October 21, 2009 – 8:11 am
Quite often when we have a stretch of poor weather in mid-fall people wonder if they can still plant trees and shrubs. The answer is YES! And we have a an additional bit of good news from the National Weather Service that the conditions in November are expected to be warmer than normal and with average preciptiation. This means that dormant trees and shrubs can be planted under comfortable conditions and will be ready and waiting next spring to start establishing new roots as soon as the weather warms.
Stop in and talk with our knowledgeable staff about picking the right varieties for your particular situation and have a look at the amazing selection that we still have available for your fall planting! As we speak, many of the varieties are showing their lovely fall colors and this will be changing daily. It looks like there’ll be another few days of cool moist weather, but we are looking forward to a good run of weather toward the end of the month and into November.
The trees pictured here are from one of our growing ranges that Deb took last week. It’s the Autumn Blaze Maple. What fabulous fall color! We have Autumn Blaze Maple in many sizes – to accomodate all prices points. Stop in and take advantage of our incredible fall sale prices! All of our plant materials are from 30% to 50% off!
October 21, 2009 – 7:04 am
We still have tulip, crocus & hyacinth bulbs available! On the radio this morning – the weatherman said that the National Weather Service is predicting a warmer than average November! This will mean that 
there’ll be plenty of time for fall projects. The bulbs are on sale at 30% off!
With Halloween coming next weekend – grab a pumpkin while you’re picking up a bundle of firewood for that campfire at your Halloween party! The pumpkins are on sale at 30% off also. The bundles of firewood are exceptionally dry, hardwood firewood! They’ll make a great fire and burn without alot of heavy smoke that you fnd when wood is wet.
Heidi Brosseau – our retail manager – has created the cutest Halloween display. Stop in for a special treat and see what she has come up with this year!
October 6, 2009 – 11:47 am
The fact that in recent years Autumn Blaze Maple has been one of the nation’s most popular selling trees should be little surprise due its rapid growth, lovely shape and fabulous red/orange fall color. Used successfully in zones 3 to 8, this versatile hybrid quickly matures into a handsome tree of good proportions that is to delight the eye every fall with its glowing color.
When selecting your location for this tree allow enough space for a large shade tree and avoid highly alkaline soils. Autumn Blaze Maple is able to handle a wide variety of soils – from fairly sandy to quite moist. It will grow to a size of 50′+ and 40′ in width. The tree pictured here is only ten years old – a testament to its quick growth rate.
We have hundreds of Autumn Blaze Maple on sale now this fall – from 30% to 50% off depending on size and packaging. Currently available are #3, #7, #15, #20 & #25 containers – starting at $14.99. We also have a great selection of larger Autumn Blaze Maples in balled and burlapped form – some of these being on sale at 50% – which is an incredible buy. On the larger trees – we can also plant these trees for you – we have a light weight utility loader that will not damage your lawn that we use when we plant these. The largest Autumn Blaze Maples that we have are 4″-6″ in trunk diameter which we would have moved to your site with a large tree spade truck.
We also have a wide selection of other handsome and fast growing maple varieties such as Armstrong, Celebration, Autumn Fantasy, Marmo, and the recently released Firefall Maple – which was a cooperative effort of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. All of these trees are reaching their fall peak of color. Even if you can’t plant one this fall- stop in and see the fall color – make your notes and you’ll know whcat variety you’ll want to plant when the time is right!
October 2, 2009 – 8:25 am
Fall is for Planting!
It is fall sale time here at the nursery. All of our trees, shrubs and perennials are on sale at least 30% off and all the way up to 50% off. Hurry on in for the best selection while supplies last. Our current inventory levels are very good, but things do go fast during this great fall sale! We look forward to seeing you during this wonderful time of year to be planting in your landscape.
Be sure to check out our instructions page. We have included a pdf page with Fall Planting Guidelines and a Fall Garden Care list. Fall does provide for very successful planting. The rush of spring and summer are over and you can plant with confidence this time of year.
October 2, 2009 – 8:12 am
A fire in your outside fire pit – or in the fireplace in the living room – is just what the doctor ordered now on these crisp autumn evenings.
We have for sale exceptionally dry, high quality, hardwood firewood. It comes from our woods – located here in Rice County, and consists of hard Maple, Oak, Hickory, Black Ash, Elm, Ironwood and Basswood. We hand split it and have had it stacked out in the open for 3 years drying. The pieces are between 13″ to 19″ long and we sell it here at the nursery in little bundles or we will deliver 1/2 of fireplace cord or more to your home.
