Our organic, certified virus and nematode free seed garlic has arrived!

We have five varieties,

Georgian Fire, Music, Russian Red, German Extra Hardy and Chesnok Red.

See below for details about our

TWO FREE GARLIC WORKSHOPS THIS WEEKEND!

LET THE SALES BEGIN!

30% OFF so many native trees and shrubs including this swamp oak (Quercus bicolor).

INSTANT COLOR On Sale 30% off!

Don't go to a fall party empty handed. Grab a gorgeous Bushel Basket Planter.

P.S. Your porch would look great with 1 or 2 of these as well...

Beautyberries (Callicarpa) are dayglow purple and look incredible against their brilliant gold leaves. On Sale 30% off!

I will list many of our sale plants at the end of this email... Keep Reading!

Most of our plant

yard is now 30% off!

We LOVE asters because they feed the bees in October.

'Emperor of China', one of our heirloom perennial mums starting to bloom this week.

We continue to have a great selection of native plants like Zizia Aurea, seen here with its spring blooming flowers.

On Sale 30% off!

Garlic, Sales, Workshops, Bulbs, and GREAT Plants!!!

Hello

I have just returned from a lovely vacation at the beach in Rhode Island, the land of seaside goldenrod, saltbush (Baccharis), and Montauk daisies. It was great to get away and hang out with my friends but it is also great to return home and wander through my gardens to see what's new.

My yard appeared to have missed the mild frost we had last week. My Tithonias, marigolds, and zinnias are still blooming. I picked a pocket full of Sungold cherry tomatoes, a few cucumbers, even a couple of figs. But I can see things are changing quickly. Many of my perennial mums are beginning to bloom along with my 'October Skies' aromatic asters. A ton of seedpods have ripened and I need to get busy gathering them and moving the ripe seed to the back. I have a hefty pile of plants to get in the ground and most likely more to come as Natureworks is starting some great clearance sales and I cannot resist! Fall planting is THE BOMB. Every year I do it and every spring I am glad that I did. But I can clearly see that autumn is progressing. Another chance of frost is happening this weekend. I will COVER many of my annuals and veggies to buy a few more weeks of their bounty.

This week we are starting some mid-October sales on a LOT Of great plants. Many GREAT plants will be 30% off including Aronias, Spicebush, Ilex, many unusual evergreens, Viburnums, Hydrangeas, Liatris, Rudbeckias and Echinaceas of all sorts, Solidagos, Heucheras, Tiarellas, all ferns, Zizias, lots of very nice shade plants, so many choices... most of our plant yard! You get the picture, there are great deals, so come in while they last. See the end of this email for a list.

We also will continue to restock our HALF PRICE Thrifty Gardener's Bench.

Remember: you are buying a healthy root system at this time of year.

Even if the tops of the plants have dropped their leaves or turned yellow or brown, the roots are what matters. The soil is warmer than the air and plants put in the ground now will continue to grow roots for weeks and weeks. This is your chance to fill in your empty spaces, fix your succession of bloom issues, add to existing beds, and start new ones. It's cool and comfortable and a GLORIOUS time to work outside. And you won't see prices like these on the plants that you love next spring.

Plant in the fall!

We are hosting 2 FREE Grow Great Organic Garlic Workshops this weekend.

Saturday, October 17th 11am - 12 noon

Sunday, October 18th 1:00pm - 2 p.m

Learn the basics of growing organic hard neck garlic. This is one of the easiest crops you can plant and the time to plant is late October through mid-November. This workshop is perfectly timed to help you grow a great crop of garlic that you will harvest next July.

Join us, no need to register, just show up!

Did you know that every CLOVE of garlic produces a head? It is very important to buy organic, certified virus and nematode free seed garlic. Much of what is sold in the grocery stores is from overseas and has been irradiated to prevent it from sprouting!

Garlic should never be planted while the soil is still really warm as it will cause it to start growing tops. We want it to grow roots. I have been known to plant my seed garlic on Thanksgiving morning! We sell the very best seed garlic and we usually run out, so buy what you need and store it in a cool spot in a paper bag until you are ready to plant.

Every year I grow 75 heads of garlic. That is essentially one 12 foot long by 3 foot wide raised bed. I store it in a cool crawl space at the bottom of my cellar stairs. We cook with garlic all year round and we give a lot away to friends and relatives.

I do replant some of my very best garlic each year but I ALWAYS buy new, fresh seed garlic to keep my stock healthy. I also rotate where I plant my garlic every year. If you don't have a spot in the ground or a raised bed, consider a Smart Pot. That is where we grow our garlic at Natureworks, in the middle of the parking lot, on Veggie Island. You can too!

