PPA (PERENNIAL PLANT ASSOCIATION) HAS DESIGNATED JUNE AS PERENNIAL GARDENING MONTH AND FOR GOOD REASONS. June has been tagged as Perennial Gardening Month by PPA. The main reason behind selecting June is that June is a great month for seeing so many beautiful perennials in bloom. Secondly, June is a great month for planting perennials….
June—fresh local strawberries are here—in your own backyard—or at a local Farmers Market. Fresh peas, spring onions, fresh beets, the first of the summer’s cucumbers and squash—they’re all in season! Perfect timing for National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, isn’t it? I’m a huge fan of eating fresh—whether it’s from my garden, a generous neighbor…
HERE ARE SOME TIMELY GARDENING TASKS THAT NEED TO BE DONE IN JUNE. We are entering June on a wet note. We had record rainfall for the month of May. Our rivers, streams, and reservoirs are full and overflowing, which is a good thing as we enter the hot summer months. A cool April and…
By the way, PETRICHOR is defined as “THE SMELL OF EARTH AFTER RAIN”. To a gardener, rain is generally a welcome blessing. Rainfall and plants are usually a match made in heaven. We sure have had our share of rainfall, and petrichor, this past week in the Richmond area. Going into this latest rainfall, we were about…
Should you mulch your vegetable garden? Well, it can help with such problems as weeds and conserve moisture. But what you use on a vegetable garden is almost as important as what you put in it. Here are some options: Black Plastic–Black plastic mulch can warm the soil. Earlier in the spring, around the end…
Over the past month, The Great Big Greenhouse and Meadows Farms Nursery have sold thousands of hanging baskets. Blooming hanging baskets are a staple for adding color to decks, patios, porches, and balconies. Although they are an instant way to add color to our outdoor space, they do require a bit of care to stay…
Seems like almost every day, I get asked: “What do I have to do to be successful with my tomatoes?” So here are a few things we need to know. Tomatoes need FULL sun! Anything less and their productivity goes down. If you only get five hours of good, strong, midday sun, you’ll still get…
Spring is finally here to stay and this is such a beautiful time of year for The Great Big Greenhouse when it comes to flowering shrubs, perennials, annuals, and hanging baskets. Our selection is almost overwhelming with all this beauty. And, what a perfect time to have so much color especially with Mother’s Day this…
I’ve had several customers this week asking about growing pumpkins—and when to plant for a Halloween harvest. So here’s some information about pumpkins… Pumpkins are members of the cucurbit family—that means they are related to squash, cucumbers, and melons. They were a food crop cultivated by Native Americans long before the European settlers ever arrived. …
I don’t want to jinx us but I think spring is finally here to stay. There are a lot of gardening activities going on right now by everyone. It seems everyone is trying to do catch up all at the same time. Our extended forecast looks very promising with some good temperatures and rain in…