Planting and caring for a veggie garden can be quite a game. It can be challenging, relaxing, frustrating, rewarding, educational, but most importantly…delicious! Who or what is to blame for the problems we may encounter with our veggie gardens? Let’s blame someone or something, shall we? Let’s blame some of the key players in the veggie garden game. The key players that we are going to use as scapegoats are; temperature, soil, light, and water. Sometimes it’s an insect, sometimes a disease, occasionally Mother Nature plays a part, and often the gardener is the guilty one. Let’s face it, folks, none of us are perfect gardeners! We try. We try so hard but sometimes our schedules get in the way or we are just not sure what to do. Should this stop us? Never! Gardening is one of the healthiest and rewarding hobbies we can ever have.

Let’s place some of the blame for a poor performing veggie garden on temperature. Temperature is a key player in the veggie garden game. If it is erratic, too cold, or too hot, it can foul up the game.

If the soil and air are too cold…

•Vegetable seedlings may grow very slowly and turn yellow.

•Tomatoes may stay “greenback” and fail to ripen at the stem end.

•Flowers may prematurely bolt and bloom.

•Leaves may brown and melt away at the tips due to frost.

If temperatures are too hot…

•Leaves may turn brown along the edges and tips from leaf scorch.

•Crops may be stunted.

•Produce can be strongly flavored.

•Beets can develop a bull-eye pattern.

•Onion bulbs may turn gray on the outer layers.

•Flowers may prematurely bloom.

Gardeners don’t have any control over temperature but we can pay attention and be sure not to plant veggies too early in the season.

Soil is a very important player in the game. Without good soil, you will not have good vegetables. Soil deficiencies can throw the veggie garden game completely off.

Here are some examples of what you may come across…

•Lower leaves turning yellow and not falling off the plant may be a sign of low nitrogen.

•New leaves turning yellow while the veins stay green is often an iron deficiency.

•A potassium deficiency shows up as yellow leaf edges with brown spots.

•Purplish leaves and veins indicate a phosphorus deficiency.

•Black circular lesions on the blossom end of veggies is usually due to a lack of calcium.

•Forked and twisted carrots and potatoes mean the soil is too rocky or compact.

Veggie gardeners, you have a lot of control over your soil. Start out right and you will be rewarded with beautiful produce. Simple steps such as; turning over your soil, alleviating compaction with Encap’s Gypsum, fertilizing with Espoma’s Garden-Tone, adjusting your pH with Limestone, and adding rich compost can make all the difference in the world.

Do not downplay how crucial of a player light is to the veggie garden game. Without proper sunlight, issues can occur.

Issues such as…

•Vegetables get sunburned just like people. If you see larger brown, burnt patches on your leaves and/or fruit, the culprit may be too much sun.

•Leaf scorch will cause leaves to turn brown at the tips and edges.

•If leaves are pale green and plants are spindly, they are not getting enough sun and they are desperately reaching for it.

We obviously cannot move the sun but we can help our veggies get the right amount of light. As a rule of thumb, most vegetables that produce fruit can bake in the sun. Veggies such as; tomatoes, peppers, and squash love it. Consider putting your leafier vegetables in the less sunny part of the garden. Salad greens, broccoli, peas, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, beets, radish, chard, collards, spinach, and mustard will all tolerate a little less sunlight.

I don’t know if I can label water as the star player of the veggie game but it sure is one of the most important.

Here are some examples of water-related problems:

•Wilted veggies & bone dry soil means too little water.

•Wilted plants & soaking wet soil means too much water.

•Wilted vegetables in a container that recover quickly when watered & wilt quickly again are root-bound.

•Wilted veggies in the ground that have soaking wet soil are poorly drained.

•If leaves turn yellow & drop at the base of the stems first, the plant is getting too much water.

•If leaves turn brown at the tips & edges, they are getting too much sun and too little water.

•Stunted and strongly flavored vegetables may not be getting enough water.

•If tomatoes look scabby they probably received too much water.

Gardening friends, you have so much power when it comes to watering. If Mother Nature is not giving your veggies enough water, it is your job to take over. Plants need consistent, even watering to keep them healthy. Your vegetables would be happier if they were watered at the base as opposed to overhead and please do not let them dry out for too long.

Take good care of your veggies and they will take good care of you.

Come see us at Van Wilgen’s. We would love to help!

