Category Archives: Events

Rice County Master Gardeners

January 17, 2012 – 12:32 pm

Leif Knecht, owner of Knecht’s Nurseries, will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Rice County Master Gardeners. on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.   The meeting is at 7 pm at the 4-H Building on the Rice County Fairgrounds.

Topics covered will be what’s new in trees, shrubs and perennials and how nurseries are using a new technique to produce better plants for landscape use.  Attention will focus on plant materials that are a little to a lot more compact so they can be used in smaller spaces such as the Crimson Spire Oak and the Apollo Sugar Maple.

If you are interested in becoming a Master Gardener, contact the Rice County Master Gardeners or the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, Trees | Tagged | Comments (0)

Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Assn. Convention

January 9, 2012 – 1:31 pm
Belinda Jensen and Bobby Jensen
Senator Al Franken

We attended the annual Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association Convention last week held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.  There is a trade show where we visit the booths of the industry vendors on plants, machines, technology and more, and there are many, many educational seminars which we all attend and are able to bring back new and exciting ideas for our business.  We were fortunate to have 9 of our staff attend this year’s convention  – which were Leif & Deb Knecht, Heidi Brossueau, Jim Westlund, Amy Voight, Luis Olave, Ben Danielson, Connie Rew and Kathy Lewis.

This year, Senator Al Franken addressed the group right ahead of the keynote speaker’s message.  It was an unexpected treat to be able to see and listen to the Senator for a few moments.
Bobby Jensen and Belinda Jensen from KARE-11′s Grow with KARE  spent time at the Bailey Nurseries booth.  With the weather being unbelieveable this winter and the enthusiasm of all of the people at the Convention, we are all definitely excited for spring!
We do have limited office hours in January – however – we do return phone calls and e-mails everyday so if you have a question on anything – please do not hesitate to contact us!
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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, Employees | Comments (0)

Praying Hands Hosta

May 21, 2011 – 7:13 pm
Praying Hands Hosta has been named the 2011 Hosta of the Year by the American Hosta Society.  We are especially excited about this award this year, as the person who discovered Praying Hands and registered it with the AHS, is Gerald Williams who lives here in Northfield and is one of our loyal customers!  On Saturday, June 11th, we will be hosting the Rochester, Mn hosta club – Shades of Green for a tour of our nursery.  We thought that there would be no better time to honor our friend Gerald Williams than to do a little celebration when we had a hosta group present.  At 1:30 pm on Saturday June 11th – we will be doing a presentation for Jerry at which time he’ll share with us his discovery of this unique and beautiful plant.  We also are pleased to have Mary Schier, editor of the Northern Gardener Magazine

Praying Hands Hosta

- a publicaiton of the Minnesota Horticultural Society- present and will also share a few thoughts.  The public is invited to this special celebration.  The Shades of Green Hosta club has also been invited to a private tour of our hosta garden which is exciting to us as we love to share our hostas with others.

We are proud of our hosta offerings to our customers with over 150 varieties.  Some are the old standards and others are harder to find.  We encourage all hosta lovers of all knds to stop in and check out our hosta selection.
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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Perennials, Retail Sales | Tagged | Comments (0)

Container Garden Workshop

April 21, 2011 – 12:33 pm

Sharon Boisselle, a wonderful addition to our retail sales team this year, will be teaching a course through Northfield Community Education on container gardening.  There will be 3 different 1 1/2 hour sessions available and will be held here at the nursery.   The dates to choose from are May 2nd, May 9th or May 16th.  The class size is limited so early registration is recommended.   Registration starts on Friday, April 22nd.  Register directly with Northfield Community Education. 

Annual Container Garden

 The cost for the class is $8.  An excerpt from the Community Ed class catalog - “Be the envy of your neighbors with an eye-catching container garden.  Bring your own container to create a stunning container garden with assistance from certified nursery and landscape professional, Sharon Boisselle of Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping.  You may bring your own supplies or materials will be available for purchase”. 

Sharon has years of experience with annuals and container gardening and we know you will not be disappointed.  If you have any questions on the class, you may contact Sharon here at the nursery and she will be glad to assist you in any way.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, Seminar | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

April Events

April 13, 2011 – 10:00 am

Saturday – April 23rd – 10:30 am – 11:30 am

3rd Annual Kid’s Planting Day

We will have pots, selected annuals, soil, ribbons & bows all available so the kids can plant a pot of flowers for Mom for Mother’s Day!  We will keep them here in the greenhouse while they get started and they can be picked up before Mother’s Day.  The cost of $5 per child and we encourage pre-registration.    We’ll have this set up in one of our production greenhouses so if the weather is cool, the greenhouse will still be nice and warm. 

Wednesday – April 27th – 8 am to 6 pm

Surprise 60th Birthday Openhouse

It’s Leif Knecht’s 60th Birthday and we are going to host an Openhouse all day.  Please stop in and wish him a “Happy Birthday”.   We’ll have cake, coffee & lemonade and to the first 60 people who stop in and wish him a Happy Birthday – we’ll have a little Oak sapling.    The Oak is Leif’s favorite tree and it’ll be fun to give these away in honor of his birthday.  We are trying to keep this as a surprise.  This time of year he isn’t on the computer much so we’re hoping for a BIG SURPRISE!

