Knecht’s

Each year in the spring as I watch these amazing plants emerge in perfect hemispheres of heavily textured lush foliage, I am reminded of what stellar season long performance these large sedums provide.

Fairly pest-free, Autumn Joy Sedum and the many other good varieties display clean foliage and a very neat mounded growth habit of 18″ to 30″ in height. The whole summer long stonecrop stands out by virtue of its distinctive thick rounded leaves and in fall beautiful amber, rose, pink, purple or reddish flower heads, and offers excellent stand-ability throughout a Minnesota winter. They are almost as valuable for their winter interest as for what they add to the spring, summer and fall garden.

Check out the many other varieties of perennials listed on our Perennials page.

Leif has a new article posted in the library. Here’s the first paragraph:

The dry conditions which prevailed last fall and again this early spring have given way to a moist period with welcome, beneficial and persistent rains. The beginnings of a major recharge of the depleted subsoil moisture, rains will need to continue consistently well into summer. Sub-soil moisture recharge is well underway, and by the time the rainy spell ends, should provide some buffer if another dry period comes later in the season.

Leif’s articles appear in the Wednesday edition of the Northfield News, in the Farm and Garden section, just behind the sports page. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.

Our e-coupon for the next two weeks. (Click here for a printer-friendly page)

KNECHT’S Nurseries & Landscaping Special eCoupon $3 off all hanging baskets and planters $2 off on all Clematis $1 off on all water plants Must present coupon to receive discount Not valid with other discounts. Expires 6-02-04 www.knechts.net - 507.645.5015

Click here for a printer-friendly page.

I have finished planting my garden here at the nursery.

Last year we experimented with using a ground cover fabric over the entire garden after we had worked it up and added compost. This worked so well at keeping the weeds down and the vegetables clean. Since it was an experiment, we did not use as good of a grade of fabric that we should’ve had we known how well it would work out. It did wear in several spots but it will serve the purpose this year, and this fall we will rip it out, till in more compost and next spring lay down a heavy duty grade of landscape fabric.

For the many readers that follow Leif’s newspaper articles, you all know about our other experiment last year with the banana peels and the tomatoes. We learn from our customers just as much as they learn from us. We had a customer in last spring who had used banana peels when planting their tomatoes and the plants grew huge and the fruit was equally as large. My garden last year produced the biggest tomatoes I have ever gotten.

Once again, I planted my tomatoes with a banana peel. Except for one Roma tomato plant. I planted two Roma plants, side by side, and one was planted with a peel and the other without. This will be the true test for the banana peel theory. We’ll be posting updates and photos as the summer progresses.

We have a winner! We had unofficially on Saturday picked two names that we liked, and were going to sit down on Sunday morning and discuss it with our staff… the runners-up were Samuari and Big Daddy.

On Sunday morning however, we read our e-mails and at 10:05 pm on Saturday night (with less than two hours remaining in the contest), the winning entry was submitted. Nancy Ison, whom I’m still waiting to hear from, suggested “Bluto” as the name of the frog. It was a hands down verdict here - Bluto was it. Congratulations to Nancy.

Bluto sits in our perennial garden directly in front of the office. A couple of days ago, there was a little baby toad that was hopping around in among the perennials and sat next to Bluto. I’m not sure if he (the baby) looked up or not! (See the Wikipedia for more on the origins of Bluto.)

As the common lilac family completes its yearly bloom cycle in late May, the Japanese Tree Lilac is just preparing to shoot out its large and very fragrant creamy white blossoms. Growing to heights of 20 feet or more, these later blooming members of the lilac family do well in varied soils, and accept pruning well to guide them around roof lines, corners of houses, and other landscape features such as pergolas and arbors.

Commonly available in both clump and single stem form, the tree lilac provides a nice mid-size tree alternative to the ubiquitous flowering crabs and a profusion of flowers a few weeks after the other spring blooming ornamental trees.

Very hardy, but does not like poorly drained soil. Soon to be available in a gold variegated variety aptly named Golden Eclipse, which should be a nice complement to the green leaved standards.

Check out the many other varieties of trees listed on our Ornamental & Flowering Trees page.

Leif has a new article posted in the library. Here’s the first paragraph:

Seasonable temperatures are spurring the growth of landscape plants and weeds alike. To make gardening a bit easier throughout the season try to think on a dual track of planting and controlling weeds during the same period of the season.

During the same days that you till and plant for annual flower and vegetable crops, take a few extra minutes to rough up the soil surface in other areas of the landscape where perennials, shrub and trees have been established. Quickly hoeing, cultivating, raking or stirring the soil surface when weed seeds are just barely germinating or are less than an inch tall is pretty easy compared to the task when weeds get several inches to a foot or more in size. Weed some, plant some and the garden is in good shape in short order, and easier to keep that way season long.

Leif’s articles appear in the Wednesday edition of the Northfield News, in the Farm and Garden section, just behind the sports page. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.

Since we are so close to St. Olaf College, it’s common to have people stop in who are from different parts of the country because parents come for visits all the time. Yesterday, however, we had 3 visitors who flew in to shop.

The guys and the little lady browsed all day. (Click on any thumbnail to see a larger view of the photo from our Spring 04 photo gallery.)

They shopped for pansies……..

They checked out the lilacs which are gorgeous now that they’re in bloom…………..

