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