Tag Archives: hydrangeas

Need a Valentine? We Can Help!

Mixed Planting with Téte a Téte NarcissusJust a quick post to point out the many beautiful flowers in the greenhouse. Our baskets and containers  are one of a kind…special creations custom made for each order.

Orchid Arrangements

 

 

 

 

If you have a basket, bowl, or other container you’d like us to fill with beautiful plants, just bring it in and we’ll take it from there, or choose one of ours.  Valentine’s Day is this Saturday, so get your order in soon!Orchid Arrangement

 

 

Some of the many blooming plants we have in now, or will be getting in this week, include cyclamen, campanula, primroses, rieger begonias, narcissus, violets,  orchids, hydrangeas, hyacinths, freesias, azaleas, and more. Stop in to browse or give us a call to place an order for pick up or delivery.

 

Arrangements – Happiness On A Rainy Day In The Greenhouse

 

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Recently, on a rainy day, with extra baskets on our hands and plenty of pretty plants at our disposal, these arrangements were the happy result. Rainy days in the greenhouse are the best. When the wind blows and the poly whips across the roof like the sails on a ship, and then the rain starts…there’s nothing like it. That’s when it feels good to work in a greenhouse, the rain rat-tatting on the roof, sometimes so loud it’s hard to hear the phone ring…

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But of course there is still work to be done – plants to be tended, orders to be filled, and customers braving the rain to be taken care of. But, between work, there is, shall we say, creative play…

imageAnd there are such pretty things to play with! This time of year, with spring in the air but not quite yet here – this is the time of hydrangeas, calla lilies and sweet alyssum –  the soft colors of Easter mingling and overlapping with the brightness of other, more exuberant blooms of gerbera daisies, ranunculus and the first of the geraniums. So much to work with! So we begin to gather flowers and foliage and perhaps  a few herbs to add their scent, color and texture to the mix.

imageThis post isn’t going to be about design rules, because quite frankly, we sometimes break them. (Maybe we’re just rebels at heart!) No, this is about what feels and looks right to you. And, perhaps it’s more about not being afraid of making a “mistake” – with arrangements, container plantings or your own garden.image

 

So, here are some of our gifts to you, a few creations on a rainy day in March…while the rain rat-tatts on the roof and the poly whips like the sails on a ship…

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Easter Flowers – Lilies and More!

The ultimate Easter flower...

The ultimate Easter flower…

We love the colors, blooms and scents of the Easter holiday…from pure white Easter lilies to the soft purples and pinks of hydrangeas, and the fragrance of stephanotis…this season speaks of new beginnings..

With the upcoming holiday and family and friends gathering for Easter, we have the plants, flowers and arrangements for your table or gifts for loved ones at this special time.

Easter lilies are the traditional Easter plant – enjoy their blooms and scent, and if you have a spot in the garden, plant your lily as soon as danger of frost is past. (Easter is late this year, but please wait until at least the end of April to early May to plant your lily outside.)

hydrangeas in the colors of Easter...

hydrangeas in the colors of Easter…

We also have beautiful hydrangeas…while these are considered florist hydrangeas, for you folks that want to try planting them out in your landscape find a spot with filtered sun, rich soil and a bit of protection. Keep them well watered their first summer in the ground.

The fragrant stephanotis wreaths are beautiful annual vines…they will bloom now and sporadically through the summer – they’re very nice in planters with other blooming summer annuals. They aren’t winter hardy though, so if you’d like to keep them be sure to bring them in for the winter.

Pastel pink orchids float above campanula, violets and selaginella in this Easter arrangement

Pastel pink orchids float above campanula, violets and selaginella in this Easter arrangement

Of course we also have long lasting and elegant orchids – let us arrange a grouping in one of your containers or ours. In addition to gorgeous orchids we also offer kalanchoes, violets, freesia, campanula, calla lilies and more!image

We always have the most beautiful orchids!

We always have the most beautiful orchids!

If you’d rather have an Easter arrangement or basket made up of plants that you can use later in your garden and seasonal planters, we have that as well! Just let us know and we’ll offer appropriate suggestions for you.

From all of us, we hope all of you have a wonderful Easter !

Spring Shrubs! From Azaleas to Vitex…

some of our hollies...

some of our hollies…
fresh off the truck!

Recently some of our favorite nurseries in Alabama  sent spring shipments of shrubs, a few trees and the beginning of our perennial stock…perhaps you’ve seen the mass of green in the parking lot!

In addition to old southern favorites like oak leaf hydrangeas, gardenias and azaleas, (among them the deciduous, fragrant  Florida Flame and ‘Varnadoe’  azaleas) and sweet tea olives, including Osmanthus fragrans ‘Fudzhingou’ (a particularly floriferous selection), we also offer the tough, tried and true cleyera, some pyramid hollies that would be great in containers,  and the  blue flowered butterfly and bee magnet, Vitex ‘Shoal Creek’.

Viburnum 'Awabuki' Beautiful as a screening shrub

Viburnum ‘Awabuki’
Beautiful as a screening shrub

If you need even more tough plants  we have ‘Mary Nell’, ‘Nellie Stephens, and ‘Emily Bruner’ hollies. Or, if you have a spot or large planter  for a specimen plant, the limbed up Burford hollies are beautiful.  ‘Snowball’ and  ‘Awabuki’ viburnums,  anise and leucothoe…so much more that could be beautiful additions to your landscape!

Knockout roses have been around for a few years – if you haven’t tried the yellow or white selections, we have them now. And, if  you need more ornamental shrubs have you tried blueberries? In addition to white blooms in the spring and delicious fruit in early summer they also have wonderful fall color – we have some beautiful plants here if this is something you’d like to try.

These blueberries are loaded with buds!

These blueberries are loaded with buds!

Finally, what could be more southern than a magnolia? The hybrid Magnolia ‘Butterflies’ is a small, deciduous magnolia with fragrant, white blooms in early spring…

Fragrant tea olives... Osmanthus 'Fudzinghou'

Fragrant tea olives…
Osmanthus ‘Fudzinghou’

This is a small sampling of what we have in stock. Please stop in to see the other offerings – new arrivals will be coming in weekly!

Magnolia 'Butterflies'

Magnolia ‘Butterflies’

 

 

Make Someone Happy With A Blooming Basket!

We’ve had recent posts showing pictures of gerbera daisies – well, here they are in action as the focal point of a pretty combination basket – this one went out to someone as part of a birthday celebration…

Pretty gerbera daisies in a mixed basket

Pretty gerbera daisies in a mixed basket

We added a sweet primrose with a touch of foliage – using maidenhair fern and pink fittonia to round out the composition. Add a bow and voila! a lovely gift for some lucky someone! The primroses are also a bright  and seasonal addition to arrangements, but keep in mind they  are available only for a short time early in the year since it will get too hot for them as we get into spring and the warmer months. (Primroses are native to cool, moist climates – while we might have the moist part covered, we certainly aren’t cool!)

Forced bulbs, add bright blooms in this container...

Forced bulbs, add bright blooms in this container…

Here’s another example of some of the seasonal flowers available now – this container shows forced bulbs of tulips, hyacinths, and narcissus, as well as a pure white hydrangea and willow branches to add even more drama…these forced bulbs are, like the primroses, usually available in the early portion of the year. You can plant the narcissus in your garden once they’re done blooming – we’ll talk about that in a later post.