Hope’s Lady’s Choice plant collection was inspired by the colors of the flags used by Suffragettes to win the vote for women.
Hi friends,
As we continue to march through this new way of selling plants online, I have enlisted the help of our crew to come up with some beautiful combinations of plants for these warming up spring days. Chad has been busy making gorgeous planters in antique metal sap buckets and wooden buckets. Hope is putting together bundles of plants that will make stunning arrangements for you to make your own porch planters or window boxes. We would, of course, rather be getting our plants to you in person than through a website, but we are getting creative with the situation and finding inspiration from the plants to share with you.
Home Garden Update As the weather warms up a bit, I have been dividing and moving perennials in my home garden. Once the daffodils stop blooming, I will divide the thicker clumps and replant them in bare spots next to white primula and yellow blooming euphorbias. Fall planted bulbs force us to think a year ahead, and somehow that is soothing right now. One helpful trick for planning the future spring garden is to take a photo of the flower beds right now, and then mark it up to identify where you would like to plant bulbs in the fall. It is very easy to forget what the early spring garden looked like by the time fall comes around and you are ready to plant bulbs.
In the veggie garden, our onions are planted, garlic is growing, peas are germinating, and the first round of lettuces and greens are planted in a cold frame and in the ground outside. To help you with early season gardening, we have added row cover, metal hoops, and earth staples to the website. They are used to make protective tunnels to keep out insects and to keep plants warm. While all the veggies we are currently selling are frost tolerant, the extra protection is great for keeping out flea beetles and for encouraging good growth.
Tomatoes we be available May 14th. It is still too cold to plant tomatoes, but don’t worry we have lots coming along. The soil temperature needs to be 50F to satisfy heat loving tomatoes. It takes at least 5 nights in a row at 50F or higher for the soil to warm up that much. If you stress tomatoes by putting them in too early, they will just be more prone to diseases later in the season. We will be releasing our tomatoes online on Thursday, May 14th. We grow 70 plus varieties, so please don’t expect to see them all at once, they will roll out over a couple of weeks as they size up. By the way, I never plant tomatoes before the first week of June. That is a month away. In the meantime, I will be teaching a tomato webinar on May 14th to give you an orientation to the varieties we grow and some tips on how to select them and how to grow them. Sign up here.
If shopping online is not for you, our plants can be found at our regular wholesale spots :
City Market (both locations)
Healthy Living in South Burlington
Bibens Hardware North Ave in Burlingotn
Gardeners Supply (Burlington and Williston locations)
Jail Branch in Barre
Guy’s Farm and Yard in Montpelier
Full Circle Gardens in Essex
Martin’s Hardware in Bristol
Village Hardware (formerly Essex Agway) in Essex
Shelburne Market
Vee’s Flower in Waitsfield
Lantmans in Hinesburg (starting Monday)
We will not be opening to the public in May. Our curbside pick up and home delivery service is working well to meet our two goals for this unusual year: to keep our staff safe and to help as many people as possible have vegetable gardens. The social distancing required would just not work in our crowded greenhouses. We are a production focused, agricultural business, and need to stay aligned with the goals at hand. Thank you so much for your understanding, and for all of the incredible support we have received this past month. We are very sorry to not see you enjoying the plants in our greenhouses, but it makes us so happy to know you are safe at home, gardening.
Our Grow it Forward program has already collected $370 dollars towards plants, soil, and seeds that we will be growing and donating through the Vermont Community Garden Network, Housing Vermont, and area schools and non-profits. This afternoon, Louissa planted 50 tomato plants in big pots to share a little joy with people who might not be able to garden easily. Thanks for helping us spread the bounty.
Happy gardening to you all,
Julie
We are growing it forward with these potted tomatoes that Louissa planted today.