Yesterday's Flowers for Today's Gardens

February 21, 2019

We Don’t Hibernate #2

WE DON’T HIBERNATE #2 Where or where is spring? Aaurg! Winter won’t go away. Nevertheless we’re busy. Here are a few pink-flowered plants to remind you that there’s hope. Welcome spring with Geum triflorum Prairie smoke, hardy in Z 1-8 meaning it survives everything everywhere. Its hair-like, pink seed heads, like the hair on a […]

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February 6, 2019

We Don’t Hibernate

There’s Snow on the Ground We Survived the Polar Vortex BUT WE DON’T HIBERNATE We’ve been busy growing flowers for you Here are a few of our new (to us) old (to gardens) blue and bluish flowers we’re growing:   Been working on growing this for a few years to grow enough to sell. Finally […]

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January 21, 2019

PLANTS of MEXICAN BOUNDARY EXPEDITION

There’s so much consternation about the Mexican border today. Here’s a story about the survey that established the border in 1849-1850. Of course, planthunters went on the expedition. Really? Do you think this post would be here if it didn’t include flowers? Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican-American War, the U.S. purchased […]

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December 12, 2018

The Garden at Eichstätt

WANT A FLOWER BOOK FOR THE HOLIDAYS? Here’s one of the earliest – c. 1615. Before the English arrived at Jamestown, before James Smith met Pocahontas, Prince Bishop of Eichstätt created a spectacular garden at his palace in Bavaria with plants from around the western world, many imported by merchants in the Netherlands – started […]

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October 9, 2018

It’s Peony Time!

So you think they are spring plants? They bloom in spring but RIGHT NOW in fall is the best time to plant them. If you’re dreaming of spring, we’ve got great peony values. Bare root, dug FRESH when you order. Each peony has at least two eyes. While supplies last. All classics Sarah Bernhardt – […]

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September 18, 2018

“Queen of the Lilies”

“Queen of the Lilies” Lilium auratum Gold Band lily They called it “Queen of the Lilies” in Victorian England. Red spots decorate its recurved pristine white petals with a yellow stripe down the middle of each petal. Queens wear only the best perfume. In late summer its sweet fragrance wafts yards and yards away. A […]

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August 30, 2018

Want to feed the bees now?

It’s a buzz with bees. Now – late summer and fall are a particularly important time to feed bees. This is the VERY BEST shrub /small tree to feed bees at this time. It flowers now when few other shrubs bloom, then turns its white flowers into red calyxes lasting into October. There’s also the […]

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August 15, 2018

Happy Birthday Meriwether Lewis!

You might think of Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and you would be right. But Jefferson tasked Lewis, on the journey, with finding plants. Lewis, with occasional help from William Clark, Sacagawea, and others, found and collected more than 250 plants on the trip from Camp Dubois near […]

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July 31, 2018

Too late to plant?

IS IT TOO LATE TO PLANT? This is for us folks north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Those of you who can grow tropical plants outside in December please ignore this. You can laugh if you want but we can grow Peonies and you can’t so there. Several people here in south-eastern Wisconsin (Z 5) in […]

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June 28, 2018

5 Favorite Perennials for the Dog Days of Summer

Spring is over. Peonies, Anemones, Bleeding hearts gone, done, sayonara until next spring. All’s not lost. Many flowers can color your garden in the coming dog days. Here are some of our favorites. Gaillardia aristata  Blanket Flower.  Yellow and red daisy petals surround red cones non-stop, June-October, a true winner.           […]

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