Crop 320 April 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 The whole idea 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. Click on the picture and it may open a larger version with more detail. Last edited 04/29/2011

The front of the plant sale location above has plants in large pots that I use for propagation but occasionally sell to someone who doesn't mind paying a premium price. Smaller, less expensive plants that are more portable are behind the house arranged in alphabetical order with signs among them that show the variety name, crop number and quantity for sale in different size pots.

In April we are potting and repotting hundreds of fruit trees and roses. The fruit trees will be cut back to the bottom wire of an espalier later to be trained on to stepover or horizontal T. Crab apple trees will be trained to belgian fence. Plants that arrived bare root and that have not yet been individually potted are placed together in 25 gallon pots covered with soil or mulch to keep their roots moist ( 2011 Espalier Order ).

The roses are sometimes potted into three gallon pots in order to save soil and pots that are in short supply at this time of year. Customers who buy plants in 3 gallon pots can get 10% off the price. Later, all 3 gallons will be repotted into 7 gallon allowing the roses to grow larger and making it possible for them to be stored in winter pot-in-pot. See individual inventory pictures of the rose order at Rose Order

We bring a truck load of compost and another of lilacs from the field close together with the shelves where we will display them. Then the lilacs are transplanted into 7 gallon pots and a price label placed on each. When they flower again I will label each with a white variety label before they are sold. In a year that is unnaturally warm, lilacs will sometimes begin to bloom at the end of April but we are more used to the normal blooming time May 15 when the plant sale begins. Customers will sometimes subscribe via email so I will notify them if we open early.

Plants are transported from where they have been growing in outlying fields to the plant sale at 40 Voorheesville Ave in a trailer that can be interchangably pulled by a tractor or a pickup.

Trellises have been set up at the plant sale to hold trees that have been trained to belgian fence, stepover or horizontal T and now have to be transported from their original pot-in-pot location a couple miles away. New Apple, Crab apple and Pear trees arrive bare root, are potted and cut back to fifteen inches above the graft.

As plants leaf out we find ourselves walking through veritable tunnels of greenery that will soon become filled with the intoxicating fragrance of Lilacs in bloom.

Cuttings that we have purchased from nurseries all over the US start arriving UPS and we pot them into three gallon pots. Sometimes information is painted with a paint pen on the side of the pot, sometimes we have a label that we staple to the pot. I clamp a pink label with the date I took the picture, somewhere in the picture.

Each group of plants have a sign among them with the crop number and the quantity we have for sale on a colored dot. A green dot would be a 7 gallon pot, yellow is 15 gallon and red is 25 gallon. A pink label with a date is usually placed on the sign so you can see when they were inventoried.

I make several trips to get supplies including potting soil, pots and fertilizers.

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 my coments about the pictures with links to the pictures.

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.