Another Busy Off-Season

Most of our Color Your Life eNews readers probably think the Green Team has been spending this break time on a far off warm, sandy beach.  Resting up from the hustle and bustle of operating a full-service garden center through all the seasons that Mother Nature has to offer.  No doubt, we deserve it!  But not the case, as we are a dedicated bunch with a great passion for what we do!  There is lots of behind the scene’s action taking place as we prepare for another fun spring season to bring color into the lives of our community.

After the careful selection of the best flower varieties for growing in Colorado and the imaginative combination of flower recipes were designed last fall, now is an exciting time as our plans finally begin to take shape.  First, clean the greenhouses, fill the pots with soil and begin planting geraniums this week.  Next week, perennial planting begins for a next couple weeks to get a head start on those early spring plants.  After that, the timing is just right to begin planting the big Container Gardens and Hanging Baskets of colorful annuals that you have come to expect each spring season at Creek Side.  Here we go!

Don’t under-estimate the importance of geraniums in your garden or flower pot design.  You will not find another annual flower that will withstand the heat and the drought that our garden plants endure and continue to grow and bloom successfully.  Creek Side depends upon their reliability to hold up the design form in a container and remain colorful.  Not to mention the continued popularity of our Annual Mother’s Day Geranium Sale each year.

The flower breeder of Calliope brand geraniums has released many new colors in this popular geranium series for 2018.  Calliope’s are popular because that have especially strong dependable growth with big colorful blossoms that really shine in our Colorado climate.  In addition to the classic Dark Red Calliope that everybody loves, look for Calliope Burgundy, Deep Rose, Violet, Salmon and White this year.  Creek Side will have a few trials of the Calliope 2019 introductions for you to check out a little later in the season as well.

Petunia and Calibrachoa breeders have been working overtime to introduce loads of new colors, including quite a few bi-colors or flowers exhibiting patterns of color on the blooms.  Night Sky, the blue petunia with the white speckles through out the flower is a good example.  This year, in addition to Night Sky look for petunias Starry Sky Burgundy and Raspberry Swirl, along with Johnny Flame, Susie Storm, Miss Marvel and the Queen of Hearts.  All these new colors help make our design selection fun and exciting.

Another flower design avenue that Creek Side excels with is our beautiful Container Garden and Hanging Basket designs for shady locations.  Even though we live in a sunny climate, there are plenty of applications for shady annuals, especially including the big three – Begonias, Impatiens and Coleus.  This year, look for Creek Side shady designs that incorporate the Big Three Shade annuals, along with a handful of terrific shady accent plants.  Consider adding as accents, Canna or Alocasia in the center of the pot for height.  Then mix in a little fuchsia, Persian shield, lamium, ivy, ferns, creeping jenny, tradescansia, cissus or Sweet Potato vine.  Look for these all new shade combos in pots and baskets at Creek Side Gardens this spring season.