Here on Cape Cod, our last average frost date is in early May. It is prime indoor seed sowing time to have warmth-loving seedlings ready to transplant to the garden for Memorial Day weekend when the soil, air and evenings are warm enough to not stress the plants. Starting your own seeds is a [...] The post Terry’s Tips: Seed Starting Season! appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

One of my favorite, and very underutilized, native shrubs is Itea virginica Virginia sweetspire. Blooming in late May through June with lightly fragrant 6-8" long sprays of white flowers that are a pollinator magnet. Its natural form is a mounding habit with graceful, arching branches and they will grow to 4-8 feet tall and wide. [...] The post Terry’s Tips: Virginia Sweetspire appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

Below is a before and after look at how I pruned my Limelight tree hydrangea this year. My Limelight is about 10 years old and the before picture was taken last August: beautiful, full and loaded with flowers. As much as I loved it, I did notice that the crown had become so thick [...] The post [April 6, 2022] The Latest Dirt: Terry’s Tips // Pruning Panicle Tree Hydrangeas appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

Do you listen to podcasts? The gardening ones we love (A Way to Garden, Growing Greener, Into the Garden with Leslie, Plantrama (with our friend C.L.), Let's Argue About Plants) often have authors as guests. Recently we heard Jessica Wallister speak of her newest book Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden [...] The post [March 30, 2022] The Latest Dirt: Beneficial Bugs appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

Last week we were feeling pretty secure with the temperatures above freezing in the long range forecast. Sigh. Very cold nights are predicted for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We will be rolling all we can fit into the greenhouses. Though cold hardened violas, pansies and bulb plants can freeze solid and live on, the [...] The post [March 24, 2022] The Latest Dirt: Spring Chills appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

As spring unfolds we are reminded of how much our gardens mean to us. The simple pleasures we have of watching spring bulbs emerge, buds on trees beginning to swell and waiting for the first pansies of the season to arrive will never be taken for granted. As we watch the tragic events [...] The post [March 15, 2022] The Latest Dirt: Sunflowers, Solidarity and Sanctuary appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

Let's talk about those rascally rabbits that eat our treasured perennials and bulb plants as they emerge this time of year. During the winter rabbits feed on young shrubs and trees. These days we cruise the garden excited to see fresh greenery poking up out of the soil. Overnight juicy foliage can be eaten [...] The post The Latest Dirt: Rabbit Battles appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

Freezing temperatures in the forecast? Sometimes visitors look around the nursery full of plants and wonder aloud what we do when temps are forecast to dip below freezing. Decades of experience has given us experience, knowledge and strategies. Not that a miscalculation by a meteorologist hasn't burned us occasionally. Or our own overconfidence. We [...] The post The Latest Dirt: Frosty Nights appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more

I thought it would be fun to share my seed starting operation with you. Nothing fancy - I have used this system for 25 years and have grown thousands of seedlings of my unusual treasures that we then pot up at the nursery (and of course a few for my own garden!). 1) Organizing the seeds – a simple plastic box, with cards separating each growing week. I note 8 weeks and 6 weeks from the last frost date (May 30) so that I can then place seeds in the proper sowing week. I also set aside seeds to be sown in late July for fall crops. Early weeks are for lettuces, kales, perennials – all the cool se ..read more

Nasturtiums belong in every single garden. Super easy to grow for kids or timid seed starters. We unpacked 15 different kinds from Alaska to Whirlybird - both old favorites. You've no doubt heard that mail order seed companies are wildly busy as never before with the 20 million new gardeners from 2020. Bottom line, when you see what you want and need for your 2021 garden, get it! The post The Latest Dirt: Seeds appeared first on Soares Flower Garden Nursery ..read more