A day in the park

Spent the day with my good friend Kathy at the Wilbur D. May Arboretum. Located within San Rafael Park in Reno, it is a beautiful location to put on your list for the first week of Fall. We hope to be back sometime this next month to capture more of the fall colors in the maple grove.

One reason we chose this location for the day trip......I finally made a decision on a new camera and unpacked my Nikon D5200 this week. I will be on a steep learning curve for the next year I am sure.  I started the morning out in my garden taking sunflower shots, and finished with the sunset after we got home from the park. A beautiful day.

 

 

 

 
 

 rainbows.....clouds.....and sunsets. 3 of my favorite things...

Questioning Change

There have been numerous questions coming into the nursery about the new owners and the changes that may or not be happening over the next few weeks. I am going to try and answer a few of them here.

Will my unused gift card still be good?
Yes, your gift card will not expire with the change in ownership. However, they will expire on November 1, 2014. So if you have one in your wallet, if you have given one as a gift, make yourself a mental reminder to get it out and use it up sometime during the next year.

Will they still carry my favorite products?
YES, they will still carry all the products you know and love. How do I know this? Because I am still doing all the ordering for next season! Sooz and I leave for the trade show in early October to pick out all our best sellers as well as actually look for some new favorites. Of course there will be Lawn Restore, and they also want me to expand on the DR. EARTH line! So rest assured, if we have carried it during the last year or two, you will see it again next season.

Why does it look so empty around here?
Many that have visited the garden center over the last few weeks seem real concerned that it is starting to look really empty around the nursery. We ALWAYS sell down our plant stock this time of year. For those new to our nursery, I have always felt that it is better to find new gardens for the plants and trees than have them sit in pots and possibly freeze out over the winter months. We are discounting a little bit earlier this year though, and that is a great benefit for you! All plant stock from this season is now at 40% off, and will stay at that level through the next month. New and special orders are at 20% off.

Also, we are selling down ALL the outdoor bagged product so it doesn't have to be tarped and protected through the winter. A complete NEW SHIPMENT of all your favorites, including all the Gardner and Bloome products like Harvest Supreme and Soil Building Compost, have already been ordered and will arrive in January of 2014.  (BIG BUY 3, GET 1 FREE ON ALL OUTDOOR BAGGED PRODUCT Sale starts October 1st )

The "Green Room" where we keep all of our everyday gardening products will also start to be reduced in price to help clear out product, making way for all NEW items to arrive in December. I don't know anyone that doesn't like to re-do their new home, and the new owners are no exception. Look for some real positive changes to take place over the next few months.

Will the Gift Shop still be there?
YES! The gift shop will continue to carry your favorites like Salt City Candles, Naked Bee, upscale gardening accouterments, tools and local products like Churchill Vineyards wines. Holiday merchandise has already started arriving and during the transition period between October 24 and November 1st, the nursery will be closed for inventory and more important, for Lucia to get into the gift shop and work her design and merchandising wizardry on the gift shop. The new owners will open with full holiday merchandise and stocked with all your favorites.

Will they still do special orders?
YES! You will not see any major changes to the ordering system. They will still do "Pre-Orders" specials in spring and fall for trees and shrubs, and I will actually be going with them to the growers to show them what has always worked well for us. Start planning your wish lists now for Spring!!! I would love to "hand - tag" for you one more time.

What are the Garden Girl's going to do?
This seems to be the most common question I hear daily, and I guess it just seems natural that you would want to know why I am giving up something I love so much. I am going to continue doing what I love, gardening, visiting my children, photography, building on Red Zinnia and pursue my writing. No I am not moving back east, my health is excellent, and yes.....I will miss all of you, more than you can ever imagine.

As for Sooz, I am happy to say that she will still be playing here in the garden with the new owners. Her love of the plant world, knowledge of your needs and favorites as well as her expertise in everything roses will prove to be invaluable to them. Lucia has plans to continue sprucing and designing the gift shop, Michelle will still be teaching a class or two during the season, and Jaime....while you may see her here shopping for new perennials or herbs for her own garden, her time will now be spent pursuing her true love and incredible talent...creating more art.

Since I bought the nursery in 2000, I have been on a 15 year plan. I am just moving on a year earlier then expected. When the opportunity came up to pass this business on to not only a committed grower, (Green Team Growers actually holds the #2 growers license issued in the State of Nevada) but a local person with strong ties to the community and a passion for plants it seemed like the time to let go and leap into the next adventure. I hope I see you along the path often.

