Fabulous Front Yards Contest - Check out these Entries

Well the pictures have been coming through fast and furious for the Fabulous Front Yards Contest. Here are just a few of the entries we've received so far. Lots of beautiful gardens. Remember the winner is drawn at random. You can submit a picture of your entire garden, one of your favourite flowers, a container that you're proud of, your veggies.... any sort of garden related picture from your front yard. 

To submit your own photo for a chance to win CLICK HERE

Good Luck to everyone participating! $500 sure does go a long way at the Glasshouse.

Talk to you soon, Dave

Attract Hummingbirds to your Garden

We all love hummingbirds. They are among the smallest, prettiest birds out there and always catch my attention when one whizzes by.

If you want to attract hummingbirds to your garden it really is easy. Here's what you need to do:

We have all different types of feeders.
Lots more to see in the shop

1) Plant the flowers that attract them such as geraniums, petunias, salvia, morning glory and verbena and shrubs like butterfly bushes, weigela and caryopteris. They are very attracted to red blooms with fragrance.

2) Get yourself a hummingbird feeder. We have them on hand in the garden centre for you.

3) Make some nectar with sugar and water. Use one cup of white sugar to four cups of water. This mixture can be made ahead and kept in the fridge.  Simply boil the water in a pan on the stove. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let cool and then add to your hummingbird feeder. Or you can make it easy on yourself and just pick up some ready made nectar in the store.

Choose one of our ready made nectars

According to the University of Illinois Extension it's not a good idea to substitute the white sugar with other sugar substitutes. The research shows that using honey for instance will attract bees and black fungus. Black fungus causes liver disease and tongue disease in hummingbirds that is fatal for them.

4) You'll need to keep you're feeder clean. Thoroughly cleaning it every 3 days is best. Simply use vinegar and water and a bottlebrush makes it really easy to do.

Hope this helps - Dave

Thanks to the University of Illinois Extension for the info! Very helpful.

Keeping your Osteos Healthy

Since we had a big sale on Osteos earlier in the season and sold more than I could count I thought it might be a good idea to post some tips.

To find out about sales hook up with us on Twitter

Osteospermum, otherwise know as Osteos or African daisies are always a popular choice for your containers or in your garden. They are really easy to care for and bloom from May through fall.

They require Full Sun to Partial Shade and mature to approximately 12 - 36" in height and 12 - 24" in width. They will bloom much more in Full Sun however do like some shade in the really hot weather.

Most Osteos prefer acidic soil but also do extremely well with soil such as Miracle Grow Expand 'N Grow.

Maintaining your plants is very easy actually. Once established, they do become drought resistant however do require a good watering at least once a week. You will notice they will go dormant if we experience a very hot and dry summer. But so far it's been pretty wet so I don't think you have to worry too much about that.

No need to deadhead unless you want to.

Did you plant any of the Osteos in your front garden? If you did send in a picture and get entered into our Fabulous Front Yards Contest - you might even win a $500 gift certificate to the Glasshouse Nursery.

I hope this helps.

Thanks, Glenn

He's no Nincompoop

But that's what his tomatoes are on...

Sue's Dad Roger, a retired farmer, was bragging about his pot grown tomatoes last week. He said he's never seen his tomatoes grow so incredibly lush and big. This "Nincompoop" stuff is unreal. 

We have been carrying this enriched soil mix for 2 years and everyone that uses it comes back to tell us how great it works. 

The nice thing is you can just throw it around your vegetable, annual and perennial plants mid-season and the nutrients released produce incredible results. Just work it in a little bit. 

Anyways I just thought this was kind of cool to share.

Dave

Enter our Fabulous Front Yards Contest & You Could Win $500

If you have a Fabulous Front Yard we want to see it! Send in a picture and you could be the lucky winner of a $500 gift certificate to the Glasshouse Nursery.

The contest is open to everyone in the Chatham-Kent community.

Feel free to nominate and submit a picture of your own Fabulous Front Yard. Or, nominate and submit a picture of your friends, neighbours, farms, churches, schools or business/industries Fabulous Front Yard.

** Pictures must feature street facing yards/gardens that can be easily visible from public property.

The winner will be randomly selected from all of the entries and awarded a $500 gift certificate for the Glasshouse Nursery.

Each week selected entries will be featured in the local papers, the Glasshouse email newsletter and via our online social community (The Glasshouse Nursery blog, facebook, twitter, pinterest and instagram sites). 

