Growing or WHAT we do and WHEN we do it using pictures from my picture-newsletter. If these pictures don't open click here. Clicking the picture will sometimes open a bigger picture. 09:52
I am a grower of locally hard to find plants that I sell retail. Most of the plants we sell are in a 7 gallon pot (we keep them behind the house) for $30 plus tax but as those that aren't sold right away outgrow their pots we repot them, then use them for propagation and to sell to those who are interested in larger established plants and dont mind a premium price (we store our premium sized plants along the side walk in front of the house). Each year for around six weeks we sell plants when they are in bloom during our retail plant sale (May 15 to July 4) or by appointment until the middle of August. The rest of the year I am preparing for the next plant sale by creating new plants from cuttings, repotting, fertilizing, watering etc. Mail order is mostly just within New York State. Shipping plants outside of NYS requires an order of magnitude greater difficulty but you can email me and ask if you like. Click on each of the 100 pictures below for a larger image that can be saved as wallpaper.
Each plant we grow has an individual page for that variety alone linked from one of my catalogs that has a description and a collection of pictures. The two most important pictures for each variety are a closeup of the flower and another of a sign; describing the cultivar and showing how many we have for sale, that I place among the available plants. Each picture when clicked should open a larger image suitable for saving as wallpaper. My hand measures 3.5 inches across the four fingers allowing you to determine how large a flower or fruit is. Whenever I'm taking a closeup I hold the flower, branch or fruit which also makes it easier to identify many of the pictures as mine. I dont mind if you use them just so long as you give credit to me and my web site in a foot note.
The inventory picture or picture of the sign will show a colored dot with the number I have available for sale marked on it with a sharpie marker as of the date also on the sign (whenever I make a sale I scrape the dot off, put a new one on and mark the new quantity). Green is in a 7 gallon pot for $30, yellow is in a 15 gallon pot for $50, and red is in a 25 gallon pot for $100. Most of our plants are in three gallon or seven gallon pots. No colored dot, no plants for sale yet because they haven't flowered. If a number is in the upper right hand corner without a colored dot it means I saw that number of plants in the fields in Spring and labeled them for the plant sale the following Spring. So there will be a green dot by the following year.
In March, as soon as we can work the ground, we fertilize and transplant Lilacs that were labeled the previous year into 7 gallon pots and transport them to the plant sale location to be made available for sale when we open.
4 pictures of us potting Roses or Lilacs
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 newsletter where they can see pictures of our plants growing in the fields or available at the plant sale. When they see something they like they come buy it. Email me if you want to subscribe. If its a cool spring, Lilacs should bloom from around the 10th to the beginning of June allowing plenty of time for customers to check out the flower and fragrance of each. On the other hand if its unduly warm it can shorten the flowering time to just a couple weeks. I notify subscribers if I open early.
I am trying to show just enough pictures so you can see how we grow plants until they flower and then sell them (it also helps me plan ahead next year). Additional pictures are in each monthly newsletter, click on May, June, July etc.
Row H is pot in pot winter storage for roses and espalier trained fruit trees. Row G is where we train plants to multiple stems before moving them into Rows A through F.
In May I label all plants that are flowering. They will be taken to the plant sale the following March, repotted and maybe sold the following May. It often takes plants five or ten years to start flowering (we dont sell roses or Lilacs until they flower) and during that time all kinds of perennial weeds will grow up so we rebuild a row at least once every few years.
Every year we empty one row completely, then refil it from those in Row G. All perennial weeds are dug out and the annuals are cut back hard then covered with newspaper & mulch. Plants in that row still growing are repotted and returned to another location to grow on with renewed vigor.
I take pictures of many of the plants I grow, each month during the growing season, grouped closely together and post those pictures in my newsletter. When they start to flower I only take pictures when they are in flower, in fruit or showing decorative foliage. I probably will take an inventory picture of the sign showing the quantity in stock once every couple months all year. We use a paint pen to mark the date they were first planted, an abreviation of their variety name, a crop number and the soil mix used on the side of each pot (sometimes I attach a label with the name). The pots are turned so that the information is visible in pictures. Additionally I create a sign that has this same information to put among them, adding the quantity in stock with a sharpie permanent marker after they become available for sale. Lilacs aren't sold until they flower proving the variety.
Seedling Pinxterbloom Azaleas are planted in a volcano bed. Some will be grown into 7 gallon pots for $30 each while others may be scooped out of the bed and sold for somewhat less. A volcano bed consists of a raised bed filled with pine bark mulch. The azaleas are inserted into the mulch surrounded with a potting soil that is 60% well rotted bark. Lilac cuttings arrive in boxes from propagation nurseries and are potted from a two inch pot into three gallon pots.
I train many trees to belgian fence, Horizontal T and stepover. Belgian Fence is a line of trees planted two feet apart and trained to a V shape. This can provide a wonderful privacy hedge that can also have nice flowers and fruit. Step over and horizontal T are fruit trees trained like a split rail fence that also flowers in spring and has fruit in fall. Horizontal T looks like grapes in a Vinyard.