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By Deb Knecht | Comments (0)

Northfield Home and Garden Business Showcase

March 22, 2011 – 6:16 am

Leif at a previous Business Showcase

This Saturday, March 26th, is the 2011 Northfield Home and Garden Business Showcase.  The event runs from 9 am to 3 pm and will be held at a new location this year – the Northfield Ice Arena, located on 1280 Hwy 3 South – across from the Allina Clinic.   There is no admission fee and there’s plenty of free parking!   This year’s Showcase will feature over 40 area businesses.

Stop by the booth and visit with Leif, Heidi and meet our new designer, Mike Mesch.  They will answer your questions, offer advice and let you know what’s happening at the nursery this year!   Mike will be able to schedule landscape consultations as well.  We’ll have $5 coupons to be used for retail purchases, and  information on how to Sponsor a Tree for Northfield parks, and much more.  Leif will be the presenter at the first seminar of the morning – at 9 am – and will be speaking on Growing and Planting  Techniques for Trees – both traditional and new methods.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, Seminar | Comments (0)

Heidi, Groundcovers and the Mendota Heights Garden Club

March 8, 2011 – 2:06 pm

Groundcover - Vinca

Heidi will be presenting a talk on groundcovers to the Mendota Heights Garden Club on March 14th.  Groundcovers are becoming more and more popular  with the “mature” gardener.  They require lower maintenance while adding beautiful design elements to the garden and landscape.  She will highlight groundcovers that have deer and /or rabbit resistance, are attractive to butterflies or hummingbirds and are tolerant to a wide range of growing conditions including:  heavy shade, difficult sites and Black Walnut tolerance.

We welcome garden clubs to come tour the nursery and we will also do presentations for garden club meetings.  Please contact us for more information.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, How To Advice, Seminar | Comments (0)

Lonsdale Area Business Showcase

March 3, 2011 – 8:34 am

This Saturday – March 5th – we will be participating in the 8th annual Lonsdale Showcase Business Expo in Lonsdale, MN.  Local businesses from the area will have booths which will showcase their businesses.  The Expo will be held at Lonsdale Packaging – located at 629 Industrial Dr. SE.  The hours are 10 am to 3 pm. 

Stop by our booth – which will look like spring –  and say hello.  We’ll have $5 coupons to be used in April and May.  Leif and Darin will be there and can answer any questions that you have.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community | Comments (0)

Spring is Just Around the Corner

January 27, 2011 – 5:01 pm

This week, we received the registrations forms for both the Lonsdale Area Business Expo and the Northfield Home and Garden Show.  We will be participating at both of these events.  We also heard from Judy Code from the Northfield Garden Club with the flowers that have been chosen for the public planters and baskets in Northfield.  All of this is a sure sign that Spring is just around the corner!

The info and dates to remember for these two events are:

Saturday, March 5, 2011         Lonsdale Showcase 10 am to 3 pm at the Lonsdale Packaging Company

Saturday, March 26, 2011       Home and Garden Business Showcase 9 am to 3 pm at the Northfield Ice Arena

We will be blogging more about these shows in the next few weeks.  Leif will be presenting a seminar at the Northfield Show.

Think Spring!!!!!!!

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By Deb Knecht | Comments (0)

Seminar Reminder

September 15, 2010 – 12:46 pm

Heidi Brosseau reminds everyone to register for the Fall Seminar - “Who’s Doin’ the Blooming?”

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, Seminar | Comments (0)

Fall Seminar: Who’s Doin’ the Bloomin’?

September 8, 2010 – 7:38 am

We are excited about this year’s Fall Seminar.  After such a hot and humid August, this September is looking like it is going to be gorgeous.  Fall is one of the greatest times of the year and it is a time when you can really enjoy your yard.  Fall perennial plantings can be successful.

Saturday – September 18, 2010            10 am to 11:30 am

Our retail manager Heidi Brosseau will be explaining fall perennials, perennials with winter interest, fall planting tips and fall garden care.   This is a seminar that you don’t want to miss!

Learn about perennials for fall and winter interest.  Who’s Doin’ the Bloomin’?  will highlight these late season plants as well as those that add texture, color and even sound to our white winter canvas.  Since you’re coming, bring along your questions, they are always welcome.

We will have warm apple cider and cookies.  Every seminar registrant will receive a free selected perennial.  The seminar will be held at the nursery outdoors, weather permitting.   Please dress appropriately.  Should it rain, we will bring the seminar indoors into one of our production greenhouses.

Advance registration is appreciated. $10 per person.  Discounted registration for groups of 6 or more – $2 off.  Register by e-mail ( info@knechts.net ), in person at the nursery, call us at 507-645-5015.

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By Deb Knecht | Also posted in Community, How To Advice, Seminar | Comments (1)