August at Wilson's Garden Center

You may ask yourself 'why come in to the garden center in the middle of the summer?' For one reason, most every plant is on sale. We have a great staff and they are keeping all of our plants looking fresh and healthy. You can come in and get flowers to fill in a spot that didn't make it through the rigors of June and July. You can drop in some instant color to enjoy clear until the frosts of October.

Another reason is our professional staff can help solve any problems you have with plants. This is a time of year that plant problems are very evident. Just bring a sample piece of the plant problem you are experiencing, and we will give our best shot to help you solve it.

The last reason I will mention is that we have plants that you haven't noticed previously that are at their best now. There are gorgeous late blooming hydrangeas such as Pinky Winky that you would fall in love with. Silver Lace Vine is loaded with wispy clouds of white flowers now. It is our most vigorous vine growing anywhere. Perennials such as Hibiscus, Sedum, Rudbeckia, and Echinacea are blooming their heads off. Ornamental grasses (Pictured) are blooming and swaying in the breeze. Water lilies are very colorful. Home Run roses (Pictured) are extra red and showing themselves to be very disease resistant. Come on in. We can take care of you quickly so you can be on your way.

It is not too late to plant

Many people have the mentality that it is too late to plant flowers and vegetables after Memorial Day. I think this is a relic from the old "dig and wrap" days when plants were sold bare root and were at risk of perishing when the temperatures got hot. Nowadays that is not the case as the roots are all contained in containers or cells and are ready to burst forth with the application of a little water and fertilizer. At Wilson's Garden Center we are stocked with gorgeous healthy plants ready to perform for you. Flowers planted now will look as established as the earlier planted flowers within 3 weeks. We continue to plant in our display gardens as we know that these plants will be gorgeous all summer. By the way, come on by and take a look at our gardens. They are in tip top shape. There are many new varieties for you to check out that you may want to have in your own gardens. It pays to look at these gardens several times throughout the summer and fall to see how these flowers hold up under the summer heat. Anyway, keep gardening.

A new dogwood tree was mentioned to me when I attended the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association meeting in January this year, and I have been on the lookout for it ever since. I found it from one of our new vendors and ordered it. This new variety is called "Venus" and what a treat it is. The flowers are huge and a beautiful shimmering white. It is a hybrid developed in at Rutgers in New Jersey and should give an outstanding show each Spring. It is supposed to be mildew resistant, drought tolerant, and winter hardy. What more could you ask for? The original trees have grown to about 18 feet, so it can grow in a fairly small space. I know I am planting one in my own yard. They have been selling well and we only have a few left so give us a call before coming to make sure we have any on hand.

Garden Centers: A Fascinating and Frustrating Business

Welcome to the first posting of the Ohio Garden Gabber. The garden center business is fascinating and frustrating at the same time. We are blessed to be able to grow such a wide variety of plants and watch them mature to the proper selling size. It is such fun to try out the new plants and see the looks on our customers faces as they discover them for the first time. Because the main gardening season lasts for about twelve weeks from April through June, we have to orchestrate all of the different plants to be transplanted at the proper time so that we have a good supply over those 12 weeks. Each kind of plant has its own schedule. It is something like conducting a symphony in that all of the different plants need to grow in harmony at the proper time to create a beautiful garden center in the Spring. That is the fascinating part.

The frustrating part is the cool wet weather we have been experiencing. All of the plants are ready to go, but the gardeners are waiting until the weather improves. We know it will improve, but we get impatient. It is a good time now to stop by and shop, as there is more elbow room to look. The staff can help you better as we can devote more time to you. We are opening up at 7 AM on Saturdays in May to allow the crowd to be spread out more. That is a great time to shop as we have early bird specials to encourage people to get out of bed. These early bird specials are only good to 9 AM, our normal time to open. If you have any questions on how we run our business, ask away.

Happy Gardening,

Ned