Roses grown include older varieties that have proven themselves hardy and disease resistant. Alba, gallica, damask, centifolia, hybrid rugosa, ramblers and climbers.
Fruit trees being trained to espalier are first cut off eighteen inches above the graft. I take pictures of roses and save them using the current month and the variety name as the file name.
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. Subscribers receive a list of the plants currently blooming and additional captions for these pictures in an email twice in May and four times in June (the rest of the year its once a month). When they see something they like they come buy it.
While I am waiting for customers to arrive I pot lilac cuttings into three gallon pots and cut them back. I place the three gallon lilacs in a trailer to be hauled out into the fields. Note the label on each with the variety name, the year they were planted and crop number. In four or five years we will be selling them too.
We cut roses and lilacs back and send semi mature cuttings to the greenhouse to be rooted. As leaves fall in November we collect hardwood cuttings. Some cuttings are stuck in propagation boxes we keep in the shade of trees near the fields. Each box can be placed on the ground and surrounded with mulch. They have a transparent door on top and are floored with mesh to keep mice out.
In the field we apply geodiscs to blueberry bushes and Lilacs in the training area (where we train plants in the first year after being potted to produce multiple stems). The discs cost us around fifty cents a piece but as they last forever and can be reused the labor savings on weeding is appreciable. We dont sell Lilacs, Roses and Althea until they flower so many of these plants will remain in the field for several years. When they are finally removed from the field and transported to the plant sale the geodisc will be saved and reused, the plant is transplanted into a larger container and topped off with compost.
In September we water, fertilise, train espalier, remove weeds that have seeds that stick to our clothing (many weeds attract beneficial insects so we leave those), take inventory pictures of roses and lilacs (with a sign in the picture that indicates how many of the variety mentioned on the sign we have for sale as of a date also on the sign), paint or improve our buildings and build raised beds filled with mulch where we will store roses, fruit trees and hibiscus in winter.
Devils Horn Weed, so named because its descriptive of the seed and referred to that way by some older residents in our area sets seed after producing these tiny yellow flowers that are attractive to honeybees. The seeds stick to our clothing in such numbers there is little else to do except throw them away. So when we start seeing these flowers its time to cut them back to the base or pull them out.
Purple asters bloom! Foliage starts to change color.
Each month I try to have at least one picture showing the training of fruit spurs on espalier trained fruit trees. If you subscribe to the newsletter I send an email that has comments about all these pictures. If you dont subscribe you still get to see the pictures. Click on the picture for a larger image. Email me if you want to subscribe.
I take inventory pictures of plants that bloom in September.
The sign has a green dot that shows how many plants we have available for sale in 7 gallon pots as of the date on a pink label.
At first the sign is made by hand with a sharpie marker. Later I have it professionally printed by Horticultural Printers.
We build pot-in-pot beds to store roses, hibiscus and fruit trees in winter with their roots mulched.
I take a picture of each crop of plants we are growing. We wont sell them until they bloom. The sign will show the date we started this crop, the crop number, the variety name, a description of the flower and the date the plant was first introduced.
In the first year after being potted all plants are cut back and trained. We want Lilacs and roses to have multiple stems and, once they are moved to the field, to be able to overshadow the soil in their pots to keep it cool and weed free.
As plants grow larger we move them further apart and water them by drip line usually starting in the second year. Blueberry bushes are brought to the plant sale in their second year.
We top fill potted roses with potting soil where needed. Pots should have soil up to within one inch of the rim. We remove roses from where we have had them for sale this past summer and place them pot in pot for the winter with their roots mulched.
In November we are storing plants pot in pot for the winter. The root hardiness of all plants is 40 degrees less hardy than their stem hardiness. So we have beds where we store plants for the winter with their pots (and roots) surrounded by mulch. Plants that are more hardy (like lilacs) are lined up with the sides of their pots touching. Look for a pink label dangling somewhere in the picture with the date printed on it.
Its important for me to show potential customers that at no time are our plants protected from winter cold. We do protect the roots just as they would be protected if they were in the ground instead of in pots.
Empty Pots and cardboard boxes are placed on an outside shelf where they can be pulled into the barn through a window and sorted for recycle.
Leaves will be raked into a path between rows of plants. Next spring the paths will be top dressed with bark mulch to keep leaves from blowing around, provide a neat surface to walk on and to help hasten decomposition.
Espalier trained fruit trees with their roots mulched that we are training to belgian fence, step over or horizontal T.
By December we have finished arranging our plants pot in pot for the winter and are now working in the barn sorting out equipment that has been thrown in here at a time when we had no time except for plants.
January and February I spend four or five hours every day editing my web site. Its a time to repair tools and structures that will be needed in just a couple more months. This time of year is also the best time for me to take a vacation or travel.
We usually get quite a lot of snow. If we cant keep up with shoveling snow off buildings those buildings may be flattened.
