"Newsletter"

Lots of healthy plants at Mayflower Greenhouse.

Hello Plant Lovers,

Planting season is winding down and it's time to remind our friends about the importance of good maintenance once your Mayflower plants are in the ground or in your containers. Mayflower goes the extra mile to make sure the plants you purchase perform optimally once you get them home. However, even the best quality plants won't last or provide the colorful show you expect if they are neglected or, as is sometimes the case, killed with a little too much tender loving care.

Fertilizing

When we travel around the state speaking on container gardening, we get a lot of questions on fertilization of annual plants. The tendency is to overfeed. If a little is good, more is better. With flowering plants that's not exactly the case. Too much fertilizer may result in an excess of foliage and a floppy plant. Better to use a little less fertilizer than recommended on the bottle and adding more only if the plant lacks vigor.

We like to recommend an application of time release fertilizer at planting time and then applications of dilute liquid fertilizer during the growing season. Osmacote is a reliable and readily available time release fertilizer. Locally produced (Door County) Watch Us Grow has proven effective for us. If you're into natural, non-chemical fertilizers fish emulsion is also produced locally. For those of you with access to a nearby horse owner, well-aged horse manure placed in the bottom of your container provides adequate fertilization as the season wears on as plant roots penetrate further down into the container. Try to avoid pre-fertilized commercial soils - a kind of one-size-fits-all approach. Each plant in your container garden probably originated in a very different ecological niche. Some are heavy feeders, some need little water. A little research into where a plant comes from can help a lot. Is it a desert native or did it come from the jungles of Central America? In the end it's best to get up close and personal with your plants. They will let you know when they need to be fed and watered - if you take the time to get to know them.

Above: Planted Tuba from "Jazz in the Garden" program. Below left: Instrument Fountain.

Summer Time Potpourri

The spring time rush to buy and plant annuals is over at Mayflower, so now is a great time to do some leisurely shopping. There's a lot of summer (and outdoor entertaining) left so why not stop in and check out our great selection of containers - and plants to put in them - to dress up your deck or patio. Our website shows samples of pots, fountains and statuary at Pots 'n Stuff. Add a little "music" to your garden - make sure you check out the instrument-themed planters created for our recent "Jazz in the Garden" party. A number of them are available for sale, and we continue to develop new ones for your "listening" pleasure.

Annuals and Perennials

Many people think of Mayflower for our extraordinary selection of annuals (over 1600 of them), but we also carry a wide variety of perennials (nearly 600 different varieties). Now is an excellent time to plant them.

Above: Mayflower garden shows off perennials, herbs and annuals.

They're looking good on our benches and will look even better in your garden. Check out both Perennials and Fall plants in our online Plant List. Need ideas on putting a perennial garden together? We'd be happy to assist in the design process. You can also check out our display garden. It has many outstanding examples of annuals, perennials and herbs artfully combined along meandering paths.

Suggest Ideas for 2010 Programs

The growing season is far from over but our spring programming is, and we're already starting to plan for next year's offerings. As always we're interested in what you're interested in. So, if you have suggestions for a class, a trip or social event, make sure you let us know at Contact Us.

Summer Travel Tip

Finally, a summer travel tip. Our friend and colleague, Glenn Spevacek, just returned from his annual photography expedition. He came back raving about the exquisite displays at both the Chicago and Olbrich Botanic Gardens. He was especially impressed with the show at Olbrich. He said, "Jeff Epping and his crew have outdone themselves this year". Keep Mayflower Greenhouse in your travel plans because at the end of the day, "There's no place like home."