winter Control?

Late winter is the right time to control insects for two reasons. First, the insects and their eggs are just coming out of dormancy. The shells and protective coverings are softer and more porous in late winter, and so are more vulnerable to the effects of oils and sprays. Second, the oil-water mixture should not freeze on the tree or plants, which could damage the plant and make the spray far less effective. When you spray, the temperature should be above 40 degrees. Delay spraying if freezing night temperatures are predicted. Choose a calm day for spraying to be sure stray breezes and cross winds do not spread the spray to plants you don’t want covered.

Insects to Control

In late winter, before any leaf buds begin to open, spray Bonide All-Season Oil or Dormant Oil Spray on fruit trees or other ornamental trees or shrubs to suffocate over-wintering aphids, thrips, mealybugs, whitefly, pear psylla, scale and spider mites that cling to the bark. The treatment will also destroy the eggs of codling moths, Oriental fruit moths and assorted leaf rollers and cankerworms. Don’t wait until the buds have burst in early spring, as the coating of oil will also smother the emerging plant tissue.

Tree Spraying Tips

While small shrubs can be easy to treat, larger trees are more challenging to be sure you don’t leave any area untreated where insects can thrive. Spray the whole tree at one time, concentrating on the trunk, large branches and crotches, rather than spraying down a whole row of trees at one pass. If you’ve experienced extremely bad infestations of insects, you might treat your trees a second time. But be sure to spray before the buds are near the bursting point. Dormant oil can also be used after the leaves have dropped in the fall. Never spray when any foliage or fruit is on the trees or you risk unwanted pesticide contamination.

After you spray, be sure to store any remaining oil properly and out of reach of children and pets. Containers should be labeled clearly and kept in cool, dark spaces to preserve their usefulness. Avoid reusing any sprayers to minimize the risk of cross contamination or inadvertent use.

Spraying for insects in winter may not be the most glamorous job, but you’ll appreciate the improvement in your trees through the spring and summer when you’ve nipped your insect problems in the bud.

 

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