From The Cyber DeskGreat Showering

April 2015

We’re drying out from the rain, but still shivering!This April has flown by like a rotten tomato at a bad movie screen. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were telling people to wait patiently for the frost date, but now spring is in full spring and we can’t seem to stay ahead of the phone calls, the customer, and the trucks, oh so many trucks. We’re keeping our sanity, however, by knowing that we’re doing our best to remain the best dog gone nursery in the upstate!There will be some changes made..As my man Bob Dylan says “The times they are a changing’”, and here at the nursery is no different. We’ve got a bigger staff than ever, we’ve got more plants than ever, and we’ve gotten more compliments than ever. Since this is making our egos huge, we want to make sure you get the most out of your visit. I’ll be sending out a customer visit survey for you to complete and let us know what we can do to help you make your trip to the nursery more enjoyable. ANDWe will be introducing for the first time ever, a second register (gasp!). We’re going to have it located outside for those that want to pop in and out as quickly as possible. This is going to be a big step for us. So bear with us!Come visit us soon, okay?

Did you know:We can grow lilacs here! For those of our

favorite customers that have moved here from the north, prepare to be, well,

appeased. The ‘Miss Kim’ Lilac and the ‘Bloomarang’ Lilac will provide you with

the stereotypical lilac bloom but on a compact bush form. The ‘Miss Kim’ has

just started to break out and the ‘Bloomarang’ is not far behind.

But wait, there’s more!The ‘Bloomarang’ is actually even better

than the old Syringa vulgaris that you might be used to. This one will bloom over

and over again throughout the summer (with a little deadheading needed).

Get your lilac fix today!

April showers better bring May flowers…

oh wait, we’ve already gotten

plenty!

Monday – Saturday 8:00 – 6:00 Closed Sundays

From The South Pleasantburg Nursery Cyber Desk

www.spnursery.com

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(Table Of Contents)(Table Of Contents)

• Inspiration…Snapshots from the Nursery• Color combo of chaotic porportions!• A fuzzy little flower that looks like a caterpillar.• A flower that is named after a Crayola – or vice versa.• Hiyaaabissscuusss.• But it’s called Carolina Geranium!• Flashback From 2014 (um, that wasn’t that long ago!)• Those aren’t really grapes, are they??• Question And Answers From The Pond • Lower your hypertension with your pond• Spotlight Plant – Columbine (not the Townes Van Zandt

song)• Five Minute Garden Chores• Cyber Geek says, “I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know

when I’ll be back again.”(Don’t forget, all photos are interactive, click away!)

Plant Combo Of The Month: Pack a punch of colorIt’s easy to be overwhelmed with annuals this time of year and put a lot of time and effort into loading your yard full of them. That doesn’t have to be the case, though, with this assortment of colorful perennials for the shade. Starting in the middle, the bright pink flowers erupt from the Astilbe plant this time of year in the shade. To the right the frail frond of the Ghost Fern steals the show for the rest of the summer with it’s dusty grey and white fronds. Just to give a little pop of color, we included the Variegated New Guinea Impatien for foliar interest. Of course, that one IS an annual, but it’s a lot easier to have to replace one or two plants a year as opposed to the whole bed!

Inspiration…Snapshots From The Nursery

Pictures are never worth enough words this time of year. Walking around the nursery with camera in hand I was overwhelmed by awesome things erupting from plants all over the place.

Top center is the red Celosia, a fuzzy, exotic looking annual. The

blossom almost resembles a fuzzy caterpillar and will love the

sunshine. To the right, we have a fantastic Asiatic Lily in full

spectacular bloom. Take notice of the sweet freckles on each flower petal. On the bottom, we have the

Fuschia, a complex flower with easy growing requirements! Stick this fantastic annual in the shade and enjoy it’s delicate buds erupt in to fantastic blooms all summer

long!

Make sure you check us out on Pinterest to see all of these photos in their full resolution and to share them with your friends on your

Pinterest board! Sharing is caring!

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Take a trip to the tropics without leaving town!