T’WAS THE LAST TIP BEFORE CHRISTMAS, WHEN ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE,

SOME CREATURES WERE STIRRING (MAYBE A MOUSE?)

THE FRUIT FLY TRAPS WERE SET BY THE FRUIT BOWL WITH CARE,

IN HOPES THAT THE FRUIT FLIES SOON WOULDN’T BE THERE.

THE MOUSE BAIT WAS PLACED, JUST STRATEGICALLY SO,

TO ENSURE THE MICE NESTING ALL WOULD GO,

WE WANT THEM ALL TO HEAD BACK OUT INTO THE SNOW!

HOUSEPLANTS WERE ALL NESTLED INTO BED

WITH ALL SEASONS OIL TREATMENT (NO SCALE OR MEALYBUGS TO DREAD!)

WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, IN THE CUPBOARD I HEAR A FLITTER FLATTER

AND I WITH MY PANTRY PEST TRAP SPRANG TO THE KITCHEN TO SEE WHAT WAS THE MATTER

WHAT WAS THAT RUSTLING OUT IN THE SNOW

IT WAS THOSE DEER EATING MY ARBORVITAE

THAT’S WHY THEY NEVER GROW!

OUT THE DOOR, I FLEW LIKE A FLASH

TO QUICKLY APPLY MY DEER SCRAM IN A DASH

THE MOON ON THE BREAST OF THE NEW-FALLEN SNOW,

GAVE THE LUSTER OF TUNNELS FROM MOLES AND VOLES BELOW

WITH A LITTLE RED BAG OF MOLE & VOLE REPELLENT I RAN

TO APPLY THAT MINTY SMELL THAT CRITTERS CAN’T STAND

AND THEN WITH A HAMMERING, I HEARD ON THE ROOF,

A WOODPECKER USING HIS BEAK LIKE A TOOTH

TO GET MY REFLECTOR TAPE, I TURNED AROUND

AND UP THE LADDER, I WENT WITH A BOUND

NOW, WHAT WAS THAT AGAIN, THOSE PESKY OLD DEER

“NOW ELAINE, NOW DARLENE, NOW RYAN, BILL, WILL, AND JASON!

TO THE EDGE OF THE GARDEN! TO OVER THE STONE WALL!

NOW DASH AWAY! DASH AWAY! DASH AWAY ALL!

TWAS A GREAT 2019 WITH ALL OF MY FELLOW EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS

WE CAME UP WITH MANY SOLUTIONS AND DID LOTS OF WORK,

TOOK LOTS OF BUG SAMPLES (THEY REALLY ARE SUCK JERKS!)

YOU PICKED UP LOTS, FROM FERTILIZER TO PRUNERS, TO MAYBE EVEN A HOSE

DON’T FORGET TO PLEASE JOIN US NEXT YEAR (TO PICK OUT THAT PERFECT ROSE)

FOR NOW, I SPRING TO MY LITTLE RED ELEMENT AND TO MY VAN WILGEN’S TEAM GIVE A WHISTLE

AS I DRIVE OUT OF SIGHT, THEY’RE SO RELIEVED THEY DODGED A KISS UNDER THE MISTLE (TOE)

BUT THEY HEARD ME EXCLAIM, AS I DROVE OUT OF SIGHT,

“MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!”

There’s so much to love about the holiday season — the cooking and baking, the time spent with family and friends, and the festive plants. Poinsettias or a blooming Christmas cactus are compact yet boast of holiday spirit. The more plants, the merrier!

With just a little care, holiday houseplants can continue to thrive throughout the year. Knowing how to care for them helps to keep them beautiful. Repot later if needed.

So whether you’re getting or giving holiday houseplants, use these tips to help keep them blooming.

How to Care for Holiday Favorites

Poinsettia: No other plant quite marks the beginning of the holiday season like the poinsettia. With more than 100 varieties available today in colors of red, white, pink, and more, this plant can be found just about everywhere during the holidays.

First things first, don’t let poinsettias get cold on the ride home from the store. Keep trips and exposure to cold as short as possible. Once home, these cheery plants thrive on six hours of indirect light a day away from cold drafts and need proper watering. When the plant needs water, remove the decorative foil and let soak in a few inches of water for an hour or so. Let excess drain and rewrap.

Tip: Take the poinsettia out of its foil and place it in a decorative container.

Norfolk Island pine: A mini Christmas tree, this festive plant looks lovely when adorned with mini lights and homemade ornaments or just plain on its own.