They thought the roses were beautiful except they didn’t like the thorns………

After their flight into the nursery and the “miles” they put on shopping, they strolled over under the trees and took a nap.

Each year at the nursery we have a variety of wildlife from the butterflys, ducks, baby bunnies, turtles, snakes, homing pigeons and the list goes on. The female duck has made a nest here at the nursery. We’re hoping that we’ll have the opportunity to see the little ones hatch. In previous years, the predators have gotten into the duck’s nest. Let’s hope for better news this year. Stay tuned for future updates.

Apples are by far the easiest fruit tree to grow in Minnesota. The Zestar apple is an early maturing apple that is crisp and juicy. Not well known yet since its release in 1998 by the University of Minnesota, the sweet and tart flavor makes for both excellent eating and cooking. Ripens in late August and it is a Zone 4 plant.

Check out the many other varieties of apple trees listed on our Fruit trees page.

Leif has a new article posted in the library. Here’s the first paragraph:

A welcome rain the evening of May 9th has put all of the plant world fully into the spring growth flush after a several week dry spell. Flowering crabs have been a real treat the last couple of weeks. When shopping for flowering crabs put your highest priorities on disease resistance and hardiness. The many Common Lilac varieties are now approaching peak bloom. After a winter without much color, it’s quite a treat to enjoy the massive color and delicate fragrance of these time tested landscaping stalwarts. They usually grow to about 10 feet tall and wide. Give plenty of room, sunlight and good drainage.

Leif’s articles appear in the Wednesday edition of the Northfield News, in the Farm and Garden section, just behind the sports page. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.

The time is running out to submit your idea for our Name the Toad contest. The contest ends on Saturday, May 15th! The person submitting the winning name will receive a $25 gift certificate. Click the thumbnail for a huge, 650K photo of the toad.

Submit your idea on our Contact Us page. The toad sits prominently in our perennial garden right in front of the office here at the nursery. The winning name will be in a blog early next week!

This morning as I was beginning to bring hanging baskets out for the display racks for Mother’s Day, I reached up for a basket and there sat a butterfly. I thought it was a silk butterfly put in the basket for decoration as it is only May 9th! When I started to pull the basket down, the butterfly, with its wings still wet, flew to the ground. In amazement, we watched him move his wings ever so slowly, and Heidi picked him up and set him amongst the branches of one of the flowering crabapples we had in our display.

This is a Yellow Swallowtail butterfly. We have watched him for over an hour just clinging to the branch of the tree, drying his wings. After posting this on our website, I pulled this picture over to my computer desktop. This is a moment I don’t want to forget for awhile!

To add more excitement to our Sunday morning, the hummingbirds are back. In the front of the greenhouses we have a large display of our annuals and planters full of colorful flowers for Mother’s Day and this is obviously attracting the hummingbirds. While it is still quiet, they are flitting here and there from flower to flower. What a wonderful way to start a Sunday!

With the date of the average last frost in southern Minnesota rapidly approaching, most gardeners are busily planting their annual flower beds. The current 7 day forecast is showing no lows under 42 degrees, however, we also recommend that you listen to the forecasts and if the lows are projected to be in the 30’s, be prepared to cover your new plants. Hanging baskets and planters can easily be brought inside over night.

We have an incredible supply of hanging baskets, gorgeous new containers full of annuals and small planters that will add an accent to any deck, porch or would make a great gift.

The flowering crabapple trees are a riot of color in the nursery right now! You can find flowering crabs in white and all shades of pink from a very light pink to a deep pink, almost red. If you have an area that needs a small tree, there are crabapples that will reach only a height of 6 to 8 feet, while some will grow to 25 feet in height at maturity. There are several varieties that have persistant fruit which means that fruit hangs on through most of the winter for a splash of winter color in the landscape. There are even some flowering crabs that will produce no fruit, but still have the beautiful blossoms.

Our e-coupon for the next two weeks:

$5 off a container Flowering Crabapple $15 off a Balled & Burlapped Flowering Crabapple $1 off our $9.99 special on selected lilacs Must present coupon to receive discount Not valid with other discounts. Expires 5-19-04 Knecht’s Nurseries & Landscaping - www.knechts.net - 507.645.5015

Click here for a printer-friendly page.

Some nice new varieties continue to come on the market. One of the nicest in recent years is the Tinkerbelle, a cross of Dwarf Korean and Superba. Striking wine red buds open to lovely pink blossoms of fine texture. Make sure you plant Tinkerbelle in well-drained fertile soil. Grows to about five or six feet, so would be considered somewhat dwarf. Full sun to half day sun.

Check out the many other varieties of lilacs available as well, listed on our Shrubs page. As always, plant lilacs in well-drained soil.

Tinkerbelle lilac

Leif has a new article posted in the library. Here’s the first paragraph:

Spring is busting out all over. Tree leaves are emerging or already out and rapidly expanding to full size. Spring wild flowers of the deciduous forest will soon be completing the last portion of their yearly growth cycle in heavy shade as the maturing forest canopy closes out most sunlight that during April was able to filter through bare branches to the forest floor. Even at the height of the incredible spring growth flush of a Minnesota landscape, the earliest of spring ephemeral wildflowers are beginning to wind down.

Leif’s articles appear in the Wednesday edition of the Northfield News, in the Farm and Garden section, just behind the sports page. All his previous articles are archived in our web library, going back to 2001.