How it Works

1)  Take a picture of your own favourite Fabulous Front Yard.

2)  Email it to glasshousenursery@gmail.com 

3)  Include your name, phone number and complete address.

4)  If you are taking a picture of someone’s property other than your own you must get permission by the property owner and include their name, phone number and address as well so that we can confirm their consent.

5)  Submissions will be accepted until Wednesday, August 28^th at noon (EST).

6)  Each person who submits a picture will have their name added to the contest draw and a winner will be randomly chosen.

7)  The winner will be contacted via phone and will be able to claim their prize at the Glasshouse Nursery during regular business hours

  

Note

By entering the contest you agree that the picture you submit can be used by Community in Blooms, the Glasshouse Nursery and via our partners in print and online.

The contest is limited to pictures of “street facing yards/gardens that can be easily visible from public property”.

The winner agrees to have their picture taken by The Glasshouse Nursery and Community in Blooms to be used in print and online by Community in Blooms, the Glasshouse Nursery and via our partners.

The contest is limited to pictures taken in Chatham-Kent.

Hook up with us at The Glasshouse Nursery Social Media Community:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/theglasshousenursery

Twitter:      @glasshouseon

Instagram: glasshouseon

Pinterest:   pinterest.com/glasshouseon

Blog:          glasshousenursery.blogspot.ca

YouTube:   www.youtube.com/theglasshousenursery

GOOD LUCK!! We're looking forward to seeing all the beautiful pictures.

Growing Calla Lilies in Southern Ontario

We recently had a question from Bernadette on Facebook asking about growing Calla Lilies. She's tried a few times but has never had success. She was curious as to whether or not she needed  to dig up the bulbs in the fall and overwinter indoors.

The answer is YES...

Unfortunately Calla Lilies just aren't hardy enough to survive our winters here in Southern Ontario. But, since they are so gorgeous in bloom, many gardeners are willing to put in the extra effort to keep them healthy so that they can enjoy them year after year.

Here's what you will want to do in the fall.  

First off in mid-October you will want to cut the leaves off the plant and dig up the bulbs. They are easy to store. Just put them in a brown paper bag with some peat moss. You can either store them in the fridge (but this just isn't very practical for a lot of us) or in a cellar/basement that stays about 5-10 degrees C.

In the springtime, about mid to end of April you can take the bulbs out of the bag and pot them up in approx: 6 - 8" pots. Give them a few weeks indoors to wake up and then you can start hardening them off by placing them outdoors during the day and indoors at night.  Once the temperature has reached a consistent 5 degrees C and there's no risk of frost go ahead and start leaving the pots outdoors overnight.  

Now it's up to you as to whether you want to transplant them into bigger pots to put on the patio or if you want to transplant them into the ground. If you're going to put them into your garden you should wait until early June.

Hope this helps and answers any questions you might have had regarding Calla Lilies.

Til next time - Glenn

Drift Roses

I sent out an email recently talking about Drift Roses. I thought I might as well post the info on here just in case you're not on our email list.

The incredible Drift Rose is a brand new introduction to the extensive rose family. They are the perfect plant for any small garden. These roses flower all summer long and once established produce hundreds of blooms per plant.

They are a member of the Knock Out Rose family, so for those of you who already have Knock Outs, you know how little care they need.  No spraying or dead-heading necessary. It's best if you shear them back after they have just finished blooming just as you would do with any flowering shrub. This will encourage them to set new buds and start flowering all over again. This is recommended about twice a season. That's it!

Drift is the perfect name as they look like a low snow drift massing pastel pinks, reds and corals. Because they are low, you can plant them in front of other shrubs to fill up those spaces but make sure they get lots of sun, good soil and a dose of rose food once a month. We have Green Earth's natural and organic based Rose, Annual & Perennial Food (4-8-4) and Smart Cote Rose Food on hand for you.  The Smart Cote feeds 3 bushes for an entire season which is great if you have just a few planted.

Because Drift Roses are one of the new plants for 2013, we have a limited quantity available. And, the stock we do have definitely won't last for long. My advice would be to come into the garden centre and get them as soon as you can if you want to plant some this year. Mine are already planted.

See you soon.

- Dave

P.S. If you want to be added to our email list simply send us an email at info@glasshousenursery.ca or of course just private message us with your email address via facebook/twitter etc.