Give pines about six to eight hours of light per day. Any less and lower branches are likely to drop. Water when dry to the touch. Fertilize Norfolk Island pines bi-monthly with our new liquid houseplant fertilizer to keep them happy and healthy.

Tip: Pines can last for years and be decorated for other seasons as well!

Christmas cactus: Though this cactus is known for blooming around Christmas, it’ll stay strong throughout the year and periodically rebloom. Its ruffled flowers range in color from reds to pinks to oranges and creams.

Give this plant bright indirect light and place it outdoors in a semi-shady spot during the summer months. Allow the plant to become slightly dry between waterings. Keeps this holiday plant reblooming for years to come by giving it a rest during the fall and placing it in the dark for about six to eight weeks, encouraging new blooms.

Tip: No matter how diligent you are about care, bloom time may vary based on variety. Whether or not it blooms in time for the holidays, you’ll still have winter blooms to enjoy.

Cyclamen: Cyclamen’s bright flowers in pink, white, or red are great for adding a pop of color where you need it. With the right conditions, they can bloom for more than eight weeks.

Cyclamen likes light, but not super-bright light. Keep the temperature consistent and deadhead spent flowers and leaves. Pour water into a saucer and let the plant absorb it for 15 to 20 minutes.

Tip: During the summer, cyclamen’s foliage turns yellow and dies back. This is their dormant period when they’re storing energy for the next flowering season.

Each year as the cooler temps roll in I stock up on a few things for our feathered friends. I know it may seem somewhat dull but I really do enjoy watching the birds visit each morning. Year after year it seems I appreciate the calm natural beauty they bring to my yard more and more.

Bird feeders can deepen our connection with birds, and also supplement natural food in the toughest months. At the garden center we get asked often….what do you feed them? Personally, I recommend a mix of suet cakes and traditional birdseed that I add to my feeders. Bugs, Nuts & Fruit Suet Cakes are a favorite in my backyard and the suet gives birds a much-needed energy & protein boost during our winter months. Wild Delight bird seed is the perfect compliment to suet cakes. Birds flock to their favorite Nut & Berry and Bugs n’ Berry flavors. Not only are you giving them much-needed nourishment but you get to enjoy watching our beautiful, winter friends, bird lovers rejoice!

When it comes to birdhouses, I always choose a spot close to the safety of evergreen cover, if possible, or at least twiggy shrubbery, but not so close that squirrels can leap across and have at it.

This year I have my eye on an adorable wooden birdhouse covered in birdseed. Once the seed is consumed your birds may nest in this durable house for seasons to come. How simple is that! However, you may be like me and enjoy something more unique too. At Van Wilgen’s we now have handcrafted birdhouses made from recycled wood and metal from weathered barns and houses in Illinois. One is more beautiful and unique than the next. They are meant for outside, however, a lot of times they can also become a work of art for your home.

Now is a great time of year to make your birds happy and healthy. If you have any questions about caring for birds in your back yard give us a call or stop in, we are always here to help.

We have so few fall days to get outside and enjoy the little bit of warmer weather we have left. Grab the whole family and finish up the last of the fall chores together. Working as a family will make all the work seem lighter. Heck, have some fun while you do it. And…of course, enjoy some pizza and your favorite beverage when all done!

THE LITTLE ONE’S TO-DO LIST:

1. Help mom & dad rake up leaves.
2. Jump in leaf piles just raked up by mom & dad.
3. Rake leaf piles again.
4. Keep the dog out of the newly raked leaf piles.

THE TEENS:

1. Dig up all summer bulbs such as gladiolus, cannas, callas, and begonias if mom has not done it already.
2. Take several breaks to check Snapchat & Instagram. After all, what would fall clean-up be without social media to document it?!
3. Clean out all the old veggies from the vegetable garden so mom can get going with the final veggie garden steps.
4. Help dad with pruning out all the brittle, dead wood from the smaller shrubs around the foundation.
5. Help mom cut back most of the perennial flowers. There are a few exceptions that you should leave to prune in the spring such as Russian Sage, Ornamental grasses & Roses. If you cut them now, mom might yell at you. (I forgot, us moms never yell)
6. Complain a little that you are tired and hungry. Stand in the kitchen with the refrigerator door open, stare at it, and hope a snack will jump into your mouth.
7. Tie up ornamental grasses (optional) if you want them to be easier for dad to cut back in the early spring.

