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TRIBAL NOTES
Despite the rocky last few weeks of cold weather, this spring turned out to be one of the sweetest on record for us, with lots of mild dry days. The plants have responded and we’re in for what looks like a great persimmon and citrus crop in the orchards. In the growing fields at this point we’re busy taking cuttings, grafting fruit trees, and working on the upcoming fruit crop for this fall. The retail nursery still has a good selection of fruit trees, flowers and interesting ornamentals.
The gardens have taken on lush summer time ripeness, and are full of interesting flowers and promising fruits to come. So load up the kids, dogs, aunts, uncles and other assorted relatives and come down for a visit. We’d love to see you….
Our annual Summer Siesta is coming soon. We’ll be open throughout the month of June, so now is your chance to get stocked up on fertilizer, fruit trees, irrigation supplies, and glorious flowering plants. We’ll be closing for retail visits this year between July 1st and August 20th. We’ll still be available as always via phone or email to answer your plant growing questions, and will be taking orders for mail order plants to be shipped out this fall and winter.
Summer is the Right Time to Plant Fruit Trees
Fruit tree planting has long been thought of a fall and winter practice, but container grown fruit trees can be planted the year round. In fact many fruit trees that suffer from winter cold injury like citrus , pomegranates figs , banana , loquat and olives are really best planted in the spring and summer. Spring and summer planted trees have time to develop a stronger root system before cold weather sets in. With a well developed root system the trees are able to uptake and circulate water during a freeze event, giving them a much better chance of surviving a freeze.
Fertilizing for Next Years Crop
Getting fruit consistently on your trees year after year is often a frustrating process. Weather and good pollination play a big part, but fertilizer is often one the biggest factors to your success. We recommend that you fertilize in February, May and July. It’s the late May fertilization that is most important to good fruiting. Most fruit trees set their fruit buds for next year’s crop in the months of June and July, having an abundant supply of nutrients available at that time of the year will insure the trees set a good crop the following year. If your trees have not been fruiting well consider putting a fertilizer that has a higher potash level to it, something like a 2-5-10 fertilizer. We carry a complete line of organic and conventional fertilizer designed for fruit trees. Call us or come visit the nursery for a consultation on how to get your fruit trees straightened out and fruiting properly.
Plant a Pollinator Garden
So you’ve planted a garden full of veggies and the orchard is finally coming into fruition. Everything bloomed well and still you’ve got no produce. What went wrong? Your problem may well be lack of pollinators. Honey and native bees and yes (gasp) wasps do the bulk of the pollination in the orchard. If you want full crops of fruit you’ll need to help build up the pollinators in your area. Many of the native bees never travel farther than 50 feet to a half mile to find food, providing habitat and year round food for them will go a long ways in making sure they will be in the orchard when you need them. One of the most important factors to insuring you keep strong colonies of pollinators is to have an abundance of flowering plants throughout the summer months. It’s in these months that there is a lack of native plants in bloom and pollinator colonies are lost through starvation. READ MORE...
Summer is a great time of the year to plant a pollinator garden. We’ve got a great collection of over 100 pollinator friendly plants; and here are just a few winners:
CIGAR PLANT
Cuphea ignea Non stop color all summer. This is the one we see most covered with pollinators in our gardens.
GOLDEN DEW DROP
Duranta erecta Blooms heavily throughout the lean months of July and August. Long lived perennial in our area.
YARROW
Achillea millefolium Great orchard ground cover, often used as a beneficial bug habitat plant. Constant bloom brings in the pollinators.
Still Time to Plant Sweet Potatoes
June's the last month you can plant sweet potatoes.We've got a great collection of old favorits and hard to find varieties to add to your collection.
Well Rooted 4 inch pots $3.99
BUNCH PORTO RICO-Short compact vines produce roots with a copper-colored skin and a light red flesh.
O'HENRY- White-fleshed sweet potatoes were traditionally considered a more regionally suitable alternative to the ‘Irish’ potato in the Southeast.
ALL PURPLE-True to its name, All Purple has dark purple flesh and skin. One of the hardiest roots in our collection
BEAUREGAURD-Thousands of farmers rely on this reliable and high yielding variety. Crack-resistant roots and deep orange color with dry flesh.
Find Some Great Stuff in the SALE AREA
Make sure you stop off at the sales area on your next visit as there is always some good deals to be found.
This week's collection includes:
PEACH, PLUM and PEAR these are some we grew too many of, our loss is your gain $11.99
LOOKING FOR A GOOD HOME FLOWERS These are some that have lost their bloom and are just kind of well.. sad looking. Gather them up and give them some love they'll be back up and blooming in no time. $1.00 to $3.50
CRINUM LILIES Busting out of their pots $6.99 these old fashion bulbs are tough and reliable, often the only thing that marks where an old homestead was
50% off selected perennials, cell pack veggies and ornamentals.
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