Monday – July 26th- Detour from the interstate is working smoothly.  Road work has started closer to the nursery now.  There will be a longer/wider turn lane going into St. Olaf College which is a huge improvement for the safety of all – the staff and students at St. Olaf and our customers and crew as well.  Traffic will be moving a little more slowly but will always be open.  Hwy 19 is also the detour for Rice Co. Hwy 1 which is under major construction this year. 

From Owatonna/Faribault – by taking the Northfield exit off of I35 – there is an immediate right onto the detour.  This road is only 1/2 mile to the south of Hwy 19 and parallels Hwy 19 and takes you right back to Hwy 19, just 1/4 mile from our nursery!  Or you can take Highway 3 in Faribault north into Northfield.  Once in Northfield at the junction of Hwy 3 & 19,  take a left onto Hwy 19 West and go one mile!

Coming from the metro area – you can also catch the detour off of the interstate or you can take Cedar Avenue or Dakota County 23 (same road) into Northfield and it skirts the St. Olaf Campus.  Just follow the city streets around the campus and it comes right back to Hwy 19!

From Lonsdale/New Prague area – just north of Lonsdale and south of Elko is Dakota County 86 and by going east on that road, you will come to Dakota County 23 (also known as Cedar Avenue) (or keep going 2 more miles and you will come to Hwy 3) and come into Northfield from the north.

Rhubarb Banana Pie

Heat oven to 425.  Prepare pie crust for a double crust pie.

Trim 1 1/2 pounds of fresh rhubarb and cut into 1/2″ slices.  Mix with 1 1/3 c. sugar, 3 Tbsp. quick cook tapioca, 1 tsp. grated lemon rind and 1/4 tsp salt.  Slice a large peeled banana over pastry in pie pan, top with rhubarb mixture.  Dot with 2 tbsp. butter.  Put top crust on.  Bake 35-40 minutes until crust nicely browns.

These are probably my two favorite hosta plants.  Guardian Angel – will become a large plant – almost three feet high and approximately four feet wide.  A sport of Hosta Blue Angel – it’s multi-hew coloration is a show stopper.   Plant other blue hostas or shade perennials around Guardian Angel and they will be the perfect complement to this exceptional hosta.

Hosta montana Aureo-marginata is a vigorous grower and lightens up any shade garden.  It’s also a large hosta and as is pictured here- makes a nice surround underneath a tree.   This shows a crabapple tree planted in a raised bed, with three montana Aureo-marginata around it and then a planting of shade annuals in a ring. 

Get creative with your hosta plantings!  Stop in and look at our many different varieties that we offer.  We have over 150 different hosta varieties for sale here at the nursery!  (Some hard to find ones included.)

It reaches a height of only 15′ and a width of 12′ – meaning 6′ in any direction.  This enables you to plant it closer to either the house, deck, patio area – whatever you have which makes it the perfect tree for smaller places.   The fruit is smaller – 1/2″ in diameter and is persistant.  It hangs on all the way to spring (pictured) and will simply dry up and fall off when the tree starts it’s new growing cycle.  Our tree is closer than 6′ to our house, and we know we will need to prune the back branches more frequently, but for the effect we wanted, we chose to plant it closer. 

Spring is almost here and the crabapples will be blossoming before we know it!  When you’re looking to plant a new ornamental tree – keep this little “jewel” in mind!  We will be having a great selection of the Red Jewel available.

For the balance of November – our hours are 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday.  We will be closed for the 4 day Thanksgiving holiday.  Starting in December, we will be here Monday through Friday – in the mornings – from 8 am to noon!  We do check messages and e-mail several times a day so we can get back to you usually the same day!

Gift certificates for trees are especially nice since it allows the recipient to pick out just the tree for them!  Some people love flowering crabs – while others love oaks, and the next person really likes the colorful maples.  With thousands of trees to choose from they’ll surely find just the right tree for them!

Gift certificates are great for using toward spring annuals and hanging baskets or even toward visits by our Landscape Designer!   Give us a call and we’ll assist you with your holiday shopping!

Our hours have changed just a little – with the time change we are closing now at 5 pm during the week, and Saturday we will be here from 8 to 5, and next Sunday – 10 until 4.