Crop 315 August Issue of Flowering Shrub Farm Pictures; 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 The whole idea of my web site is for you to be able to examine what we have for sale before having to drive to the plant sale location at 40 Voorheesville Ave in Voorheesville, NY 12186. These pictures show what we are doing this month to prepare for the upcoming or ongoing plant sale. Click on the picture and it may open a larger version with more detail. Last edited 08/31/2011

In August Customers make appointments and come buy roses, Hibiscus syriacus (also called shrub althea and Rose of Sharon) espalier trained fruit trees, blueberry bushes and more. They call ahead to my cell phone at 518-526-9101 so I know they are close, then I can walk in from the fields or the greenhouse before they arrive. I spend lots of time training espalier, weeding, watering, building new structures and preparing for winter.

One of these pictures will show a closeup of the sign among the plants and it will show the quantity available for sale in a 7 gallon pot for $30 on a green dot or in a 15 gallon for $50 on a yellow dot. The other picture may show a closeup of the flower, or plants growing in the field. No colored dot means none for sale yet even though we may be growing fifty or more. We dont sell Roses, Lilacs or Hibiscus until they have flowered or are flowering proving the variety. I close for the season sometime in the middle of August but give me a call if you want to see if I'm still open.

We have two apartments that we rent out that help us pay the taxes, surrounded by the activity and plants of our sustainable nursery www.floweringshrubfarm.com/apartmen.htm

As plants bloom in August I will show them here on this web page and maybe you'll come buy them. I will overwrite these pictures with actual dated pictures as I take them. Part of my job is to walk around taking pictures that I post here. Of course I am also watering and pinching or washing off insects.

Occasionally a customer will email me a request for further availability information. My reaction is usually to overwrite the picture of the sign with a new one that I take that day, then send them a link. The number on a green, yellow or red dot tells them how many I currently have for sale. When a customer buys a plant I replace the colored dot with a new one that reflects the new quantities then take a new picture. Its an easy way to do inventory when so many other ways are ruled out by disability in my hands.

The number on the green dot shows how many were in stock as of that date.

The number on the green dot shows how many of this variety I have for sale in a seven gallon pot for $30 as of the date on the sign, a yellow dot would be in a 15 gallon pot for $50, and a red or orange dot would be a 25 gallon for $100. Most of our plants are in 7 gallon pots. Blueberry bushes in a 3 gallon pot are $10 each, a rose in the same pot though would still be $30. Rooted cuttings in a 3 gallon pot are $10 per rooted cutting (I may place as many as 3 rooted cuttings in a 3 gallon together until they develop enough that they need their own pot, If one dies leaving 2, the pot of cuttings would be $20).

I grow perennials that flower later in the year because they attract beneficial insects that eat the leaf rollers and other damaging insects on the plants we grow.

No green dot? I probably have as many as 5 that just haven't flowered yet, verifying the variety. So, they aren't for sale yet. But I'll probably still take cuttings to propagate.

Generally, pictures of plants are at the top of the page and us doing chores near the bottom.

The plants in the background are those mentioned on the sign so you might want to study the foliage in the background.

I will over write these pictures with better ones as the month continues, adding additional pictures of other plants flowering. So you might want to revisit this page, reloading it to ensure you see the latest pictures. As plants are sold I change the number on the green dot. So the plant sign pictured with a recent date, one or more were probably sold then.

Smart people buy plants in bloom and we at the flowering shrub farm are open only when plants that we grow are flowering.

Potential customers subscribe to my free picture-newsletter where they can see pictures of our plants growing in the fields or available at the plant sale.

Each row of lilacs has at least 5 varieties along its length. In August the wildflowers grow up along the row disguising its contents. But every year in May when plants bloom I walk among them and label the varieties where the flower verifies what we think they are. In March of the following year we will transport them to the plant sale where they will be sold when next in bloom. Row A has Krasavitsa moskvy and Miss Canada, Row B has President Poincaire, Monge etc. Row F has Sarah Sands and Monge. Row E has . Row D has Purple Glory, Sarah Sands, Dark Night, . Each year we clean out at least one row of plants, then clean out weeds and trees that have grown up over the previous growing years. Many of the plants will be repotted and cut back to be re-inserted at another time. Row D was done in 2011.

If there is a number written with a sharpie marker in the upper right hand corner of the sign without a colored dot it means I saw that many flowering in the field (so they aren't for sale yet) and they will be potted into 7 gallon pots next March and transported to the plant sale. Then I will add a green dot at which time they will be for sale while in bloom next May.

Subscribers may receive a list of the plants currently blooming and additional captions and for these pictures along with a link to the page in an email twice in May and four times in June (the rest of the year its once a month).

When customers see something they like they come buy it.

I mark the sign on the upper left hand side with the year I planted the crop. In the first year after potting we cut them back several times so that they will be well branched. We wont sell them until they flower, usually after three or four years at least. A pink label shoes the date I took the picture.

At first the sign lettering is by hand, later it will be printed commercially and show the crop number, the variety name, flower description and date of introduction.

When plants flower I will show the number, marked with a sharpie marker on the upper right hand side. When they are actually at the plant sale ready to be sold the quantity will be marked with a sharpie marker on a green dot in a 7 gallon pot for $30 or on a yellow dot when in a 15 gallon pot for $50.

In August we continue to prune our espalier trained fruit trees for sale. The quantity for sale in 7 gallon pots for $30 is noted with a sharpie marker on a green dot. If its a yellow dot its in a 15 gallon pot for $50. I overwrite a picture only when I interact with the crop and the date on the sign will reflect the last time I did that.

Blueberry bushes will be at the plant sale when they are 1 year old or older. I add additional varieties each year, then as I take pictures, over write those in the catalog while adding them here.

As friends, relatives, etc. work at the flowering shrub farm I add pictures of them at the bottom of each monthly newsletter.

August is a time that we are urging plants to go dormant for the winter so we withhold fertilizer and stop all pruning letting the little fruits form. We still water thoroughly. I show a current picture of a lilac that I pruned back to 4 inches from around 5 feet, that had only one or two stems, with two date labels in the pot. The earlier date is the date pruned back to 4 inches and fertilized. The more recent date shows when I took the picture.

The last of the lilacs in training are being moved into the transitional area where they will remain until they form multiple stems. In a year or two, when the spreading foliage requires the pots to be spaced they will be moved onto drip lines in the upper field.

www.floweringshrubfarm.com/propagat.htm

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 the latest email link to the newsletter, information as to what is blooming and sometimes an update telling them when I am open.

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.