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Latham
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Have a Look
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Be a Guest Gardener:
Gardeners love to learn from other gardeners "over the fence." We would love to include a tour and/or an article from one of our readers!
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Contact Information:
E-Mail:
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to contact us.
Telephone:
(518) 785-4210
Address:
240 Wade Road Extension
(opposite Target)
Latham, NY 12110
Hours:
7 Days A Week
8 AM to 7 PM
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Featured Quote :
"One kind word can warm three winter months."
~ Japanese Proverb
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"That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"
William Shakespeare
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The presence of roses in gardens transcends time. Roses have always been, are today, and will forever be, not only a plant member of our gardens but most often the featured plant in our gardens. And this happens simply by default, because nothing has as great a floral color impact in your garden as a rose.
Humans have an ongoing love affair with roses. And to that end, we have created many different garden designs, most of which leave space for the rose. Whatever your garden style, a rose is a welcome addition.
Roses in English gardens are tucked in with lavender, foxglove, daisies, and delphinium. They appear in wildflower gardens with poppies, forget-me-not, love-in-a-mist and clarkias; they stand in rows in formal rose gardens and gather in circles in the informal rose garden, and please believe us, they are in vegetable gardens too. Roses are planted en masse as a flowering hedge, roses are planted in commercial settings, roses are in our cemeteries, and roses are growing in the wild. We think you may be getting the picture.
There are thousands of different roses, wild or species, hybrids, old roses and modern roses. There are China roses, Gallica roses, Damask roses, moss roses, Bourbon roses, hybrid perpetual roses, rugosa roses, macranth roses, ramblers, and polyanthas. And we haven't even begun to talk about the roses in our garden center!
We welcome you to join us in the garden center for a stroll through the roses. Don’t forget to leave a few spaces in your garden for your favorite ones. |
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Hydrangeas are one of the most popular plants in America. They can be grown indoors or outside in the garden, allowing their blooms to be enjoyed at any time of the year. Florist-grown hydrangeas can provide double the enjoyment since their flowers can be enjoyed indoors first, and then be pruned back and transplanted outdoors for a second bloom later in the season.
The two most popular types of hydrangea are mophead and lacecap. Mopheads have large, rounded heads, while lacecaps have a smaller cluster of flowers surrounded by a halo of larger flowers around their edge.
Most hydrangeas grown today come in shades of pink, blue or white. In many varieties, the color can be altered with the addition of lime or aluminum sulfate.
In the garden, hydrangeas do best in a morning sun, afternoon shade location and look great when planted under trees or other larger shrubs. Keep your plants watered regularly so the soil is moist but not wet. Most hydrangeas perform best when fed a couple of times during the growing season with an acid food.
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A flower garden, dangling like a colorful jeweled earring from the eave of your home. Yes, a hanging floral bouquet, the hanging basket--filled full to the brim with flowers and plants from the season, whether that is spring, summer or fall.
A design concept is important for you to consider when building your own hanging basket. You will need to choose a style or theme. For example, perhaps you want all of the same kinds of plants or flowers, or you might choose to have a single color scheme, while others might choose complementary colors or contrasting colors. A hanging basket with all flowers can be fun, and a mixed basket with flowers and foliage plants can be even more interesting.
A hanging basket makes a wonderful statement when it contains both upright and trailing plants. Make sure, however, that the plants that you choose for the upright feature will remain within the scale of the container that you have chosen.
Did we mention containers? There are many choices of containers, too. Wire baskets lined with moss, plastic pots with built in hangers, pots hanging with woven ropes--your ultimate choice will depend on the look that you are creating.
So, you've decided upon your theme, have an idea of the plants that you want and have chosen the container. Excellent. Next you need to prepare your potting mix. Select a high quality potting mix and mix in a controlled-release fertilizer. Also, remember that moisture retention is frequently a problem with hanging baskets (and all containers, for that matter), so mix in a soil polymer that will hold on to the moisture between waterings.
If you have chosen to create a succulent hanging basket, you will need cactus mix, but probably not the slow-release fertilizer or the moisture polymer.