Leatherleaf MahoniaSometimes people just focus on the flowers in the world and disregard the other unique attributes of shrubs. The Leatherleaf Mahonia is one of those underused landscape plants that will keep you smiling for years to come. Bright spikes of yellow flowers in early spring make way for these delightful purple, blue, and green berries. The Birds love them, they love them A LOT!

Nothing makes you feel like you’re someplace far away like exotic flowers!We’re all about travelling here at the nursery, but at the same time, we’re all about creating a garden to watch grow. Instead of spending all of your money on an exciting vacation to somewhere that you may or may not be able to drink the water, why not invest it in some tropical plants you can enjoy from the comfort of your own back yard. We’ve got beautiful Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Dipledenia, Boganvillia…the list is really quite impressive. Perks of planting some of these tropical is that you get to enjoy that “exotic feel” every single day when you wake up in the morning. We promise, nothing will put a smile on your face more than a big old hibiscus flower showing off to you. We have different sizes starting at $12.98 and more! Don’t forget your Fafard container mix!

Nikki Weed’s Weed Of The MonthI’ll be honest, I really like this weed. Not only does it have a fantastic foliage that smells when crushed, the little flower is just as sweet as can be. I also really like it because it has a really bad attitude and can take over your flower beds like The Mongolians took over China. The great news about my favorite herbaceous weed is that it’s relatively easy to get up by the roots if you’re ready to get on your knees and pull. Otherwise a good topical herbicide is Weed Beater RTU by Bonide. You can spray it not only in the yard, but in your beds (use caution though, only spray the weeds!)

Cle-Mat-Is Cle-Mahhh-Tiss Clem-atis

However you decide to pronounce it, the flowers are stunning!There are so many wrong ways to say plant names, personally I really like hearing people try to say “Heuchera”, but Clematis is another one of those. Clematis is a woody vine with excellent cold tolerance and color variety. This vine, unlike some of the other more aggressive sorts (like Swamp Jessamine), is greatly suited for mailboxes and smaller containers. Clematis can be a bit fussy to get started, but a good rule of thumb is to keep their roots cool and their tops hot. Pretty much make sure there is a good layer of mulch on the root ball and plenty of sunshine to the leaves. Your roots are also going to be happier in a most, slightly alkaline soil, so you might want to grab a little bag of lime before you leave. Select a plant that seems to be happy and healthy lacking yellow leaves and without signs of being pot bound. Of course, our plants are the best, so you don’t have to worry about that! Check them out, they really are a sight to see.

South Pleasantburg Flash BackIt was just April of last year when Jim’s new truck rolled over the 10,000 miles mark. We’ve come a long way as far as trucks are concerned and want to make sure you know that we DO offer delivery! Delivery prices start at $25 for the immediate area and are negotiable for areas a little further out. We also install small scale plantings and set up fountains. We do it all, no wonder we rolled over 10,000!

SPN Pond Q & A:

Is there anything I can plant in my pond and eat?

Water lilies, it seems like everyone has them and everybody wants them, but really, there is a submersible plant that is even COOLER than the water lily – the lotus. You might think of lotus as being an exotic car from Britain or even a groovy jam band from the early 2000’s. Lotus is actually one of our favorite pond plants due to the sheer size, blooms and interesting foliage!

My pond looks really awesome most of time, but I really feel I need some cool new plants, what can you recommend?

That’s a great question, and I’m glad to be able to answer it with a big fat YES! Water Celery (which is neither water OR celery) can be grown in a floating island planter or as a marginal around the sides of your ponds. This plant, also known as Japanese Parsley. This plant has been used for centuries in Asia to treat Hypertension, jaundice, and even just panic attacks. Although other members of this aquatic plant family can be toxic, this one is safe. Use in the kitchen can range from being chopped up on salads, cooked up into greens (like you would spinach) or even just as a substitute for Parsley as a garnish. The health benefits are incredible, but the foliage is even more interesting with white margins with peaks of pink thrown in. I’m going to go eat some now, I feel some stress coming one!

Answering the tough questions about ponds, fish, and water plants.