See you soon, Susan

Blues & Brews 2013

Saturday evening could not have been more perfect. The sunset, music, and one of the best gatherings of like minded blues-loving people made for a spectacular evening. Thank you one and all for making this last concert of ours so special.  The icing on the cake was a surprise visit from Melissa from Susanville.  She has been my mentor as a fellow garden center owner and one of my biggest sources of encouragement these last 12 years. It was an evening I will remember always with a smile. As for the big announcement of the night, the new owner of The Flower Tree joined Michelle and I on stage. Just in case you missed it.....scroll down to the bottom and see who it is.

 Blue Haven ROCKED IT!!!!! For the 10th year in a row

Once again Michelle created an awesome original watercolor for our posters. 

Mel surprises me at the gate 

Brooklen took all of these beautiful photos. FIRST time she has every used a camera like mine, I think she may have a new career and passion.  

 and the new owner is.......Mike Bailey, owner of Green Team here in Fallon, the grower and supplier of Northern Nevada's tomatoes these last 12 years. Watch for him to not only carry on the traditions of The Flower Tree, but to expand on his growing selections. 

Lovely evening at the farm

Thank you Korena and Bill for hosting one of those magical evenings of late summer. From the "made to order" cloud filled sunset, to the bountifully filled table and garden tour, to the end of evening bonfire. A beautiful evening....had by all. 

 

 

 September 12, 2013 Mewadlt's Organic Farm, Fallon, NV. 

Just plant it

This is why we often advise you to put things in the ground as soon as possible after purchasing them. These lilacs were starts that were given to me by a fellow gardener that she had dug up from her own yard. Don't you just LOVE  it when people want to share their gardens??? Anyway, I have had these since this last spring. One made it into a nice comfy spot by the shurmardi oak, and the other......well let's just say it hasn't found a home yet. The one on the left was pretty much exactly the same size as the one on the right when it went in the ground last April. So as you can see, it has quadrupled in size while the one on the right has pretty much done nothing. Even with daily water and monthly nutrients.

Sometimes you just don't know where they are going to go. This was exactly what happened here. I didn't know where I wanted to put a shrub that could possible get 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide. A common lilac shrub could easily do this. So, I planted one of them, and tucked the other one into my "I will put that in the ground when I decide where it will be happy." spot. In other words, underneath the shade of the raised herb garden. In other words.............out of site...out of mind. I looked at this one quite often though, and as the weeks stretched into months that I still hadn't found it a home it started to turn into this experiment. Since I knew that they were both the same variety/size etc when given to me, I kept an eye on both of them to see their progress. Now here it is almost fall and it will go in the ground this week. I am anxious to see if it catches up to it's partner next year.

So, here is my little piece of advice, PLANT IT WHEN YOU GET IT, unless it is 105 degrees and the sun shows no sign of relenting. Then it is always a good idea to wait until it cools off before putting them in the ground. Living things want to be where they are comfy. Us under the shade of a nice big tree, plants in the ground...with a little bit of food and organics so they can stretch their roots. On another happy note, this is the sunset tonight.  See you in the garden, Su.

clouds...they make me happy

Embracing the past

Many have been into my office at the nursery and been temporarily mesmerized by the south wall. Filled with photos, posters and other memorabilia, over the years it has turned into a  somewhat of a giant scrapbook page. If you have worked at The Flower Tree, odds are....you are up here. Weddings, graduations, birthdays and just plain fun days....all are here. As I move into this next few weeks before permanently removing and packing up all of these memories, I  thought I would share a few here.

  

  

 This poster has hung on the office wall since shortly after September 11, 2001. While on our way to England for a garden tour, the tragic occurrences of that day stopped our trip and we stayed in San Francisco for a few days awaiting a way to get back home to Fallon. During those days, Charmaine and I wandered the eerily quite streets of the city and found ourselves in a little shop down in the Haight district. The principle behind the little non-profit store, tucked in behind another, was to promote peace throughout the world. This poster was one of many items they had for sale to fund their efforts. It has hung on my wall since our return and over the next 12 years I found strength and humor in it on many a day. It just kind of sums up The Flower Tree too, except we romp on the floor with our cat....sweet Harriet.

