Weekly News, 6.9.21
Hello plant lover friends,
Gardening is a long term goal, right? It’s never one-and-done, or just a one-week or one-year project. We have gardening goals for life. When Russ and I plant trees, we dream of seeing them in 20-30 years, or we envision or kids or grandkids enjoying them someday. It’s an investment in the future. Even when planting a vegetable garden, you’re in it for the season. Bed preparation and planting is the first step, then there is tending to the plants to be done… inspecting for pest and disease issues, staking tomatoes, fertilization, harvesting.
Us gardeners have grit. As defined by Angela Duckworth in her book, grit is passion and perseverance for long term goals. We are determined to succeed, no matter what. We don’t throw in the towel, we pick it up and wipe the sweat off of our faces. We show back up when it’s easier to walk away. We don’t just plant enthusiastically and move on, getting excited then quit when the hard work needs to be done or challenges arise. We are in it for the long haul, in gardening, and in life. A key characteristic of those who find success is endurance. As Duckworth put it, “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”
Here are your weekly updates–
- we’re excited to welcome back our summer program for kids ages 4-12, Jr. Green Thumbs. It starts this Friday! Classes are sold in 3-week packages by the month. The June session dates are 6/11, 6/18 and 6/25, and classes are 1.5 hours long. The 10am time for June is sold out, but we still have spots open for 12:30-2pm. Click here to sign up for June’s 3-week session.
- our food truck and wine tent is open every Friday and Saturday from 11am-4pm. The food menu and wines to sample change weekly. Stop by and relax in the gazebo or one of the picnic tables in our Nursery area. Wines are also available by the glass if you’d like to enjoy a glass while you shop.
- also this Friday is our Community Blood Drive with Vitalant, and we want to beat our April blood drive of 15 units! Click here and search for group code to schedule your appointment. All donors will receive a Bedner’s Swag Bag valued at over $25 as a thank-you gift.
- for houseplant nerds, we have some rare houseplants in stock. Ryan shows us some of them in this week’s Talk to Us Tuesday facebook live video. You can still watch the video by clicking here. He also gives some instruction for how to press and preserve your favorite flowers from the garden.
- our Landscape Team is booked through summer and is now scheduling fall projects. The timeframe from filling out a Landscape Request form, to scheduling a site visit, to getting a proposal and estimate, to the work being completed, could take up to six months. For landscape projects to be completed in the spring, I highly recommend contacting us in the fall or winter.
- this summer beginning Saturday, July 17 we are starting a weekly Community Market Day that will run through December 18. We are inviting quality vendors of all types of handmade and locally produced products, foods and beverages to join us. Interested vendors can contact Ryan at ryan@bednersgreenhouse.com, or call the store and select option 1 for Events.
- we had a great evening last night for our 2nd Wine Down Wednesday event. If you missed it, the next one is July 14. Another fun day at the greenhouse coming up is our Summer Open House, where we will be launching fresh, new plants and products for summer. We’ll have live music, yard games, door prizes, and free watermelon and root beer floats, so mark it on your calendar!
Part of enduring is surrounding yourself with good people who care. As fellow gardeners, we are your people. We are here, cheering you on to success. Let us know how we can help.
Take care,
Melanie
| Russ talks about the varieties of perennial Coreopsis available this week, and some of the features that make Coreopsis a great plant. |
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| Click to watch what Russ Recommends this week. |
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| Pest and disease issues can vary with the season, weather conditions, predator populations, movement, and other biological characteristics of the organism. Here are a couple timely tips from our staff horticulturists of what they are seeing in home gardeners right now:
1) Keep an eye out for aphids!! Populations have been especially bad this year. You can remove aphids by hand, especially when there are only a few or if the plant is small. Also, a strong stream of water a few times a week can help knock down aphids and spider mites, which are coming next. If plants aren’t showing signs of damage, like stunted plant growth, deformed leaves or fruit, or galls, then try these natural remedies and allow time for predators to move in and take care of them for you. Lady beetles and parasitic wasps are examples of beneficial insects that will eat aphids. You can learn more about aphids here.
2) Rain, heat and humidity can often be the perfect storm for the fungus called powdery mildew to thrive. Use a fungicide to treat powdery mildew, or better yet, spray Copper Fungicide regularly as a preventative. For cucumbers, zucchini, and melons, spray them once per week to prevent powdery mildew. This product is also great to prevent black spot on roses. |
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