Continue to Connect with the Plant Club

We encourage you to get involved in one of our Plant Club Facebook groups. These groups share information about plants and how you can collaborate with friends and neighbors. For instance, many groups orchestrate "flat sharing," helping members more affordably spilt larger flats of plants so you can get the number of plants you want at the right price.

Click on the appropriate link below to join your group.

Barrington - Alison

Facebook Group

Buffalo Grove - Amy

Facebook Group

Deerfield - Amy and Donna

Facebook Group

Glencoe - Megan

Facebook Group

Glenview - Cindy

Facebook Group

Lake Forest - Jen, Sylvia and Eden

Facebook Group

Libertyville - Sara

Facebook Group

Naperville - Kate

Facebook Group

Northfield - Holly

Facebook Group

Skokie/Evanston - Mary

Facebook Group

Wilmette - Kate

Facebook Group

Winnetka - Leslie (and Highland Park - Dana)

Facebook Group

It's our last order of the year ...

After this, we'll see you in February, 2025

for our Spring annuals pre-order



Order by 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 6

(Delivery or pickup Wednesday, October 9 - Thursday, October 10)

In This Issue

• Plant now for a head start in spring
• What to plant now -- some perennial suggestions
• Your October garden to-do list
• How to water after planting
• Tips to keep Mums looking great
• Help with containers (because sometimes you just need a pro)
• Soil amendments and how they support your garden
• We are continuing to expand -- join us?!
• Our last sale of 2024

Plant Perennials Now and

Give Your Spring Garden a Head Start

Next week looks really good for gardening. Our last order of 2024 offers some wonderful plants that can fill in holes as well as set things up for looking great when spring comes next year.

Planting now offers enough warm days left to keep the conditions just right for the important root growth that plants need to settle in for the winter. Your reward for a bit of work now will be nine more months of growth for all of those plants by the time spring arrives.

Choose from a terrific group of perennials for this sale. If you've been eyeing an area around your house that needs an upgrade, this is the week to get to it! We can source some seasonal fall annuals too. It's a wonderful time to plant!

North Shore Plant Club is open through

Sunday, October 6 at 7 p.m.

Plants will be delivered and/or ready for pickup by

Wednesday/Thursday Octobrer 9/10



Please reach out with questions -- help@northshoreplantclub.com -- and we’ll work through your situation by email or phone or share the names of some great garden coaches who can efficiently and affordably help you plan a new area in your garden, or coach you on how to care for what you have!

Our Garden Coaches Are Planting These Now

Consider these special perennials for your garden to add color and texture now and later!

Syringa Boomerang /

Dark Purple Lilac

Full Sun

Spirea japonica /

Double Play Red

Full Sun - Partial Shade

Physocarpus opulifolius / Ginger Wine Ninebark

Full Sun to Partial Sun

Pennisetum /

Fountain Grass 

Full Sun

Panicum / Switchgrass

Full Sun

Calamagrostis /

Reed Grass

Full Sun

Helleborus / Lenten Rose

Partial Shade - Shade

Hosta 

Conditions Depend on Variety

Boxwood

Full Sun - Partial Shade

What To Do in the Garden In October

Your October garden still needs a lot of attention, and the weather can swing from feeling like the most wonderful warm summer day to becoming a full-blown winter storm with hail and freezing rain. Be prepared to give your garden what it needs, no matter what the conditions.

• Water garden, trees, shrubs and containers depending on plant needs and weather. 
• Finish planting perennials and spring blooming bulbs. 
• Harvest cool season vegetables into the colder months. 
• Trim back and remove from the garden any diseased plant material and do not compost. Clean tools with alcohol wipe.
• After a killing frost, remove dead plant material that you are not keeping for winter interest.
• Leave a 3" layer of tree leaves in the garden bed to protect plants and decompose into the soil over the winter. 
• If possible, water evergreens until the ground is frozen. 
• Drain and store water hoses.
• In late October to mid-November, after a hard frost and steadily cold evening temperatures, cover rose crowns with soil, compost or mulch. 
• Review your garden journal and photos while the season is still fresh in your mind and start planning for the next year.  Be happy for your successes! 
• Remember, newly planted shrubs and plants need lots of tender loving care to help them get established and prepare for winter.

How to Water Your Plants After Planting

Water, Water, Water. Water deeply every day for the first couple weeks, then weekly for the rest of the season until the ground is frozen. You could be watering plants into December! 

In the fall, more may be needed in a hot spell. Watering deeply means making sure the water reaches down through the root zone. Slowly watering over a long time is better than a quick dump of a lot of water from a watering can. Water for 20 seconds, then move to another area and go back to the first one and water again.  

