Free plants, but act fast!

Between finals week (at least I'm giving, not taking finals), and the DH's heart troubles (but a second try at the heart "reboot" worked!) I've been too busy to blog for a little while. So I'll make up for it with a report of $20 worth free plants available if you pay shipping and handling. But the offer is only good through March 26, so jump on this quick.

Go to Spring Hill Nursery and check out their offerings. When you order, $20 will be deducted automatically. That's a deal that's hard to beat.

I ordered a dwarf Meyer lemon kit that comes with a tree, a pot, and soil. I've not tried growing lemons before, which need winter protection here, so this will be fun. For only $7.95 shipping, what the heck? I'll try something new.

Organic Style now online

For a source of up-to-date information on going organic, check out the online edition of Organic Style. It includes gardening, health, home, beauty, and other aspects of organic living. Their free subscription will send you reminders when new issues come out. Free is always a good price, yes?

The Literary Gardener Calendar -- now on sale!

From now until the end of February, my 2008 calendar, The Literary Gardener, is on sale for $15.99, marked down from $17.99. Get 'em while they're hot, because the calendar will go away at the end of February.

Also marked down is The 2008 Writer's Calendar, chock full of great writing prompts and inspirational photography.

And don't forget the e-book, So You Want to Grow Your Own Food, available free on this blog. Check out the link to the left. It's a large PDF document, so it may take a few minutes to download.

Anyone want to buy a native plant nursery?

Wally Hansen is retiring from the nursery business, and is selling Wallace Hansen Nursery. It's a well-established native plant nursery that many folks in the mid-Willamette Valley area have come to know, love, and rely on. It appears that Wally would like this to continue as a nursery business. If you or anyone you know has a burning desire to run a nursery, has some nursery business know-how, and would like to live in Oregon, this is a terrific opportunity. Property, house, nursery, existing stock, greenhouses and all are included in the sale. See http://www.wallyhansennurseryforsale.com/ for more information and tons of pictures.

On a more selfish note -- someone please buy this and continue it as a native plant nursery, because if it goes away, there's no other place around where I can get native plants for my garden! If I'd gotten my graduate degree in horticulture instead of science education I'd be all over this.

The Literary Gardener Calendar

It's here! For garden literature enthusiasts who need some inspiration for their own journals, here is the Literary Gardener Calendar for 2008.

This calendar features original photos from my garden, inspiring quotes from fine gardening literature, and journal prompts for each month to help when you out when the words run dry.

I'll keep a link to this calendar in the sidebar, as well as to the books quoted on each month's page -- naturally when you read the quotes, you'll want to read the books as well!

Thanks to the magic of Lulu.com, the calendar is available on demand and at a reasonable price until the end of February 2008. Delivery time is about a week after ordering, but allow more time during the holiday season, as the demand for calendars will be higher and the mail volume will increase.

Friends of Bush Gardens Plant Sale

If you're in or near Salem, Oregon, and are planning on visiting the Salem Art Fair this weekend, don't miss the Friends of Bush Gardens plant sale. I put in a 3 hour shift this afternoon in the plant holding area, and saw lots of gorgeous plants going off to new homes. There were hummingbirds visiting the crocosmias, which I'm sure the amazing Gretchen Carnaby ordered just for demonstration purposes.

The Bush Gardens surround the historic Asahel Bush House Museum. Of course you won't want to miss the gardens themselves, and the historic greenhouse. House tours are going on all during the fair. The Bush House was home to Asahel Bush, who founded the Ladd and Bush Bank (the original building is now a branch of U.S. Bank). In 1953, the Bush family donated the house and land to the City of Salem, along with much of the original furnishings, making it unique among the historic houses of Salem.

Among the offerings at the plant sale are heritage roses grown from cuttings taken from Miss Sally's rose garden. I also spotted lots of fantastic herbs, rock garden plants, lovely foliage plants, huge hanging baskets -- and of course came home with a few goodies myself!

The sale has a holding area for people who want to buy plants and park them while they look at the rest of the art fair. I spent my shift trotting plants out on a cart as people pulled their cars up to pick up their plants. If you're in the area, come on down!

Wayside Gardens Internet Sale

I got an email from Wayside Gardens yesterday announcing an internet sale. Order through their website and get 15% off an order of $75 or more from now through July 21. The secret coupon code is "wayside discount." Here's the link to the site: Wayside Gardens.

Free shipping from Dutch Gardens until September 15

The heat of the summer may not seem like the time to think about fall planting, but if you have special bulbs in mind, it pays to order early before they're all sold out. Today's email brought a letter from Dutch Gardens that says they're offering free shipping between now and September 15. Hmm, ordering early pays in more way than one. Dutch Gardens offers a good selection of tulips, narcissus, and many of the smaller bulbs. I've ordered from them for quite a few years now and I've always been satisfied with their quality and their prices.

A Chocolate Garden

I was looking for several things on Amazon.com when I came across this interesting product: Chocolate Garden.

It's a tin containing seeds of chocolate covered perennials, to wit: " Chocolate Flower, Chocolate Columbine, Midnight Candy Phlox, Chocolate Royale, Chocolate Nasturtium and Royal Chocolate Painted Tongue." A chocolate-loving gardener's delight!

While it's rather late in the season to start seeds for this year's garden, in warmer regions gardeners could start perennials to plant in the fall and overwinter for next year's blooms. Or put this one on your "wish list" for Christmas.