Basement Rose "Nursery"

 

Just because Winter is on the way, doesn't mean the growing stops around here! A room in the basement will serve as a rose Nursery for the next several months. Several hundred roses should be ready next Spring! From rooted cuttings, to plugs, and even some trade one gallons. Iceberg,  New Dawn, The Fairy, Orchid Masterpiece,  Golden Showers,  Eden and more! I have another Barrina grow light on the way. This is a room that we're already heating and lighting, so that helps avoid extra cost to set them up outdoors.
It got colder quicker than the weatherman predicted, (imagine that!), so yesterday evening was a run mad race to get succulents inside until the little greenhouse is better buttoned up. What a mess lol! 
I still have quite a bit of work to do before those 20's roll in. I hate to see all of my beautiful flowers going to sleep for the winter, but such is life. Gives us something to look forward to each Spring, right? Just fill up your house with plants, like someone I know very well, and you'll have plenty of growing to do and enjoy this Winter! 😇😄🌱

Cheryl 

What is a liner?

 

In the nursery world, the plants that eventually make it to your Lowe's, Walmart, and retail nurseries, begin life as a seed or tiny cutting. There are some huge nurseries that propagate millions of tiny plants, which then sell to growers as a liner that will be "lined out" or grown out for anywhere from months to years before they are ready to go to retailers! Some are grown in pots all of their young lives till sold. Others are lined out in fields and grown till sell-ready size. They are then machine dug and either have their roots wrapped in burlap, or they are popped into pots and sold to retailers and landscapers. 

So, a liner can be a tiny cutting that has roots, or a one or two year old starter plant or tree. I propagate, then sell all of those sizes. I will mainly be selling all of my plants as plugs, or as 1-2 year old produced and grown-out liners/starter plants. They are sold as either bareroot and dormant in winter, or as actively growing with foliage, roots wrapped and kept moist during shipping. I have had 2 gallon plants available locally, and most likely still will, but in smaller numbers. Eventually those will mostly all be hydrangeas in either shrub form, or trained as small trees. 

I'm focusing on propagating, selling online, and shipping smaller plants at this time. My nursery is literally our backyard! I have sand beds for propagating and as a place to move newly propagated trays to. Some things are propagated under mist in the growing season, and others as hardwood cuttings started in late winter. I have a small greenhouse, a growing area under shade cloth, and a covered hoophouse type area to protect the things that need it a little more than others. I'm in my second growing year. (2023)

I appreciate all of you who have purchased plants from me as a small business owner/grower! So many things have stopped being produced here in the U.S...we need to help and support each other as American producers of every sort! 

Give Them Three Years

 

Give them three years...

Have you ever heard this gardening advice? 

"The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, and the third year they leap." 

When planting shrubs and evergreens, and even some perennials, the first year they are usually small starter size plants, and are getting used to be planted or transplanted. The second year, they've went through one winter, and will come out a little fuller and stronger. They will get some good roots established this second year, and put on some healthy young growth. Then, when the third growing season comes around, you can expect amazing things! Lots of growth, much fuller, much stronger,  and they are heartily established! 

For someone who has to work at patience lol, I can tell you it's worth it to wait and see your garden/landscape come into its own, and to see your own personal touch and design come to fruition. 

So, don't worry if you don't see tons of growth the first year or two. Just keep them watered, fertilized and healthy, and you'll see results! 

Cheryl