Come in to buy your seed garlic soon and pick up a bag of one of our wonderful organic fertilizers to use at planting time! What do we recommend? Click below to read our How to Grow Garlic handout.

Click here to read our 2026 updated How to Grow Organic Garlic Handout

While wandering in my garden this morning, I came upon my Ludwigia alternifolia patch. Ludwigia? Yes. SEEDBOX! Look at this way cool picture I took. Those square seed capsules give this native perennial its name. You can shake the seeds out like you are using a tiny pepper shaker! I planted some potted plugs last year, and I am smitten not only by the seed pods, but also the deep red fall foliage. It has thrived and now has combined with some smooth asters to create quite an eye catching combo. We do have some small plants in stock. Try something new this fall!

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

Going on vacation is a wonderful thing as it gives me time to rest and reset. But, I miss my garden. This fall's escape was to a beautiful house, but it was truly devoid of any gardens. Down by the beach, the seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) was literally vibrating with bees everywhere I looked. So were the asters, which were everywhere we walked.

When I got home, it felt so good to greet my garden again. The birds were hard at work, eating the seeds from my native perennials. It was SO quiet this morning. I heard the bees buzzing on the asters and the annuals before I even saw them. THIS, my friends, is WHY WE DO THIS. Our work of selecting, planting, and caring for pollinator-friendly plants from early spring until late fall really matters and it really works. We plant it, they come.

My bees sleep in late on the marigolds on these quiet October mornings. Marigolds are the best. An old fashioned classic that lasts well into fall.

Every Solidago still in bloom is loaded with bees. Solidago sempervirens (seaside goldenrod) is the last one to flower in my yard.

Our perennial mums also feed pollinators. Often, they are one of the only plants blooming by late October and early November. We have many varieties just starting to bloom and just as many in bud that will bloom later!

I have heard reports that our native witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is beginning to flower in parts of CT. This is also a great plant to support pollinators. Plant one in your yard this fall!

Gathering and saving seed is one of my favorite autumn tasks. There is such promise in a handful of seeds that you produced yourself. In my hand (above) is the seed of Calendulas that have been reseeding in my raised beds for many years. They now come up in all kinds of colors.

A SEEDY TIP FROM NANCY: Remember, harvest seed on a sunny day only when it is ripe. Hang it upside down in a brown paper bag in a cool, dry place and LABEL THE BAG! As soon as it is completely dry, clean the seed and save it in a jar or an envelope.

If you want MORE of a particular plant, let the seed ripen and drop or be spread by the wind. If you have enough (or too much!) of a plant, get that seed off the plant before it ripens. Managing seed, especially for our very prolific, self-seeding natives, is key to keeping your garden looking good.

Sign up today for my workshop coming up on Saturday, October 31st. We still have spots left. Sign up with a friend. I will take the mystery out of all this seedy business in the fall.

Seed Harvesting and Winter Sowing Workshop with Nancy

Our wonderful evergreen shrubs and trees are going on sale

this week at 30% off.

This includes one of my very favorites: Sciadopitys verticillata (Japanese umbrella pine). I have THREE of these because I love, love, LOVE to use them in wreaths and holiday arrangements. In fact, you may recognize it because you probably have bought it at Christmas time. NOW is a great time to add evergreens to your landscape. Not only will they thrill you all winter long, they also are critical to provide shelter for birds and wildlife.

Come and browse our unusual evergreen collection. All pictured here are 30% off!

IT'S TIME TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT...

BULBS!!!

Planting spring blooming flower bulbs is one of my favorite rituals of fall. Like all planting at this time of year, it takes a bit of resolve to get it done, but the rewards next year are priceless. Bulbs fill in the gaps in the early spring when so many of your herbaceous perennials haven't even thought about sprouting yet. They look great under trees and shrubs that don't leaf out till much later. They jazz up the areas where your ornamental grasses have been cut down. AND...they feed our earliest pollinators!

We FINALLY just restocked our favorite bulb protection product: Repellex Systemic.

Add this to the bulb planting holes for tulips and other bulbs that voles may enjoy. It is organic and makes the bulbs taste SPICY and unappetizing! It works all winter long. We make sure we reapply it in very early spring when we see the bulb foliage emerging for another 3 months of protection.

And, by the way, if you want to learn Bulb Basics the Natureworks way, we have a handout for that:

Bulb Basics-Spring Blooming Bulbs

This handout has been recently revised by yours truly and contains tons of helpful hints including design tips! It also lists the bulbs that are deer and vole resistant.