MOM & DAD:

1. Your little ones took all that time to rake & jump in the leaves, so now it’s time to give the lawn its last mow of the year. Mow it shorter than 3 inches but do not scalp!
2. Put down Fall Lawn Fertilizer. So important. Do not forget this last step, multi-tasking moms & dads.
3. Apply lime on your lawn & cleaned up veggie garden. You will have the best yard on the block with the proper pH.
4. Don’t just feed your children. Feed your plants too! Fertilize trees & shrubs now!
5. If moles & voles are an issue, put down a granular repellent to sit under any upcoming snow. Yes snow is coming
6. If keeping weeds down is a priority, mulch your garden beds & cover your veggie garden with chopped straw or winter rye.
7. If you have fruit trees, put them to bed with a horticultural oil spray all over the branches & trunk.
8. Buy your Wilt-Pruf, so you will be ready to spray evergreens, roses & hydrangeas before winter sets in.
9. Give big hugs & kisses to your kids (if the teens let you) for all their help. Pig out on pizza and enjoy a cool drink.

Come see us at Van Wilgen’s. We would love to help!

SHOPPING LIST:

*Greenview Fall Lawn Food or Espoma’s Organic Fall Winterizer

*Soil Doctor’s Lawn Lime or Encap’s Fast Acting Lime

*Holly-Tone, Plant-Tone, or Tree-Tone

*Mulch or Mainely Mulch

*I Must Garden’s Mole & Vole Repellent

*Bonide’s All Season Horticultural Oil

*Wilt-Pruf

As the days get shorter it is now time to start thinking about what we need to do to over-winter our plants. While your plants have enjoyed being outside this summer they need to come in before the temperatures dip below 50 degrees consistently.

The proper way to handle the transition is to slowly inch their way back inside, from being out in full sun to under a tree or a covered porch. This will give your plant time to acclimate slowly to the changing temperatures.

Houseplants, topicals, and citrus are the plants that require this method. By transitioning slowly, you will help your plants in a big way. They are less likely to stress out and cause leaves to drop from your treasured plants. Before bringing them inside there are a few things you should do.

• Trim off any dead or unhealthy-looking branches. This helps the plant to direct its energy to all the parts of the plant that need it most.
• Thoroughly hose down your plant by washing off any unwanted hitch-hikers from coming inside with your plant.
• This tip is in my opinion the most important. Apply some mosquito bits or diatomaceous earth to your plant. This will help keep your plant bug-free from the bottom up. I recommend to my customers that they should always have a spray like a neem oil or safer insect soap for the top part of your plant to kill any bugs you may see. And the mosquito bits and diatomaceous earth for the soil, for bugs you can’t see. Especially important in the over-wintering.
• And lastly, find the perfect spot for your treasured plants to vacation for the rest of the fall and winter months.
• Remember no fertilizing from November to March.
• Watering is extremely important …water the plant as you would as if it was outside, remember the roots are at the bottom of that pot so you need to make sure you water the plant enough to ensure the roots can gather up that water. If you only give the plant a little each time it only goes down a few inches in the soil, which is not helping the plant.
• Start fertilizing with Espoma citrus tone again on March 1^st.
• Remember nothing goes back outside until after the last chance of frost, sometime around the last week or so of May.

We are always here to help, any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to call or email us.

With Father’s Day just around the corner, do you think it’s finally possible that mother nature will turn the heat up and let the sunshine? I think we are all ready for summer to arrive.

I absolutely love being the annual greenhouse manager. Every day I come to work and get to enjoy all the summer color annuals provide throughout the summer and well into the fall season.

Early spring, we have show stoppers like nemesia, osteospermum daisies, petunias, snow princess allysum, and of course the number one favorite PANSIES!!

But, once the summer heat arrives so do the full-on summer colors.

For the best of all summer color, you can choose from a wide array of thriller plants such as:

• Hibiscus, mandevilla, lantana, jasmine,and cannas.

Next, choose a great filler plant:

• Angelonia, verbena, pentas, gazanias, vermillionare, ageratum, geraniums, lantana, new guinea, and sun impatiens just to name a few. Oh, and we can’t forget diamond frost my all-time favorite.

And last we need a great creeping/spiller plant.

• Petunias, million bells, verbena, lantana, vinca flower, bacopa, lobelia, and even though they don’t flower also Lysimachia and sweet potato vine add great contrast in color against the foliage of all the flowers.

