We have closed the retail center now for the winter. We do still have available about 200 potted trees and all of our larger balled and burlapped trees until there has been enough frost to freeze things up! We will have dry firewood and gift certificates all through the winter season!
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!
Now – my favorite subject! Hosta!
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! 
A late season bloomer – what could be prettier than this! This Anemone – called ‘Robustissima’ starts blooming late summer into early fall. Reaching a height of 30″-36″, it graces the back of the perennial bed giving you that spark of color. Windflowers can grow from Zone 3 to Zone 8. These perennials can be found even in the Rocky Mountains where in higher elevations the winters are colder. Anemones prefer partial shade with well drained soil. They can be planted in full sun, but be sure to keep them moist during the really hot periods.
This past week, our crews installed 12 balled and burlapped shade trees into two of the City’s parks. Grant Park was the recipient of 3 hybrid Elms, 3 Oaks, 2 Maples and 3 Honeylocust trees. Jefferson Park received an Autumn Blaze Maple. Each year we donate trees to Northfield’s parks in appreciation of the support that the Northfield community gives our business. We hope to be able to continue this program for many years to come.
One of my favorite shade perennials at home blossoming right now is the Campanula ‘Samantha’. It is tucked in between two of our Ely greenstone boulders and it is full of lavender-blue blossoms. A compact long flowering Campanula with fragrant flowers, it blooms heavily in early summer. It will rebloom with periodic deadheading. I have this planted in an area that gets the morning sun. Depending on the source, it will say it is a Zone 4 or a Zone 5. I have had this plant here for many years so it has proven hardy here in Zone 4.
The Praying Hands Hosta has to be one of the most intriguing varieties out in the marketplace. The upright narrow leaves of this plant gives it an unuual look like no other! Each green leaf is rolled and folded into a tube shape, displaying the prominent vens on the back of the leaf A thin white margin borders the outside edge of the leaf. Certainly a collector’s hosta – for the person who wants something different! 
We have just received an order of some unique hosta varieties and a few standard varieties. We have these available in very limited quantities as this was an order of a few of many varieties – not alot of a few.