YOUR ORGANIC LAWN and YOUR LEAVES

The leaves are starting to fall. Now, when there is just a light coating, is your chance to add organic matter to your lawn! When mowing, don't bag them and don't shoot them out the side. Instead, use the mulching mower setting to chop them up and feed the soil and the microbes that live in it.

Once there are so many leaves on the lawn that you have to deal with them, consider creating SOFT LANDINGS under your trees. Leave the leaves in a broad circle, out to the edge of the canopy if possible. Keep them off of the trunk. All sorts of creatures overwinter in the leaves including caterpillars, moths, beetles, and more. Leaving the leaves where they fall assures a vibrant, Happy Habitat.

I created a good sized soft landing under a huge old maple in my front yard. I am hoping to extend this circle a lot this fall. That will reduce my lawn (YAY!) and keep more leaves on the ground for life to live in over the winter. The link below will not only explain why soft landings are so important, it will also inspire you to plant native perennials beneath your trees. If you have already started doing this last year, get some potted plugs and plant them into the beds beneath the trees you have created!

Soft Landings Explained by Homegrown National Park

Organic Lawn Care in Fall

October is the perfect month for organic lawn renovation. The lawn has stayed green this year due to all the rain we have had, and now is the perfect time to overseed any thin or crabgrass filled areas. Seeding in fall is the best time. The soil is warm and the air is cool. Grass roots establish well and are growing strong come next spring. Here is Natureworker Trevor, renovating an area of our lawn. This was all crabgrass, and unfortunately the soil was filled with grubs, so he applied Grub Gone, a safe, organic granular to eradicate them. He overseeded the area with our custom grass seed and Flawn seed. Flawn is a seed mix of white clover, prunella and creeping thyme. Mixed lawns are a beautiful way to incorporate more flowers into your yard. Come in and ask us questions!

Click to read our Organic Lawn Care Handout

We've got a few wonderful weeks left to wrap up our 2026 gardens. Don't waste one moment of sunshine, blue skies, and brilliant fall foliage color. Get outside as often as you can and KEEP ON PLANTING!

Being away is a blessing, but returning to my garden and to Natureworks is also a true joy. I already have a shopping list started. More Organic Mechanics Container Blend Soil for all of my houseplants as I continue to move them indoors. One more bag of Sustane Organic granular fertilizer.

Bulbs. Geez! I have only just begun to choose what I will be adding this year.

Pumpkins! I watched my neighbor and her son carve a Jack-o-lantern yesterday and I haven't even brought home a single pumpkin or gourd yet.

Who knows what else will hop into the back of my car on Saturday? Some new organic seed garlic, some plants I simply can't resist, a few more candles to light the ever darkening nights. I hope you are as happy to visit Natureworks this week as I am. Make time for yourself. Make time to keep on growing your Happy Habitat.

See you very soon...

Sales this week

(Sale pricing through Sunday, Oct 18th or while supplies last)

30% off HUGE SELECTION of plants!

We have a lot of different plants, but quantities are limited.

Perennials include-

Annuals, annual planted baskets, Anemone, Heuchera, Tiarella, Ferns, Senecio, Monkshood, Astilbe, perennial Begonias, Helleborus, Mondo grass, Zizia, Gillenia, Geraniums, Helenium, Conoclinium, Eutrochium, Eryngium, Sanguisorba, Echinacea, Agastache, Alliums, Astrantia, Amsonia, Baptisia, Helianthus, Hibiscus, Iris cristata, Iris versicolor, Kalimeris, Lavender, Leucanthemum, Liatris, Nepeta, Lobelia, Persicaria, Penstemon, Salvia, Sedums, Spigelia, Solidago, Vernonia, Veronicastrum, Grasses and more!

Shrubs include-

Callicarpa, Comptonia, Hydrangea, Honeysuckle, Inkberry, Clethra, Buddleia, Caryopteris, Lespedeza, Cephalanthus, Itea, Aronia, Weigela, Physocarpus, Viburnum, Vaccinium stamineum, and so many evergreens! Also, a selection of native trees too!

50% off Milkweed (many varieties in stock!) (has been cut back)

30% off Hardgoods-

Beneficial Nematodes, we can teach you how to apply them!

Black Earth Co. Compost 1cu/ft bags

Black Earth Co. Compost and Biochar 1cu/ft bags

TAG SALE & 1/2 PRICE SEEDS in the greenhouse

While supplies last, current in store purchases only, and special ordered plants not included. s\