Harvesting Hops

Just one more thing on my long long list of what I love about gardening. You can always find something new to plant and experiment with. This last year it was hops. What a beautiful plant. I have been thrilled with the way the vine covered the west side of the gazebo this year. It provided wonderful shade in the late afternoon on the sunny hot days we had in August. The plant has been in the ground two years now, and last year, it's first, didn't really do much of anything. Thinking back now I even wondered if I should just quit watering it and yank it out. This year it exploded with growth....and hops. Now it is time to harvest and dry them. Since this is the first year for me, I did some research and below are a few of the best sites I have found. I will let you know how this project comes out when they are dry. And....since Bob doesn't brew his own beer, anyone need/want some hops???

http://morebeer.com/brewingtechniques/library/backissues/issue2.3/montell.html
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/07/drying-hops-at-home.html
http://sroc.cfans.umn.edu/People/Faculty/VinceFritz/Hops/HopDrying/index.htm
http://barlowbrewing.com/2009/08/08/simple-and-basic-homegrown-hop-drying-1st-harvest-of-2009/

Harriet's NEW home

This one is a little long......

Harriet will soon have a new home. My home, where I spend my evenings and all the waking hours that I am not at The Flower Tree. No, she is not ill, or lonely...quite the contrary. She is probably going to be extremely upset with me for taking her away from all her social commitments and obligations.

You see, I have sold this little piece of the earth known as The Flower Tree. I know this may seem sudden to many, but trust me.....this has been a well thought out year long process that will culminate on November 1. I know that there will be a lot of disbelief right now....and questions. Those that have seen me here at the nursery know that I LOVE what I do. I consider myself one of those really, really lucky ones......the ones that get to get up each day, place some clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet and excitedly go off to spend many hours doing what they love. I am thankful every single day that I have gotten to learn about the earth, the flowers, the trees and everything that can help them survive and THRIVE in this extremely hard climate that we live in.

I could spend the next thirty years trying to write about the strong, beautiful, knowledgeable and lovely women that have surrounded me for the last 14 years. Each with their different petals of strength and character that somehow combined to make the most perfect of blossoms. I have been truly blessed.

My other extremely fortunate move. Being married to a man that supports and encourages me to follow my dreams and passions. Many a night the call came in about the gate falling off the front post, the beavers backing up the water well, the pumps exploding on a 105 degree day, the bobcat broken and the forklift stuck. Yes..there were words of frustration, but he fixed it.....and we carried on. I plan to spend the next thirty years, or however many we have left, thanking him. For letting me do what I love, and supporting me even when it wasn't his vision. Especially.....when it wasn't his vision.

This moment in time offers me some new opportunities. The next owners of this nursery bring with them a commitment to the practices we have begun, 30 years of growing experience, and 25 years of retail nursery experience. Trust me please, I leave you in good hands. Yes, I am also thankful to say that you will still see many familiar, and friendly faces that you know and love around the garden. Heck, you will even see me from time to time as I hope to continue with some of the classes, programs and community events that we have developed over the years. Some things change, and others....thankfully...stay the same. As for the majority of time, I am going to set off for new horizons. Expand on some much anticipated opportunities, spend some quality time at our other venture, Red Zinnia, and of course spend some amazing time with the family. I will also continue to do what I love.....play in the garden.  

I am so thankful though, for you. The young and old...and everything in between, that have walked the concrete walkways around the nursery, that have ventured out to the pond and taken some time in Nana's Garden to reflect and relax. Those of you that have been on the verge of covering your entire property in cement, only to come in two years later and tell us what an oasis you now enjoy because of the support, encouragement and vision that we gave you. These are the memories of this last 14 seasons that I will take home with me. But it won't be all I take home, Harriet of course is coming home.......with me.

It's not a goodbye.........it's a "See you soon",  Susan

Some favorites from this month

Loving life

During this past week I turned 58, and also returned from a retreat in Lake Tahoe with some of the most inspiring, powerfully creative, and fun loving women a gal could ever be so fortunate to meet. We hiked, we biked, we cooked, we swam.....we laughed, talked, and laughed some more. These............are my friends. We wear our scars right out there for everyone to see, but more importunately our smiles and triumphs as well. I am so very privileged to have them in my life, and as I turn this new magical number of 58, I hope with all my heart that they will be there for another, and another, and another, and another.....I think you get the picture, but just in case you didn't...here are a few to share. It was a beautiful week.