Friday through Monday, great savings on plants!

Ladybugs and ladybug larvae have a large appetite for aphids.  A ladybug can eat hundreds of aphids in a single day.  Purchase live ladybugs and set them free in your garden at dusk (when they're more likely to settle in for the night and not fly away.)  Shake them out on aphid infested plants so they don't even have to search for food, they can just start eating!

This tiny watering can is just too cute not to share!  It's part of our fairy gardening supplies.

Looking for a summer activity?  We invite you to join us every Monday, starting at 11am to create a fairy garden!  For $30, you'll get everything you need to get started: container, soil, two plants and an accessory from our incredible display of fairy-sized trinkets.  Bring a friend, make it an outing with your kids, or send your babysitter with the kids!

Please all ahead if you're bringing a large group.

It seems like a pretty simple task, but knowing how to properly mow your lawn will help it squeeze out weeds and prevent disease.  Here's our tips for mowing correctly:

• Cut grass once a week.  Try not to remove more than 1/3 of the grass blades in one cutting.
• Let the clippings fall and return nutrients to the soil.  If you pick them up, start a compost pile instead of bagging them.
• Keep mower blades sharp to ensure a clean cut and prevent disease.
• Do a soil test.  It will help you decide what fertilizer to use and how much to apply.
• Change your mowing patter every three weeks to prevent ruts.
• Make turns off the lawn if possible.  It will leave cleaner lines and decrease stress at the turn points.  If you can't, pick up the blades as you turn.
• Mow when the grass is dry so clippings don't clump together.
• Read instructions carefully.  A little fertilizer is good, a lot is not.
• Organic, slow-release fertilizers last longer and don't promote a flush of growth.  They also feed the soil, not just the grass.

The heartbreak of gardening is a harsh lesson, but don't give up on your garden!  It's still early in the season and there's plenty of time to get new plants in the ground.  Our vegetable plants are still inside greenhouses, big and healthy!

Some plant are worth saving, but others are goners.  There's no steadfast rule for hail damaged plants, so use your best judgement to decide a plant's fate. Here's a few tips for rejuvenating your garden:

• Keep as many remaining leaves as possible.  If more than half of a leaf is intact, leave it and let it create energy for the plant.
• Remove broken and shredded leaves, stems and branches.
• Fertilize lightly.  Liquid kelp, fish emulsion and compost tea will help the plant come out of shock and get back to growing, without overwhelming it.
• If you have nothing but stems left, replace your plants.  Peppers and tomatoes take a long time to mature and new plants will do better than damaged, rebounding plants.
• Root crops with no foliage probably won't recuperate.  Give them a few days to allow them to regrow.  If they don't, pull them and plant again, keeping in mind how many days they need to mature.
• Remove flower stems and damaged foliage from perennials.  

We have a great stock of tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash and more!  Replant your garden ASAP and get back on track!

Nature is full of good insects like ladybugs, lacewings and bees.  It's important to plant a variety of host plants for these good insects who come to feast on the bad insects (aphids, whiteflies, thrips.)  You also need to plant perennials that attract pollinators: bees and hoverflies.
Avoid using pesticides.  Many are broad spectrum and will kill the good insects along with the bad.  If you wipe out the population of beneficial insects, you're left to fight the pests by yourself.  Choose a safer alternative to pesticides, like Bt or spinosad.


Good plants to attract ladybugs and lacewings:

• yarrow
• dill
• queen anne's lace
• tansy
• butterfly weed
• coriander

Good plants to attract bees and hoverflies:

• lavender
• feverfew
• poppy mallow
• globe lily
• cosmos
• queen anne's lace
• pennyroyal
• statice
• stonecrops
• French marigold
• sweet alyssum