Garden Zone

May 1st 2012

Three Tips for Perfect Gerbera Daisies:

Do you like gerberas but can’t get them to grow? Here are three tips to keep your daisies dazzling.

1. When in doubt don’t water. Gerbs like to be left a bit on the dry side so if you water only when the leaves begin to wilt and the soil is dry you will give the health of the plant a big boost.

2. Fertilize lightly every watering. These flowers are very hungry plants and could use a bit of Bloom booster fertilizer to increase the number and size of the blooms.

3. Give them as much sun as possible. The more sun, the more growth, the more blooms and this also tends to allow them to dry out between watering.

Plant happy!

~Steve with the Inside Scoop~

April 10th 2012

Succulents

One of the biggest trends in home decor and gardening is growing and arranging different varieties of succulent plants. Succulents are plants that store water in their leaves, stems and roots. They are a thicker, juicier kind of plant and more drought tolerant because of this water storage, which means less maintenance. The plants are very versatile; being able to grow in many places and under many different types of conditions.

Hens and chicks and many varieties of sedum are hardy in Central Minnesota and can be left outside year-round. (Shown above)

Other varieties should be grown indoors during the winter months in a bright location of the house. (A few of those varieties shown above)

These plants can be arranged in an infinite variety of combinations. You are only limited by your imagination, as demonstrated with the living wall and turtle topiary made with hens and chicks below.

~Steve with the Inside Scoop~

March 27th 2012

Our Spring Basket Planting Party held last weekend was a success! Lots of food, beverages, music, planting, and laughter filled our greenhouses.

Thank you to all those who attended and made this event so memorable! Hope to see you at Thomsens soon.

March 13th 2012

Here are a few of the exciting plants available for the 2012 season at Thomsens:

New Annuals

White Russian Petunia

The White Russian Petunia is a new white petunia with a dark center and veins radiating from the interior. This flower is great for hanging baskets and patio pots, especially when you need to blend dark and light colored plants together

Field of Dreams Corn

This colorful corn has pink and white variation and makes a striking center piece in a pot. Later in the season, you will be rewarded with small cobs of corn, perfect for popping.

New Perennials

Echinacea Flame Thrower

Flame Thrower is a new variety of coneflower with a dark orange center that brightens towards the outside of the petals. It blooms all summer and the color is fade resistant.

Free Wheeling Daylily

The flowers on this daylily can grow up to 9 inches across! It has distinct long, slender orange and yellow petals with an orange throat. This one will definitely get people's attention.

New Fruit

Frostbite Apple

This is a small apple with plenty of flavor. Frostbite has been a part of the U of M breeding program since the 20's and is part of a lineage leading all the way to the famous Honeycrisp Apple. It is very sweet and also makes for great cider.

Black Ice Plum

Black Ice Plum is a very sweet and early plum perfect for MN! Black Ice is a cross between a cherry plum and a dessert plum, similar in size and taste to other conventional varieties but ripens 2-4 weeks earlier.

Cornelian Cherry

Cornelian Cherries make a great ornamental small tree with yellow flowers in spring and a neat shape. Later in the season, you will have tong of small red cherry-like fruits, perfect for preserves and juicing.

Honeyberry

The Honeyberry produces elongated blueberry-like fruit that are sweet enough to be eaten right off of the bush. It is a great blue berry substitute in recipes, and to make jams or enjoy on salads.

New Trees

Chalet Swiss Stone Pine

The Chalet Swiss Stone Pine is a perfect evergreen tree for people with small yards. It grows slowly but keeps a very neat pyramidal shape. This is one of our favorite evergreens at Thomsens.

Cinderella Crab

Cinderella Crab is one of the smallest of ornamental flowering crab trees only reaching a mature height of 8 feet. It is a small, rounded and neat tree. Additionally, it is perfect for smaller yards or to add height in a flower bed.

New...Other Stuff

Living Walls

They are here! Living walls are becoming a staple of both interior and exterior decorators alike. They are a perfect way to fill up a large wall with something other than a boring painting. So put aside all of those old, boring family photographs and install one of these beauties.

Miniature Gardens

Have big ideas for a garden but only a limited amount of space? Miniature Gardens are a good way for people to express themselves with plants, without a huge yard or budget. All you need is a pot, small plants and some small furniture. You will have a full and unique landscape that fits anywhere from an apartment balcony to a patio or even on an inside window sill.

~Steve with the Inside Scope~

February 27th 2012

 Vegetables

At the greenhouse we grow 13 types of peppers, 12 types of tomato and 38 other varieties of vegetable varieties perfect for the home garden. I know it can be hard to decide when faced with so many options so I'll tell you a little about a few of my favorites.

