Greenhouse Winter Preparation

As the cold temperatures and snow come rolling in this time of year, the Green Team has been busy preparing the greenhouses for winter.  Most of the Creek Side greenhouses are empty this time of the year.  The heaters are turned off and the irrigation lines have been drained to prevent freezing.  It is amazing how much they will warm up during the winter months... Read More

Poinsettia Selection and Care

Selection Poinsettias do well in the home and keep their color sometimes until mid-March. The showy red, pink, white, yellow, bicolored or speckled modified “leaves” are called bracts. With proper light and temperature, they accumulate the anthocyanin pigments that give them their color. The flowers (cyathia) of the poinsettia are in the center of the bracts. Male and female parts are present, along with a... Read More

An Unlikely Vegetable – Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts, or Brassica oleracea gemmifera, are related to other better-known vegetables in the Brassica genus like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower. They are part of the cruciferae or mustard family, so known because of a four-part flower in the shape of a cross. HISTORY: Sprouts were believed to have been cultivated in Italy in Roman times, and possibly as early as the 1200s in Belgium. The modern Brussels... Read More

Indoor Plant Safety

The weather has changed, the holiday season is in full swing! Adults, children and pets will be spending more time indoors and distractions abound. It is a good time to assess the location of all houseplants and holiday plant additions. It is important to know the botanical name of all plants in your home in case any part is accidentally ingested by a child or pet. Common... Read More

Kokedama (“Moss Ball”)

Looking for the latest method to display a houseplant? The Japanese form of ‘kokedama’ might be the answer. Picture a plant without a traditional container, surrounded by a mud ball, wrapped in moss and string, and then suspended from your ceiling. This is certainly an adventurous, creative, and wonderfully messy undertaking. If you are ready listed here are the steps-let’s kokedama! MATERIALS – Clay-based akadama (bonsai soil-... Read More

Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire…

Chestnuts (Fagaceae – Beech species) are a cool season crop; available in the markets from October through March, peaking in December. In Asia and Europe, they are now harvested and processed employing traditional methods. Early in the 20th century the American chestnut trees were almost wiped out by a pathogenic fungus! In the stores, choose big sized, fresh nuts. Since they are rich in starch and fewer fats... Read More

Count Your Blessings

It’s November! Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away and it’s already the halfway point of autumn before the winter solstice (December 22nd). Some thoughts to carry you through the holiday rush; ✦ “Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.” Elizabeth Bibesco ✦ “It isn’t the great pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of the little... Read More

November Plant Pointers

If you are feeling a bit melancholy because all your beautiful outdoor plants have passed on or gone dormant, you can move your green thumb indoors! This is the time of the season for Poinsettias, Paper Whites (Narcissus), Amaryllis and Christmas Cactus. Creek Side Gardens is stocking up on these traditional holiday favorites. The bulbs can be purchased as ‘bare root’ bulbs or as pre-potted plants.... Read More

A Familiar October Face

His face, too broad for beauty, shows Complexion far too florid; His eyes are vacant, and his nose Triangular and horrid. The spaces left between his teeth Would shock an orthodontist; His lid has not a hair beneath… He’ll win no beauty contest! Yet when a candle set inside Is lit, he looks quite mellow, And very quickly we agree That he’s a charming fellow.... Read More

It’s Not Over Until the Last Leaf Falls!

Our community has enjoyed a beautiful, long garden season this year! Gardeners and all of us in the nursery business have been watching the days closely awaiting the First Average Frost and yes, it has arrived as predicted – in the small hours of October 28th. There are a number of gardening tasks which can still be completed before the ground freezes. Remember, the days... Read More