The leaves are actually super-hydrophobic, so anytime water comes into contact with the surface of the leaf, it will become uncomfortable in it’s state and try to create the smallest surface area possible, which leads it to bead up into a tiny pearl like water drop. This phenomenon is actually called “The Lotus Effect”. Did we mention they have really cool flowers, too?

Do you have a question you’d like to ask the Cyber Geek? Feel free to shoot her an email with your questions and you might just see

them featured in the next edition of From The Cyber Desk!

Spotlight Plant:Columbine - Aquilegia

…”The perfect little blossoms that dangle atop thread thin stems and bounce in the breeze like a kite in the clouds.”The Columbine is one of those old time perennials that you might remember seeing in your grandmothers garden. Fact of the matter, the Aquilegia is derived from the Latin word for eagle (aquila), because the shape of the flower petals, which are said to resemble an eagle's claw. The common name "columbine" comes from the Latin for "dove", due to the resemblance of the inverted flower to five doves clustered together.

Columbine is an incredibly winter hardy perennial, surviving up to Zone 3! The soil needs for it are simple, fairly well drained, fairly fertile, and fairly sunny in the morning time. They can tolerate some afternoon sun, but they really have to be kept hydrated in order to stay good looking.

Native Americans snacked on them back in the olden days.The prarie, when food was sparse, native americans would pluck the flowers and use it as a sort of garnish for their food. It doesn’t really have a therapeutic value as far as medicinal purposes are concerned, but they did look at is as a tasty treat. The seeds and roots, however, should not be snacked on and are considered toxic (but really, you don’t want to grow it to eat).

Columbine also reseeds itself, giving you more flowers for years to come. You can harvest the seeds, however, don’t expect blooms to appear on them until the second year.

Columbine is also VERY good for bees and hummingbirds, so if you’re trying to do your part to save the bees, planting a stand of columbine would get you in the right direction.

Five Minute Garden Chores: Yup, this is it folks, get out there and start getting your annuals in the ground right now! Get shopping as soon as possible so that you can take advantage of this cool planting weather.Don’t forget that you can start fertilizing your grass now, except if you have Fescue, leave that stuff alone. Churn your mulch in the flower and shrub beds around your house. Doing this will help the decomposition process occur and help to charge your soil with nitrogen and organic matter.Prune your spring flowering shrubs such as Forsythia and certain azaleas that have finished two weeks after the last flower falls. Get a good calculation of how much mulch or pine needles you’re going to need to do a light spring top dressing. Good mulching helps your plants stay hydrated.Get out there and throw your spring fertilizer on your flowers and shrubs, Plant Tone is great, as well as Flower Tone for your perennials.Plant your veggies now, too! We’ve got all sorts of organic and conventionally grown veggies that would be happy to come live with you in your garden.

Nikki’s Craft Corner – Step Right Up!

And now…a word from our Cyber Geek…

Five minute craft corner!How cool would it be to walk down your garden path and know that every single stepping stone that was in the ground was one that you made with your very own hands! This can be true, and all you need are some really cool blue rubber gloves, a pie tin, and some quick mix concrete.But that’s not allBefore you dump your concrete into the pie tin, take some time and find some interesting rocks, plate pieces, toys, anything really, and pour the concrete on top of it. After the concrete hardens, you’ll be able to pop your stepping stone out and have a very customized stone for you to step on. These would make pretty cool gifts, or even a project to do with smaller kids. Show your stones to us on our facebook.

“I'm the plowman in the valley with a face full of mud.”Just when I think I’m getting caught up, there is this wave of new stuff that always comes and jostles me out of my mindset of finally getting ahead. Being overwhelmed is a common statement throughout this newsletter, but it doesn’t always have to be plant related overwhelming circumstances. Take a moment to be thankful for the things in life that aren’t overwhelming like being able to sit out and watch the sun set over a fantastic South Carolina sky, enjoying a good cup of coffee and reading the paper, or just getting a really good hug from a really good friend. Take time for the simple things, the birds and the bees, peanut butter and jelly, heavy metal and windows rolled down. . . Wait, scratch that last one.

Signing off,Nikki WeedCyber GeekPlant BuffBattling Demonswww.nikkiweed.wordpress.com