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Dear Gardening Friend,
Between school openings, hurricanes, elections, and the mysteries of the capital markets, it's not easy to find time for your garden in the fall. However, fall planting offers perhaps the best opportunity to produce splendid results with a modest investment of time, money, and effort. Here's why:
- The mild temperatures, long nights, regular rains, and friable soil in the fall garden offer the BEST conditions for transplanting, allowing new arrivals to settle into their new home and be well established to endure the coming winter and to make a fine spring display. This is especially true in Zones 7-9, where spring often merges into summer faster than new transplants can make roots.
- The cool, bright, bug-free and frost-free days of autumn are extremely agreeable for the gardener, as well as the plants. An added benefit of these temperate conditions is that new plants can be safely stored in a cool, shaded spot for 7-10 days or even weeks if circumstances require.
- Many of the most valuable garden plants known to man actually REQUIRE FALL PLANTING in order to assure success. Included are Peonies, the all-time favorite American flower,
Oriental Poppies whose bold June colors electrify a border, and all the many forms of
Tall Bearded Irises, known here as the Rainbow Flower because of their amazing variety of colors and color combinations. As you surely know, the many dozens of delightful genera that make up the world of spring-flowering bulbs also MUST BE PLANTED IN THE FALL while they are fully dormant. If you have been thinking how your gardens, lawns, and meadows might be brightened up with Daffodils,
Tulips,
Lilies,
Crocuses,
Bluebells, and their kin, now is the time to make your selections. You have only to
click HERE to find yourself at the home page for our bulb offering.
Our delivery service, which is always good, becomes very nearly flawless when the chance of extremely hot or cold weather is eliminated from the equation. WE CAN AND WILL DELIVER FOR THE DATE YOU REQUEST, saving you the trouble of wandering through local retailers looking for the right varieties, then worrying about how they were stored and graded. When you shop at White Flower Farm, you get the right plants at the right time in the right condition, with success guaranteed.
To calibrate your calendar, think in terms of having your plants in the ground 4-6 weeks before the first HARD frost. Soil temperatures cool much more slowly than air and a light coating of frost on the lawn is NOT a cause for concern. At the nursery, now designated Zone 5a, we count on planting well into November.
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DAFFODILS FOR NATURALIZING --
An Investment in the Future
Our premium Daffodil mixture for Naturalizing is called The Works because it is blended using top-size bulbs of all the best modern varieties, apportioned to provide an extensive variety of colors and forms and an extended period of bloom that runs up to 6 weeks here. Whether you favor the
traditional trumpet forms in white, creams, yellows, golds, and combinations thereof; or big, bold Flat-Cups, once known as "weatherproofs" for their astonishing durability; or maybe the lush, blowsy beauty of
Double-Flowered forms, which look almost like Peonies, but two months earlier, you will be delighted to experience what recent breeding has delivered in terms both of beauty and of hybrid vigor. Of course, we mix in the graceful and delicate Tazetta forms with their nodding bells and rich perfume and also some
Jonquils whose enthusiasm for spreading is legendary. Our mixture always contains at least 30 different varieties, never more than 5 bulbs of each, and will bloom enormously its first year in the ground, actually increasing its numbers in future years when planted in the kind of sunny, well-drained site that Daffodils prefer. As you will understand, this display bears NO CONNECTION to the discounted bags of leftovers that are the stock in trade of the mass merchants. Despite this difference in quality, we are able to offer 100 bulbs of The Works for only $59 plus shipment because we buy early and in large quantity from growers we have dealt with for many years.
If Daffodils are new to you, please note that these are among the hardiest, longest-lived, and most pest-resistant of perennials, with many plantings lasting decades or even generations with absolutely no care from the gardener. Deer will not touch them and their relentless colonization of favorable sites means that you can cut armloads of flowers for the house while leaving the display intact. The only requirement for a long-running Daffodil display is to allow their leaves entirely to ripen before they are removed, thus assuring that the bulbs have built up their reserves for the following year. Here at the nursery, we trim back our large display of white varieties (the White Welcome mix) toward the end of June, which means that Daffodils are better suited for meadows or other naturalized plantings than for formal lawns.
If you'd like to start next spring with a cheerful and absolutely reliable display of Daffodils, simply click HERE. For larger plantings, we offer an attractive quantity discount and recommend our
Naturalizing Bulb Planter.
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AN EARLY START ON THE HOLIDAYS
We take a good deal of pride in our offering of Amaryllis bulbs for forcing because it is, we believe, both the largest and best available in commerce. This assertion is based not on hubris but rather on long experience, exclusive supplier resources, and our own internal practices. We buy the top grade of bulbs available in commerce, ship them in refrigerated coolers from Holland, hand grade and pot them in our own shipping warehouse, then deliver them via UPS. The result is performance unmatched elsewhere, with most bulbs producing two flower stems bearing at least four blooms each. When our potted bulbs are given water and strong light, their huge glossy trumpets appear in 8-10 weeks, with success guaranteed. Because Amaryllis are stunningly lovely and absolutely fool-proof, they make superb gifts for gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Whether you are gifting family and loved ones, or recognizing business associates, or thanking the many people who make your daily life more pleasant, it's hard to think of a better way to convey your season's greeting.
The process of making your selection could not be easier or more pleasant. You can click here to find your way to our online Amaryllis catalogue, new this year, where you will be treated to 50 pages of photos of both plants and planters, a review of what is truly the best of the best. If you find yourself persuaded, we offer
numerous collections with hefty quantity discounts attached, thus adding value to virtue. As always, your gifts will be delivered, with detailed instructions and your holiday message enclosed, at the time you prefer.
For gift-giving needs in September and October, we suggest several new items grown here in New England: our bouquet of fragrant 'Cherbourg' Oriental Lilies, and a
dozen heirloom Apples in a gift box.
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A FALL VISIT
Fall in Litchfield, Connecticut is spectacular by any measure. Here at the nursery, the natural glories of fall are enhanced by the late season fireworks in the Lloyd Border. This mixed planting of perennials, annuals, bulbs, and shrubs is roughly 280 feet long, 24 feet wide, and contains roughly 3,000 individual plants. It's contents have been carefully chosen to extend the period of bloom from early spring to late fall, and the results are quite remarkable. From now until a deep frost cuts it down, this garden is a riot of rich, bold, fall colors from annuals, perennials, tropicals, late-blooming bulbs, plus the foliage of the woody plants. It is unlikely that you have seen anything quite like this garden, and we’d recommend a visit both the entertainment and for instruction. Of course, the store will remain well stocked, especially with bulbs, until the end of October.
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A FALL HARVEST
As the grass dies back in fall, our Angus steers are reaching harvest age. If you would be interested in some naturally raised beef of absolutely top quality, you may wish to consider purchasing a quarter, half, or whole steer, either for yourself or to share with friends. The value is remarkable, the taste and texture exceptional, and it’s taste you can trust. For further information, please call Michelle Tranquillo at 860-496-9624, ext. 6506, or click here to send her an E-mail.
Sincerely,
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TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! Look for the product review and 5-star rating feature. You can comment on every product we offer and read what other gardeners have to say. To tell us what you like and don't like, click the "Write a Review" link on any product page, located just under the item's photo and also at the bottom of the page.
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White Flower Farm
P.O. Box 50
Litchfield, CT 06759
1-800-503-9624
(c)2010 White Flower Farm, Inc.
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