Three Tips to Keeping Your Mums Looking Great

Mums deliver color and texture to fall planters or garden beds. But how do you keep them looking great? Follow these three tips!

1. Place them in a full-sun location
2. Water them before they wilt
3. Put them in containers that have good drainage. Mums do not like to sit in water (no wet feet!).

Would You Like a Hand Designing Your Containers?

Designing containers for the front or back of your house, or window boxes, often feels like a combination of a messy art project, an exciting cooking experiment and a game of Tetris!

And sometimes, the best-made plans just don't come together right, or even at all (we admit, we have a few flats of plants "waiting" to go into containers in front of our houses!).

If you really want some beautiful fall containers outside your home, and you're feeling like you have run out of time, or just want to call in a professional to do the job for you, we have a solution.

Several teammates have been helping Plant Club neighbors for the past few years and have a bit of time available to help you get your containers looking great now that the weather is cooler and fall inspiration has hit you. Our online garden coaches also can provide suggestions on plant combinations for your containers.

Reach out to us at help@northshoreplantclub.com if you would like an assist. Our garden coaches will help you make some plant decisions or can refer you to teammates who can help you decide what plants to purchase during this sale period (our last of the season!) and then come fill your planters for you. There will be a fee for the services of your container designers, arranged directly with them, but we can assure you that it will be affordable and you'll love the results. A few of their designs for other neighbors are shown below!

This is a great example of a wintertime container, which should last through the holidays and beyond. Lisa, the designer and planter, notes that many of the components can be reused the following year.

A windowbox to greet you each time you return home during the fall season.

A cheerful seasonal planter for the fall.

Teresa has helped this homeowner for several seasons, and they are able to work together to create a new look for each season, sometimes even incorporating the same plants.

Spring is here with these bright plants and a great combination of height (the "thriller") and "spillers."

The pots become more dramatic in a totally different way, when filled with wintertime greenery.

Fall is a great time to add a layer of compost or leaf mulch to your garden beds There are six months for it to decompose, add nutrients and help soil structure while the plants are at rest. It even looks good!

All year long, we love helping Plant Club members secure amendments from our partner, The Mulch Center. Our special pricing has saved many members a lot of money on yards and yards of mulch, soil and compost.

Some great amendments to consider now include:

Winter blend of highly enriched organics. Nourishes and protects plant roots. The best time to apply it is October-December.

Winter Blend is mixture of Compost, Leaf Mulch, Find Grind Mulch & Mushroom Compost. It will add Iron, Nitrogen, Calcium, Magnesium & Potassium to the existing soil during the winter months. It also helps protect the root systems.

Leaf Mulch is great for your perennials, and improves soil structure. It stimulates beneficial soil fungi. Leaf Mulch is not a blend -- it is strictly aged leaves. This will protect roots during the winter months and in the spring it will break down, adding nutrients. Leaf Mulch is primarily what the Chicago Botanic Gardens uses on its plantings.

Place your order with us and you'll secure the Plant Club's discount. Provide the information requested on our website and consider us your "soil concierge."

Or, just email us at mulch@northshoreplantclub.com, and we'll help you get set up. Let us know:

• Your name
• Your address
• Your email address
• Your cell phone number
• Which varieties & how much of each you would like (cubic yards/tons)
• Your preferred delivery date

And we will get right to work setting up your order with our dedicated teammate at the Mulch Center. In order to receive Plant Club preferred pricing, the order needs to be placed by us. These items can be ordered any time of year.

Would You Like to Help Us Expand?

It’s our mission to make gardening easier and faster, so we’re delighted to have added quite a few new plant friends from whom you can pick up your Plant Club plants this past year, including Buffalo Grove, Deerfield (two locations east and west of downtown), Glencoe, Highland Park, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest (downtown), and Northfield.  

Do you have some extra time, a passion for gardening, enjoy conversation with other gardeners, and an interest in saving money on plants or maybe even making a little something? Then we’d love to have you play a role in the Plant Club... Reach out to us at helpusgrow@northshoreplantclub.com! We need more partners to continue to expand this great community project. 

The more plants we sell, the more nurseries we can order from each week and the better pricing we can get. We would love to continue to add more pickup sites so more people can collectively get great plants with their neighbors just a few blocks from home.  We’re also seeking sturdy individuals who enjoy being outside to help us sort the incoming plants and get them to the right place each week. There are even some jobs improving our website and the information on it that can be done from home. Let us know if you’d like to help!

This is Our Last Sale of the Year

* * * * * * * * * *

We'll See You Again in February

for Our Spring Annuals Pre-Sale

Shop this week --

Through Sunday, October 6 (at 7 p.m.)



(receive plants by October 9/10)

North Shore Plant Club | https://northshoreplantclub.com/