Spring is here – right? Yes it is and this is a fabulous spring for plants – with temperatures changing more slowly and nights still being cool, spring bulbs last longer and the weeds don’t explode quite so crazily! A reminder though… All our shrubs, perennials, fruit and violas and pansies are safe to plant now as they are tolerant of frost and cold. All other annuals, including hanging baskets, herbs, flowers and most veggies should be protected at night if temperatures are expected to fall below 5°C. Leave outside during the day to ‘harden up’ and bring inside at night until night temperatures are above 5 °C. 

Now is a great time to be starting to look at your garden with a critical eye – are there any gaps that can be filled with a shrub or perennials? Could your soil benefit from the addition of some compost or mulch? How about getting your veggie garden ready? Shrubs, perennials and fruit will all benefit from planting now. Many veggies can also be planted soon – cool loving crops such as onions, leeks, kale, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts and lettuce all love the cool soil. Lots to do before introducing more heat loving plants to your garden!

 

We really hope to see you this weekend at our Perennial Party where we’ll be celebrating spring and kicking off our 26 ^th season in business. Enjoy an afternoon in the SUN and meet all our staff. Take home a free plant and receive 10% off all perennials. Fabulous!

Airy blue and easy too!

Catmint is one of my favourite perennials - I just love their mounding and natural yet tidy habit and small colourful, airy blue flowers. So, I was very excited to grow this new variety this season. Cat’s Pajamas is a small scale version of Cat’s Meow, at half the size - about 12” tall and blooming about 2 weeks earlier. Aromatic foliage is grey green and topped with dark flower stems carrying indigo blue flowers. Unlike older varieties of Catmint, Cat’s Pajamas will go on flowering for months – late spring to early fall. Just plant in full sun and enjoy this easy, low maintenance perennial for many years to come. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds love Catmint and you will too! (Photo courtesy Proven Winners)

We’re giving away plants!

Receive a free Nepeta Cat’s Pajamas (Catmint) with each purchase made

 

Receive 10% off all perennials including our locally famous Specialty Peony Collection

 

Sunday May 5

1pm to 5pm

 

Enjoy a Sunday afternoon at the farm as we kick off our 26 ^th season in business!

Refreshments and Door Prizes

Vote in our 2019 Hanging Basket Challenge

Meet and mingle with our family, staff and animals

Vote for a chance to win!

In early March, our employees designed and planted a 14” hanging basket each, using no more than 6 plants. Baskets are now filling out beautifully and starting to flower. Starting at our Perennial Party on Sunday 5 May, visitors to the farm can look over the 8 baskets and pay to vote for their favourites, with each vote being a chance to win the basket. There will be some free ballots given away at the event. We will continue the voting until Sunday 26 May when the votes will be tallied and the winning design will be announced.

The winning basket designer will have bragging rights and also will choose a charity for the proceeds to be donated to. In 2018’s contest, we raised over $1000 for the Alliston District Humane Society. A random draw will occur from all votes collected for each basket and a winner of each basket will be announced. The 8 basket designers are: Kieron, Dan, Kelly, Jacqueline, Cathy, Ben, Samm and Chris. We hope that you will participate in voting for a chance to win a beautiful hanging basket lovingly created by one of our fabulous employees!

Don’t miss our popular annual event

 

Mothers Day Madness!

 

What better treat for Mom, than a trip to the Flower Farm to pick out some plants?

 

10% off all plants

 

Kids - plant a Pansy for Mom

Free coffee and cookies

Gift certificates available   

   

Saturday May 11 ^th and Sunday May 12 ^th

9am to 5pm

This season, we are thrilled to welcome 2 wonderful new plant people to our team. Samm Haughton and Jacqueline Fulham joined us in March and have been involved in planting and growing our crop since then. Samm is a farm girl who enjoys working hard on her farm, caring for her chickens, ducks and rabbits as well as her herd of show cattle. She grows a large veggie garden in the summer and is experimenting growing peanuts. Jacqueline also has experience growing veggies, having interned at Everdale Organic Farm last year. She is currently setting up her own vegetable operation and will be running a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program and attending local markets with her produce. Samm and Jacqueline are now both eager to meet all our regular customers and send our plants off to new homes! Please introduce yourselves to them!

We feel extremely fortunate to have 3 long term employees working with us, who have a wealth of plant knowledge and garden experience. Kieron Rupke, with us for 9 years, Kelly French and Cathy Cook, both with us for 5 years. Our son Dan Martin, is home from university and here to help on weekends. He has exceptional knowledge about growing hot peppers! Chris and our son Ben Martin and friend David Patton will be selling our plants at the Creemore Farmers Market starting Victoria Day weekend. We are all full of enthusiasm and energy and are excited to welcome you back to the farm this spring, helping make your visit productive, fun and informative!

Climbing Black Eyed Susan

I used to grow Thunbergia as a child and little did I know, I’d be growing it for sale 40 years later! I have always been attracted to the bright orange flowers with a contrasting black centre ‘eye’. These annual vines have been improved over the years and are now available as a top performing Proven Winner plant. We have planted several as a stand alone variety in large pots. A couple of lucky pots have yellow Lemon A–Peel mixed in them too. Talk about stunning!

We also feature them as ‘thrillers’ in the centre of mixed planters, growing up a tripod support and providing another dimension to the combination. I love them combined with a mix of other strong colours – try with Dragon Wing Begonia Red, Petunia Indigo Charm and Sweet Potato Vine Lime for a colourful vigorous combination. In the ground, Thunbergia are just as effective – just plant in full sun and let the vines climb up whatever support you provide. They are fast growing, colourful, unique and fun!

Easy care, flower all season!

If you love roses, but don’t want the fuss of dealing with them, then Flower Carpet Roses are for you! These roses really are amazing and every garden should have at least a few. They grow about 2 feet in height, maybe more with excellent soil and moisture and spread out sideways to cover at least 2 feet diameter. They bloom continuously all season, providing a bright and showy display. The leaves are glossy and green and flowers come in a range of colours, including amber, scarlet, pink and coral.

They are very resistant to the traditional rose diseases and rarely suffer from any major insect damage. The only care that is required is to mound in the fall with soil, peat or manure. Plant in full sun, massed or singly – they look fabulous. We have several colours planted in our display gardens here, so take a look the next time you are by and figure out a spot for a few in your own garden. 

Many of you have commented about our bulb displays in our gardens. Each fall, I add more patches of bulbs to improve the spring show. I try to pick a wide range of varieties to extend the bloom season and provide varied colour interest. Cool spring weather helps the flowers last, so I always hope for a long, 'slow' spring, but unfortunately there's not much I can do about the weather! 

Spring bulbs are easy to grow. Just remember to follow a few simple steps and they will look good for years to come.

We’re open daily, April 26 to June 16

9am to 5pm

Visa, Mastercard, Interac, Cash or Cheque accepted

Gift certificates available – great idea for your favourite gardener!

See us at the Creemore Farmers Market, Saturday mornings from May 18 to June 15