A fireplace cord is a stack of wood 4 feet high, by 15-18 inches wide to 8 feet long. This is approximately 1/3 of a loggers cord. Delivered to a Northfield address, a fireplace cord of wood sells for $175. Give us a call for delivery costs to an address other than Northfield.
October 2, 2009 – 7:56 am
I asked my retail manager – Heidi Brosseau – what came to mind on the perennials right now that say “fall”. She immediately said – “If you take Mums and Asters out of the list (which are the two most popular fall perennials) I would say “Sedums, the Ornamental Grasses and Autumn Bride Heuchera”.
This morning, I had Cory Holcomb, our assistant retail manager – make a display of these perennials so I could take the picture here. Ornamental grasses are one of my favorites because of the versatility of these plants. They provide interest almost all year round. In the spring – you cut them back and they start to grow. They then provide a nice backdrop to other perennials which are spring and summer bloomers. Depending on the type of grass you plant – it will start to “blossom” with its seed head anywhere from mid to late summer right through fall now with many of the Miscanthus grasses looking awesome! You leave the grasses standing through the winter and they provide visual interest all winter. There is nothing prettier than when you have stalks of ornamental grass catching the hoar frost of early December – the sunlight just glistens off of the frost on the stems of the grass.
The sedums are much like the ornamental grass. They provide visual and textural interest in the spring and summer perennial garden and in the fall they blossom from a muted white to light pink to a brilliant deep pink/red color. There are two different types of sedum – the groundcovers (or low growing) sedum and the upright type which when you get a mature plant – will look like a small shrub.
Heuchera – one of my favorites since it is a great shade perennial as well. The Autumn Bride Heuchera – nice green leaves all season and then when you think the heucheras have finished with their flower stalks of tiny pink or white flowers – the Autumn Bride sends up it’s flower stalks with beautiful creamy white flowers. A pleasant surprise for the fall garden. Mixed in with other fall flowers or with a pumpkin or two added in the midst of the plants – a delightful autumn arrangement.
October 2, 2009 – 7:01 am
Apple time is upon us. This year has been a great year for apples. The fruit is abundant and with the warm September weather – the starches turned to sugar and made for a great crop of apples! We have several apples trees in a small orchard at home, and each fall I make the usual apple crisps, pies, and sauces. I canned applesauce this week and next week – I’ll start my apple pie assembly line!
I freeze apple pies (raw) and then bake them on cold winter days!
Apple trees are now on sale and it would be a great time to get a couple of trees growing in your yard. There are apples for cooking and baking – others that are better for eating – some have a longer shelf life than others – you have early apples – late season apples – and the list goes on.
Apple trees have incredibly beautiful blossoms in the spring. We always try to spend a little time around our apple orchard in the spring when the trees are blossoms. One of life’s little pleasures! Even with just two trees – you will get enough apples after a few years to make sauces and pies – or just have plenty for eating.
October 2, 2009 – 6:35 am
Winterberry. A shrub with glossy green leaves during the growing season. Produces berries. But wait — in late summer, these berries slowly start to turn color and by early fall – they’re red. When the leaves come down, you will see masses of bright red berries that light up the fall landscape. Best of all – they stay red into mid to late winter so when the snows come in December – (at holiday time, right?) – you will have this red bouncing off the white snow. Gorgeous.
A member of the Holly family (Ilex) – there are several varieties that are Zone 4 hardy and will compliment any landscape. We have a grouping of six at home, underneath one of our flowering crab trees. The Red Sprite Winterberry (pictured here) will grow to be 4′-6′ in height with a width of approximately 3′. The leaves do turn a yellow in the fall – but the berries are the show that this plant puts on. The important fact that one must remember when planting Winterberry, is that you need at least two shrubs – a male and a female. The male pollinator for the Red Sprite would be Jim Dandy. This plant gets to be the same height, but just a little bit wider. It produces no fruit so when planting – if you planted three – 2 Red Sprite, and 1 Jim Dandy – put the Jim Dandy in the middle or the back of the border depending on how you design your shrub bed.
These plants are very easy to care for. They prefer moist, acidic soil – and can be planted in sun to part shade. Pruning should happen in the spring before the growth starts so when the flowers and berries do set – you won’t be pruning them off. Remember – you can’t plant things in the winter time – but with some careful planning you can enjoy your landscape 12 months a year!
September 7, 2009 – 6:53 am
Now is the time to purchase and plant your Bittersweet plants. The native (common) Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) is one of the plants that you need at least two of – a male and a female. You can easily tell at this time of year which plant you have since the female plant sports the berries and the male plant will be just lush green foliage. The common Bittersweet is not the invasive Japanese variety that is talked about.