Whether the annual color is in your garden or in pots on your patio any combination of the plants mentioned above will have you saying, IT’S FIVE O’CLOCK SOMEWHERE. “ L.O.L “

If you are like I am I love noticing the landscapes of houses and neighborhoods as I’m driving around town. I like to see what people have done but not only give thought to the potential that many homes have for fresh landscape projects. This spring I see many neighbors are going to have landscape projects in common. Living Fences! Since the beginning of March, I have spoken to many people. By far the most asked question has been “what I can do with my privacy screen that isn’t so private anymore”. Many rows of evergreens were severely damaged during our string of late winter storms. In some cases, these wonderful old hedges can be rehabbed but in many more, the only option is to start fresh. In the past weeks, we received many shipments of some of the nicest Emerald Green and Green Giant arborvitaes I have seen in some time. They are bombers, fat and full, with many sizes to choose from. It is so nice to see fresh stock rolling in.

I hope most of you have great neighbors like I do. However, for those of you that don’t, a lush living fence will prevent a Hatfield and McCoy feud from breaking out. None of us want that!

When most of us hear the term privacy we think of passwords and electronics, and handheld devices. Being a plantsman, the first things I think of are living fences and privacy screens. Emerald Green and Green Giant arborvitaes make the perfect living fence. Emeralds have a tall, narrow growth habit maturing to 12-15’ tall and 4’ wide. Their natural shape makes them the perfect choice for planting along property lines. We recommend planting on three-foot centers, this will ensure a dense screen for years to come. Watch out for deer they love Emeralds as well.

If you are in need of a larger screen Green Giant is the way to go. They grow up to 3 feet a year truly living up to their name. They will mature to 25-30’ tall and about 10’ wide. They are very easy to shear if you would like to keep them a bit smaller. We offer them in many sizes from small 3’ tall all the way to 12’ for an instant living fence. Oh, did I mention they are deer resistant!

I invite you to visit us at the garden center and we will be happy to help you get started with your project. We offer delivery and planting services anywhere in the state or we can coach you through the planting process for all do-it-yourself projects as well.

Jason Scire

Nursery Manager

The Eastern Redbud ( Cercis canadensis ) is a spring-flowering tree, native to the northeast. Its delicate lavender-pink flowers emerge late in April before the foliage develops and continue to sparkle into mid-May. Clusters of tiny, fairy-like flowers cling to the branches, covering the tree in a soft purple haze with charming heart-shaped foliage developing as the flowers begin to fade. Surprisingly, it is not as commonly recognized as the flowering Cherry or the ornamental pear, but it’s defiantly a show stopper! Every spring as the blossoms begin to unfold several curious customers stop by the garden center and ask “What is that tree with the beautiful purple flowers?… ”

The Redbud tree is one of my personal favorites. The original species is described as a small understory tree growing between 20 and 30 feet tall and wide. It naturally grows in woodland areas under a canopy of tall deciduous trees that lose their leaves every fall. Many exciting new cultivars have been developed over the last few years including dwarf varieties, weeping specimens, and those with colorful leaves such as burgundy, peachy-yellow, and variegated green and white.

There is a magnificent old maple tree in my neatly packed, urban neighborhood about two houses away that stands roughly 60 feet tall. Despite the fact that it is not very close to me, it provides cooling shade from the strong summer sun from late morning into the afternoon. This type of available light is often referred to as “high shade”. There is a limited amount of direct sunlight but the area is still very bright and opened.

So the Eastern Redbud will be one of the first plants installed in my brand new garden. Some varieties of Redbud do best in full sun. Others prefer some shade like our original native. Because I am working in a small space I have decided to go with a weeping variety that will mature at about 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Redbud trees grow pretty quickly and this one will serve as a focal point on one corner of my patio.

After much deliberation, I chose “Pink Heartbreaker”, a weeping variety with a strong upright branching habit that cascades in a rambling, informal, way. Just right for my casual cottage garden!

The entire garden was amended with compost and Gypsum to improve my clay soil as I mentioned in my last story but we did mix in some “Van Wilgen’s planting mix” and of course “Jump Start” to get my new baby off and running with vigorous root development for a good foundation.

As you can see in the photo, it already looks great and I am confident that it will just get better and better but I am really looking forward to the flowers next spring that I think will look fantastic glowing against the background of my neighbors Blue Spruce.

I have several ideas for planting under my Redbud with colorful shade tolerant perennials, more about that next time!

Happy Gardening!

Cecile