January
You’ve heard, of course, of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter? Well, at North Star Nursery, we’ve created another one: Bareroot Season.
Bareroot Season covers a very short period of time between the middle of January until right around March 1st. Bareroot Season happens during the coldest time of the year because that’s when the bareroot plants are dormant and can be easily plucked from the ground and shipped first to us and then to your garden. In spring, when the weather warms up and the plants start awakening, they find themselves planted at your house, and because they were asleep when they were transplanted, they suffer virtually no transplant shock.
We always have lots of large, healthy bareroot plants to choose from – fruit trees like apples, cherries, plums, pears, plumcots, and peaches; flowering cherry, plum and crabapple trees; lots of roses; Wisterias, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries; and vegetables like artichokes and asparagus. (Plus more).
All the varieties we’ve selected do very well in our area and if planted correctly and carefully, they’ll take off in the spring and bring you years and years of enjoyment.
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Careful and correct planting is the key here.
There ’s a saying in the nursery business: You don’t plant a twenty dollar tree in a two dollar hole.
We recommend that you dig a big hole enriched with Firmulch soil amendment and SureStart fertilizer. And if you have gophers in your yard, you’ll need a gopher cage also. The success of your bareroot plant depends on the care you take in planting it!
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February
I know it seems really early to be thinking about begonias and dahlias and glads and lilies, but believe it or not, February is the time to start getting those bulbs in the ground so you can enjoy their beautiful blooms this summer. Bulbs are the absolute easiest thing to grow because all the work has been done for you! That little dried up looking bulb has stored all its energy and is just waiting for you to pop it into the ground (with some Bulb Food or Bone Meal, of course) so that it can begin to grow and flower.
And speaking of bulbs, did you know that a potato is a bulb too? Well, sort of. It's actually a tuber, but then so are dahlias. Anyway, February is potato month -- that's when you'll find certified seed potatoes in the nursery.
So get out there folks! February may be cold and rainy, but there's a bright sun just behind those clouds and hope for great gardening just around the corner! |
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March
Yahoo! Spring is here! March is the month we've been waiting for! And at North Star we're ready to help out all you gardeners whose fingers have been itching all winter to get back into the dirt.
And speaking of dirt -- How's yours? Do you need to spiff it up a bit after the winter rains? Try putting some Firmulch Soil Amendment in it. And you might as well add some organic fertilizer as long as you're at it. Your soil will thank you for the food. Yes, I said your SOIL will thank you. Most of the organic fertilizers we carry have the latest ingredients to feed your soil built right in - in addition, or course, to the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that the plants need. The humic acid and micchorhizal fungi included in these fertilizers are just what your soil needs to keep it healthy and to help it grow your plants.
We're getting fresh shipments of great plants every week and we're fully stocked up with all the potting soil, soil amendments and fertilizers and mulches you'll need to get your spring garden off to a great start. And don't
forget those fabulous, locally grown vegetable starts we're famous for. We've got lots of them in stock now too and fresh crops coming in every week.
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It's your last chance to get your summer blooming bulbs in the ground now too. Dahlias and glads, begonias, freesias and sparaxis, colored callas and many more. It's not too late, but they'll be going, going, gone by the end of the month.
We're open 7 days a week
Come see us!
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April
It's Spring!
And as all you gardeners know, this time of year, gardening is all about the weather -- Whether to plant potatoes or onions or both! Whether to put your tomato plants in the greenhouse or to plant them directly into the vegetable bed, right out in the weather! Whether to grow pole beans or bush beans, or whether to use Maxsea Fertilizer or EB Stone Organic Fertilizers. Whether to till up that empty plot and put in a new Perennial Bed -- or whether to worry about the weather!
At North Star Nursery, we're here
to help with all your "whether" questions. Whether you're a new gardener, just starting to get your fingers dirty, or a more seasoned gardener considering whether or not to incorporate mycorrhizal fungi into your plantings, we're happy to see you and to help you if we can.
Whatever the weather, 7 days a week we're here to help you get your garden going! We're getting fresh shipments of great plants every week, and we're fully stocked with all the soil amendments, fertilizers and mulches you'll need to get your garden off to a great start. We've got a huge selection of beautiful pottery and our perennial tables are overflowing with the latest plant introductions as well as your old favorites!
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We're also going full speed ahead with our own locally grown vegetable starts. We're growing some unusual and hard-to-come-by lettuces with names like "Nancy" and "Firecracker" in addition to the old standby's like "Black-Seeded Simpson" and "Red Sails". Have you tried Red Bok Choy? It's not only delicious and really good for you, but it's also beautiful in the garden. Why not plant it in your perennial border and use it as an accent plant until it's big enough to eat?
Do you like that idea? We've got lots of other good ideas and plenty of information to share.
North Star Nursery.
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May
To many gardeners May is the busiest, and best, month in the garden. It’s the time of year when you can finally get out there and start the cleanup – and the results are of all your hard work are quickly obvious and satisfying. It’s the month when you can get down to planting your summer crops of vegetables and you can re-do your hanging baskets, your pots, and your perennial beds.
The days are getting longer and the nights are getting warmer and everybody, it seems, is planting food! Lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, beets, chard, peas, leeks, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes – and there’s still room in that vegetable plot for carrots, onions and beans!
If you’re old enough, you’ll remember back to late 1973 when the Arab Oil Embargo resulted in rapidly escalating gas prices and shortages. That was the start of a back-to-the-land movement when many of us became interested in food-production gardening, thinking “Maybe I’m going to have to know how to do this someday.” We sort of lost that motivation during the 80’s when the movement became back-to-the-office and home vegetable gardening began to decline and continued to decline through the 1990’s. When 2000 came around, vegetable gardening started to grow again slowly at first until the last two years when it’s really taken off – and again we’re thinking “Maybe I’m going to have to know how to do this someday.”There’s a great interest in having a local supply of food – buy your food within the county, state, country you live in – and even better, get it out of your own back yard.
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Not just for economic reasons – sure gas prices are higher and grocery store prices are sky-rocketing – but there’s a deeper reason to grow your own food – it’s good for the soul – it keeps you in touch with reality, brings you back to nature, improves your quality of life – it’s good, hard work and it makes you feel great – sore muscles, dirty fingernails and all!
So use these summer months to do a little vegetable gardening. It doesn’t really take that much room to grow vegetables – many people have a wonderful crop in a half-barrel or two! At North Star Nursery we’ve got lots of ideas for growing food – stop by and see us – we’re happy to share.
North Star Nursery
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June
We’ve set this website up with the hope that it will be both educational and inspirational. So enough with the educational for a while. Let’s take a look at the inspirational! Garden art and ornaments are a great way to add some pizzazz to the landscape and here are some ideas for you to try – these pictures are all taken here at the nursery where we try to use our plant displays to give you ideas to take home and try on your own.
June is a great month to get down to decorating. Your vegetable beds should be in about now and your weeding and cleaning up should be almost complete. And the kids are out of school pretty soon so why not get them out there to help you? It’s great exercise and gets them outside in our pristinely fresh air and away from their computers, tv’s and other electronic doo-dads that I probably don’t even know about.
So take a look at these pictures and see if you can take some inspiration from them this summer.
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At North Star Nursery we’ve got lots of ideas for growing food, and decorating your lovely garden – stop by and see us – we’re happy to share.
North Star Nursery
Come see us!
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