Pepper

Out of all the pepper plants we carry, the one I can't go without is Mucho Nacho. It is a larger and meatier type of Jalapeno. Because of its size the Mucho Nacho is perfect for stuffing.

Never stuffed a pepper before? Try this simple recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork sausage
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese softened
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound large fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 (8 ounce) bottle Ranch dressing (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)
2. Place sausage in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease.
3. In a bowl, mix the sausage, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Spoon about 1 tablespoon sausage mixture into each jalapeno half. Arrange stuffed halves in baking dish.
4. Back 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve with Ranch dressing.

Tomato 

I like having fresh tomatoes in the summer for salads and sandwiches, but when I'm going to make sauces and salsa, I go for Roma type tomato. La Roma tomatoes have fewer seeds and tend to be meatier than most tomatoes so they make a thicker sauce. 

Kale

Kale is a quick growing, cool weather loving and nutritious crop. Kale can be grown outside before most even germinate and make good additions to soups, salads and pasta dishes.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is my #1 vegetable. Why? Because I don't have to cook it and there are only two steps between me and enjoying an early summer snack: 1) Peel it. 2) Cut it into pieces. It makes a great addition to vegetable trays and tastes great with any vegetable dip.

The Rest of the Vegetables

Here is a list of the 55+ other varieties of vegetables at the greenhouse. If you have any questions about any of the varieties, give us a call. 

•    Pepper
     o    Better Belle
     o    Baron (Red Beauty)
     o    Purple Beauty
     o    Orange Blaze
     o    Golden Summer Bell
     o    Sweet Banana
     o    Super Chili
     o    Salsa Garden
     o    Jalapeno
     o    Mucho Nacho
     o    Hapanero
     o    Serano
     o    Sweet Cherry
•    Tomato
     o    Cherokee Purple
     o    Lemon Boy
     o    Yellow Pear
     o    Mega Bite
     o    Better Boy
     o    Big Beef
     o    Celebrity
     o    Early Girl
     o    LaRoma
     o    Red Grape
     o    Supersweet 100
     o    Patio
•    Lettuce
     o    Simply Salad Alfresco Blend
     o    Simply Salad Global Gourmet Mix
     o    Mix Bistro Salad
     o    Romaine Parris Isl
•    Cantaloupe
     o    Athena
•    Cucumber
     o    Burpless
     o    Pickling
     o    Slicing
•    Pumpkin
     o    Howden
     o    Orange Smoothie
     o    Jack Be Little
•    Squash
     o    Acorn
     o    Buttercup
     o    Butternut
     o    Yellow Straight Neck
     o    Zucchini
•    Watermelon
•    Strawberry
     o    Ft. Laramie
     o    Honeoye
•    Sweet Potato
     o    Georgia Jet
•    Beans
     o    Bush Snap
•    Broccoli
     o    Packman
•    Brussel Sprouts
     o    Jade Cross
•    Cabbage
     o    Big Flat Head
     o    Ruby Perfection
     o    Stonehead
•    Cauliflower
     o    Snow Crown
•    Celery
     o    Giant Pascal
•    Eggplant
     o    Fairy Tale
     o    Satin Beauty
•    Kale
     o    Winterbor
•    Kohlrabi
     o    Grand Duke
•    Peas
     o    Snap Sugar
•    Swiss Chard
Asparagus
     o    Jersey Giant
     o    Purple Passion
•    Horseradish
•    Rhubarb

Herbs
•    Basil
     o    African Blue
     o    Lemon
     o    Pesto Perpetuo
     o    Nufar
     o    Sweet Large Leaf
•    Chamomile
     o    German
•    Chives
•    Cilantro/Coriander
•    Curry
     o    Dwarf
•    Dill
     o    Fernleaf
•    Fennel
•    Garlic
•    Lavender
     o    Munstead
•    Lemon
     o    Balm
     o    Verbena
•    Marjoram
•    Mint
     o    Chocolate
     o    Strawberry
     o    Spearmint
•    Oregano
     o    Regular
     o    Hot & Spicy
     o    Italian
•    Parsley
     o    Italian Dark Sgl (Plain)
     o    Triple Curled
•    Rosemary
     o    Arp
     o    Gorizia
•    Sage
     o    Garden
     o    Pineapple Golden Delicious
•    Stevia
•    Tarragon
     o    French
•    Thyme
     o    English
     o    Lemon

~Steve with the Inside Scoop~