Crop 210 February Issue of Flowering Shrub Farm Monthly All Picture Newsletters; January February March April May 1 to 15 May 16 to 31 June 1 to 7 June 8 to 14 June 15 to 21 June 22 to 30 July August September October November December Every few days throughout each month, I add or overwrite several pictures before I start another similar page the following month (more about the newsletter at bottom). Click on the picture and it may open a larger version with more detail. 18:50

We work throughout February cleaning equipment, straightening out storage and of course taking as many pictures as we can of crops in the field (many inventory pictures of crops below). Some years we get lots of snow and other years we get hardly any at all though you can usually depend on temperatures well below zero. If we cant keep up with shoveling snow off buildings those buildings can be flattened. Coldframes and greenhouses are particularly at risk. Go to All Plant Orders where you will see all plants I expect to buy this year, take cuttings from in July and then sell once they flower. Helpful comments about this page are highlighted in red.

In the past, lots of snow........ To see what this year is like check the inventory pictures below (I overwrite them every february and you can see the date the picture was taken on the sign within the picture.

When the snow is shallow enough I trek into the fields and take pictures of each crop. I try to get a clear shot of the sign in the fore ground and a slightly fuzzy shot of the plants in back. You can get an idea from the size of the plant of about when they'll be available. Most Lilacs for instance wont bloom until they are at least three feet tall (we dont sell them until they are blooming or have bloomed proving the variety). I place a green dot on the sign and note on it how many plants of this variety I have for sale in a seven gallon pot for $30.

Hand written signs may be replaced with those commercially printed by spring. If the number on the green dot has faded you can check the inventory picture in the catalog.

If the sign just has a number you might find the plant name and crop number within the file name that the picture is saved as. Click the picture for a larger image and the plant name and crop number may appear in the address bar of your browser.

A number noted with a sharpie marker but no colored dot shows a number of plants for future sale but they have to be transplanted into larger pots first. The last 1 will be repotted into a 25 gallon pot, cut back and used for propagation.

In Victorian times you didn't usually see foundation plantings like you see today. Instead ornamental plants were chosen that bloomed extravagantly for a short period and that had other characteristics that were attractive at other times of the year. I take pictures of the flower, the fruit, decorative foliage and bark. I place all my pictures in the picture-newsletter and save them into other pages as well. Check fall foliage and fruit for instance in September or October.

I like to place a purple flowered gallica rose near a purple flowered lilac so the lilac buds and blooms in May while the gallica rose blooms in June with fruit in July and colored foliage in September and October. Spring flowering bulbs can be added to the group for april bloom and New England Aster for late summer bloom.

I will overwrite many of these pictures as I can during the month, then overwrite them again a few days later. Potential customers may be able to see plants starting to bud in responce to warm weather or covered with ice and snow in responce to cold.

When Lilacs bloom in the field I label each one with a locking tag. You may be able to see some in these pictures. The following March we remove tagged plants from the field, repot them and add a green dot with a number to the sign.

The primary use for our greenhouse is to have a passive solar heated building where we can pot and repot our plants.

Most of my climbers and ramblers are placed against our chain link fence, their stems supported by it and in June the fence turns into a riot of flowers. But in February only the boxwoods have leaves on them and most interest is in the color of stems and fruit.

Roses, Espalier trained fruit trees and Hibiscus are put away for the winter pot-in-pot surrounded with mulch in raised beds. With the addition of snow only their signs provide testement of what is there. Stacks of pots that have been allowed to collect earlier in the year are now dragged through the window into the barn. As we find more pots they are stacked on the shelf according to size.

About the ALL-PICTURE-NEWSLETTER by andyvancleve

Flowering Shrub Farm Monthly All Picture Newsletters; January February March April May 6 to 16 May 20 to 31 June 4 to 7 June 8 to 9 June 11 to 13 June 16 to 25 July August September October November December

Potential Customers subscribe. Each month I send them an email that contains several links to new pictures in newsletters or inventories.

All the pictures I take are added to one of the newsletters or inventories.

Quite often they reply with questions about particular varieties they are interested in. I am more likely to have varieties my subscribers are interested in.

When they see something they like they come buy it in bloom.

We grow plants to sell at our plant sale. Read my notes on the zone hardiness numbers I use. Do we do mail order? Check my picture-newsletter Want to purchase? email me.