My rose catalog has one large list of plants but it has also been broken up into numerous smaller catalogs; Disease Resistant Roses (Alba Roses, Gallica Roses, Damask Roses, Centifolia Roses, Hybrid Rugosa Roses, Climbing Roses & Rambler Roses. This allows me to have a closeup of the flower next to a picture of the sign for each variety and allows my customers to skim the information they want without having to check each variety page. Clicking on the picture opens a larger, better quality version that can be examined more closely and clicking on the blue link still alows you to look for additional pictures.
We grow plants that I have determined people probably want, but dont have because there isnt a regular source where they live and their experience with mail order isn't good. What does that mean, you ask? Pinxterbloom Azalea is native to this area but none of the local garden centers have it so I do. Old Garden Roses often bloom for as little as three or four weeks and many garden centers order roses by how long their season of bloom is, not by how hardy they are (so I order roses because they are hardy and disease resistant first). I ask people to subscribe to my picture-newsletter and tell me which plants from my list they are most interested in (I place extra emphasis in crops that have more interest from my subscribers).
I usually start a "crop" of plants in a group of 50 or more. When they are small I plant them in a 3 gallon pot, and paint the year planted on the side of the pot with a crop number that represents that variety. 'Ludwig Spaeth' Lilac for instance is #86.
Initially the crop is grown close together, with the sides of the pots touching, Their pots turned so a picture of the group shows that year and crop number. A metal sign that stands a couple feet above the group, displays the crop number and when a "crop picture" is taken, a label that shows the days date is attached. In this way my customers can see how many of a crop we have and how mature they are. Each month, a new picture is taken of each crop and then saved using the same file name as the picture from the previous month. When the small picture in my newsletter or elsewhere in the web site is clicked it usually opens a larger picture where the labels can be read and the plants examined. Once plants start to flower I start taking closeups of the sign so that the inventory information is easy to read even in the small picture. I use a sharpie waterproof marker to note how many plants I have for sale in the upper right hand corner. Later you will be able to tell how many are in 7 gallon because the number will be on a green dot, 15 gallon on a yellow dot and 25 gallon on a red dot. In the newsletter during May and June you can see many growing crop pictures of plants actually at the plant sale.
We dont sell Roses or Lilacs until they flower. Espalier trained fruit trees, blueberry bushes etc. are usually sold in June and will often have fruit on them. While they are flowering I label those in bloom with a yellow, individually numbered inventory label. The following March those I labeled are re-potted and moved to the plant sale. Roses are stored through the winter pot-in-pot outdoors and usually the 'growing crop picture' is taken while they are stored (when they are not in bloom).
I am growing at least 10 different varieties of double flowered French lilacs that were introduced between 1880 and 1940 from the Lemoine Nurseries but I also have some new ones as well. I carry maybe 14 varieties that are variations on the color purple but have those I consider "the best" representing the other colors. I choose fruit bearing plants based on hardiness, flavor, disease resistance, because they are antique or native. Roses are mostly those introduced before the Civil War but the best disease resistant, very hardy, modern roses are also grown by us and sold when they begin to flower.
I am trying to make my web site as generic as possible. Someday I may have to go for a long period without editing the pages, just overwriting the pictures. This is because of the way software and computers are marketed. If the software I use is discontinued, the process of replacing these pages could become terribly expensive. By planning my comments carefully around the pictures I should be able to continue to over-write the pictures successfully. Maybe some day software marketers will design software enabling me to edit old pages created with an old software but I haven't seen it yet (September 17, 2010).
CULTURAL METHODS BELOW
Most of our plants for sale are taken through winter outdoors, pot-in-pot (the rest are hardy enough that their roots dont need the insulation that pot-in-pot provides and are just grown in a 3 gallon pot outdoors). Our version of the pot-in-pot growing method uses an empty pot we call a socket pot, inserted in a raised bed of soil or mulch . In fall plants that have been potted in an identical pot at the depth they should be planted in soil are inserted in the socket pot (there should be pictures of the method being used below). This allows me to utilize areas of deep shade for plant storage in winter and easily transfer them to sunny locations to grow in spring and summer.
IF YOU WISH TO SUBSCRIBE EMAIL ME.
I LEARNED LONG AGO THAT "SMART BUYERS BUY IT IN BLOOM!" THAT WAY THERE ARE NO SURPRISES.
YOU CAN SEE THE COLOR with your own eyes AND SMELL THE FRAGRANCE with your own nose BEFORE BUYING.
It has always been my contention that nurseries; water to much, fertilize to much, use to much pesticide and just plain work to much. I am developing my own "One Straw Revolution" at the Flowering Shrub Farm in Voorheesville, NY. As I am disabled but still want to do what I love (growing hard to find ornamental plants, showing others how easy it is to grow them and then selling them), its a required step.
Contact me by email for an appointment as I probably wont answer my home phone at 518-765-2574. My cell phone is 518-526-9101
Availability? Rose Guide & Inventory. We grow plants to sell at our plant sale. Go to my growing page to see what we do and when we do it. Read my notes on the zone hardiness numbers I use. Do we do mail order? Check my picture-newsletter Want to purchase? email me.