Bittersweet is a vine and is best grown along a fence, lattice work or larger trellis. It grows quickly and will fill in a space that you want to have a little privacy or to hide what’s under a deck, etc. The twigs of berries are sought after for fall decorating and arrangements.
A new variety of Bittersweet to hit the market is the Autumn Revolution Bittersweet™. A brand new selection of the native American Bittersweet, but unlike the species, only one plant is needed to produce the fruit! The majority of the flowers on the plant are “perfect” flowers – meaning that they are both male and female. The fruit is large – about twice as large as the native plant’s fruit. Keeping it’s bright colors – it is perfect for arrangements for the fall! Another added bonus – very hardy – hardy to Zone 3!
We have a great selection of both plants – the native Bittersweet and the Autumn Revolution. Stop in and start your own planting of Bittersweet!
September 7, 2009 – 6:26 am
Each year with the given weather conditions during the season, the weather brings the best out in certain perennial varieties. This year – that perennial is the Rudbeckia Goldsturm – commonly called Black Eyed Susan. Wow! is the only way to describe it. It has been in it’s glory for almost two months now and will continue to bloom and delight until frost!
This hardy perennial will reach a height of only 30″ and the clumps are about 18″ wide. The versatility of this variety of Coneflower makes it a must have for almost any landscape. The clump in this picture is anchoring a row of spruce trees – just a nice clump or two at the end of the landscape bed where it narrows down accents evergreen trees. Rudbeckia also is the star in a cottage garden arrangement – or in mass with ornamental grasses and purple coneflower. Try it with other perennials with different color combinations – purple heuchera - Russian Sage – the list is endless. Mix it in with shrub plantings and you will have color amongst the shrubs during the summer.
Another feature of the Rudbeckia – like its other coneflower relatives – is the winter interest. Leave it stand until spring and during the late fall/early winter, frost will collect on it’s branches and then when the sun hits it, it will glisten. Birds will be attracted to the seeds that are available inside the seed head. By using perennials with winter interest in mind – you can actually “garden” all year long – in Minnesota!
The label shows that it is a full sun perennial – however – we have several clumps at home (in the woods) and one is in only about 3 hours of sun a day and it is incredible. We have it in our boulder garden with a weeping hemlock and it lights up the shade! We have several next to the house where it is shaded at least half the day and we have several clumps out in our hosta garden where these receive only about 4 hours of light each day.
September 3, 2009 – 4:21 am
Successful planting projects to improve your landscaping can take place throughout the Fall! Nights are growing longer, and days cooler which means reduced stress and moisture demands on new plantings.
If you are able to get your project area prepared, and the plants installed in September, many of them will be able to send out some new roots, beginning the establishment process, and helping them get a good start for next spring. Good preparation of the soil in the planting area, aggressive root pruning prior to planting, and consistent watering are keys to good results. Be sure to mulch all your fall plantings!
We also see October plantings doing well the following year. Most plants are dormant or becoming dormant at this time. These plants have stored large reserves of energy in their root systems and when fall planted, all this energy is available for new growth when soil temperatures warm up in the spring. Your new landscape plants will already be in place, and ready to take advantage of every single day of the 2010 growing season to grow into a beautiful new landscape.
Another nice thing about Fall is the terrific bargains available. In early Fall, the selection can still be good, so make your plans, get your plants and get started planting!
September 2, 2009 – 4:45 am
Our fall sale has begun. We have hundreds of trees, shrubs and perennials on sale. The savings are from 30% to 50% on selected plants. If you have been contemplating a new landscape area, replacing a few plants in an existing shrub bed, or planting a new tree or two – now is the time to really get great bang for your buck!
Not sure if you want to plant? You can hire our crews to do the work for you! Let the Fall Sale savings help you with the installation fees.
Check out our Specials page for extra savings for customers using our website!
September 1, 2009 – 6:41 am
We have had customers over the years who drive in with SUV’s, pickups, dump trucks, sedans, even an Austin Healey to pick up plants. Yesterday, a customer came in with his street rod pulling a small trailer and picked up a tree! One time a customer came in on his way home from fishing and we loaded up his boat (which was on the trailer) with shrubs and perennials!
We do deliver plant material, soil mix, rock and mulch – but you can save on the delivery fee by bringing in your own vehicle/trailer to take your new plants home. You will be surprised on how we can load your plants in smaller vehicles to get them home safely. If you have questions on what would work – please give us a call and we’ll give you some advice!
We will be holding our Fall Seminar on September 12th. Our designers, Kristin Lucas and Amy Voight will present a seminar titled ‘Take the Guess Work out of Fall Clean-up and Winter Prep’. 