Planting is the next step. Fill your container about 2/3 to 3/4 full with the potting mixture. Carefully remove your new plants from their nursery containers and place them in the container. Don't hesitate to move them around until you are thrilled with the arrangement. Keep in mind which ones are upright growers, and place them in the center. Trailing flowers/plants should be near the edge, of course.
Once the plants are arranged to your satisfaction, fill in between plants with your potting mixture and water well. Remember that, even if you did use the moisture retention polymer, containers dry out far more quickly that plants in the ground. You will need to water several times a week or even more frequently in hot weather.
What's next, you wonder? Watching your own creative design grow to maturity.
Take your time to come into the garden center and look through our selection of flowering and foliage plants. We'll be delighted to help you become a great hanging floral bouquet designer!
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All gardeners are brought to the act of gardening by a moment of crystalline clarification; a childhood moment at lake’s edge where the moonlight bounces off of the water: a hike through the woods when a sudden shaft of sunlight illuminates the soft lime green of a moss bed: a field trip to the botanical garden where exotics make you heady with their fragrance, and the colors and textures surrounding you make you feel as if you’re in the center of an Impressionist painting.
A gardener has the ability to recreate these moments; we have only to plant a silvery night garden, keep a Phalaenopsis orchid on our desk at work, and fill every available nook and cranny with annuals and perennials that will color our world. Even those new to gardening can have that woodland paradise in their own back yard by planting a moss garden. In fact, since moss thrives in shade, it’s the perfect substitute for a lawn that you’ve had difficulty in keeping healthy due to lack of light! Large shade trees such as maple, oak, or ash often are challenges to the quest for a uniformly green lawn. Here moss is the ideal replacement for turf grass. If you are a sufferer of grass allergies, get rid of the watery eyes, itchy throat and sneezing by planting pollen-free moss. Our gardens should be our sanctuaries, our at-home vacation spots that give us assuagement from our daily stresses. The color green has been proven to reduce stress, and moss provides the widest range of vibrant, revitalizing greens in Nature. As the Japanese have known for centuries, moss gardens add serenity and a timeless quality to your garden that will result in eliciting a calm, contemplative state of mind.
An increasingly desirable, low-maintenance alternative to grass lawns, moss is also perfect for rock gardens, water gardens, ponds, fern gardens, or as an unusual ground cover in shady areas. With over 15,000 species of moss growing on Earth, these easy-to-grow plants are Bryophytes, a non-vascular plant that does not produce flowers or seeds, and is easily planted on rocks or bare soil. With rhizoids rather than roots, they don’t ask for much when you are choosing where to plant, and in return provide erosion control and rapid reproduction. Moss is not affected by temperatures, other than to slow its growth during the hottest and driest months of the year. In fact, moss can dry out and remain dormant until the next rain, seldom dying completely. It is because of this that Sphagnum moss covers 1% of the Earth’s surface!
Here we will examine four mosses, each of which will thrive in a different venue. Fern moss (Thuidium) is a medium green moss that is perfect for heavy foot traffic. Low-growing, it will tolerate some dappled sunlight, but loves the shade. Perfect for beneath vined pergolas. Cushion moss (Leucobryum) is the choice for your planting beds, with its light green color that sports a silver-white cast. It grows well in sandy soil, and will tolerate some partial sun, but does not take well to being trod upon. Haircap moss (Polytrichum) prefers medium shade and well-drained soil. It anchors with fibers that function somewhat similarly to roots, and is an upright grower with a bright green color. For your rock garden and as an accent to your water features, the moss that you remember from your woodland walks is the Rock Cap moss (Dicranum). Medium to dark green, it needs full shade, and grows on rocks and boulders. If you are planting your moss in an area where there will occasionally be patches of full sun, use the Bryum mosses, the moss most commonly found on walls or in sidewalk cracks, or Grimmia moss, another more sun-tolerant variety. A good guide is to check out your own property, find where the moss is growing, and that will tell you where conditions are optimal.
You can buy moss, but there are less expensive ways of accruing it; transplant from your own property, from public property such as sidewalk cracks, or check with your neighbors to see if they might be willing to part with some of their moss. Dig it up with a flat shovel, ensuring at least an inch of soil beneath the moss mat. If removing it from rocks, use a putty knife. To this gardener, the most amusing way to plant your moss garden is to take a clump of moss, crumble it into your blender, add 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 cups of water, and blend at the lowest speed until thoroughly mixed and the consistency of a thin milk shake, adding a little water if necessary. Paint this mixture onto rocks, or simply pour it on the ground where you’d like your moss to grow!
As with any planting, first prepare the site. Eliminate all grass before planting your moss--Glyphosate-containing herbicides such as Roundup® will kill the grass. Clear all debris such as twigs and leaves, raking clear the soil with an iron rake; then tamp the soil down as moss objects to loose soil. Simply lay down the moss, tamping firmly once again, water well for 2 to 3 weeks, and avoid heavy foot traffic as it establishes. During hot dry seasons, a gentle misting will be your gift to your moss.
It may take a couple of seasons for a moss lawn to completely establish, or for your favorite boulders in your rock garden to be carpeted in green moss, but won’t it have been well worth it? |
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Homegrown peppers are fun to grow, healthful for you, and packed with flavor. They taste great whether eaten fresh, roasted or sautéed. Many people start with one variety and quickly discover it's even more fun to experiment and grow multiple varieties that produce a medley of flavors.
The biggest mistake gardeners make is planting their pepper plants too early. You can start them from seed indoors early in spring, but it's best not to transplant starter plants until the soil has warmed and night temperatures stay above 55-60 degrees.
Peppers do best in well-amended soil, so make sure to amend your vegetable bed before planting. They prefer a long, moderate growing season. If it is too cool, peppers might not quite ripen fully, and the fruit won't set well when daytime temperatures stay above 90 degrees (shading them some can help during a string of hot days).
It's very important to keep the soil consistently moist; otherwise the peppers can crack or get sun scald. Unless your soil is naturally high in calcium, make sure to apply a rich organic plant food high in calcium at the time of planting and every two months during the growing season. This helps prevent blossom-end rot.
Once your peppers change to their mature color, it's time for harvesting. Then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
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How much sun can shade plants tolerate and how much shade can sun plants tolerate?
Answer:
This question is a bit more complex than it looks, since it depends partly on location. In Alaska, a full-shade plant might do best in dappled shade. In Florida a full-sun plant may well need some afternoon shade. The specific location can make a difference too; full-sun plants near light colored walls and patios may be able to take more shade because they get reflected light.
In general, most sun plants need at least five hours of full sun per day during the growing season. It doesn't matter when they get shade as long as they receive at least five hours of sunlight. Any less, and plants will most likely show little growth or vigor, fewer or no blooms and have a thin, spindly appearance.
Most shade plants can handle morning sun (before 10 a.m.) and late afternoon sun (after 5 p.m.)--but no direct sunlight between those hours. Shade plants that are exposed to direct sunlight for more than 20-30 minutes during these midday hours will generally burn, with the leaves exhibiting leaf scorch spots or burning completely brown.
If you have a plant that you discover is in the wrong location, wait until the early evening hours to transplant to a more appropriate spot. (If it's a shade plant in too much sun, try to shade it with something until you can get it moved.)
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What You'll Need:
- 1 large russet potato, peeled and quartered
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and quartered
- 1 cup corn
- 1 teaspoon prepared Dijon-style mustard
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and chopped
- 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts
Step by Step:
- Place the russet potato pieces into a large saucepan, and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato, and cook about 15 minutes more. Remove a piece of each potato, and cut it in half to see if it is cooked enough.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add corn kernels; cook another 30 seconds. Drain through a colander.
- Fill the saucepan with cold water, and drop vegetables into water. Cool for 5 minutes, and drain.
- In a large bowl, whisk together mustard, lime juice, cilantro, and garlic. Slowly whisk in oil. Mix in salt and black pepper.
- Cut cooled potatoes into 1 inch cubes, and add to dressing along with cucumber and red onion. Toss well.
- Serve at room temperature or chilled.
- Toss the peanuts in just before serving.
Yield: 5 servings
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