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Author: Wayne

Greenhouse Bargains, June 2019

Purple, Red, and Pink Wave Petunias

Even though it is getting on this spring of 2019, we still have some pretty nice plants in the greenhouse. First, we have some nice Peppers, sweet and hot. It’s not too late to replant if yours got washed down the Arkansas river. We are out of tomatoes, so we cannot help you there.

We also still have some pretty nice okra plants, although they are getting a bit tall to still be in pots. We also still have eggplant, chives, and parsley. In the floral department we have some nice Wave petunias (pink, red, and purple) as well as pure red periwinkles.

To move them on out so we can concentrate on the garden and orchard we are offering these remaining plants, in 3″ deep pots at half price. That’s one dollar each, folks, or two for one, if you like. Call us today and come out to get yours.

Mother’s Day, 2019

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and we have beautiful Purple, Pink, and Red Wave Petunias in 2″ pots that just say “I love you Mom” and are ready to be set out in your special Mom’s patio planter, flower bed, or hanging basket. The Wave series of petunias are the toughest petunia we know of, and they spread along the ground, or spill out over a hanging basket or patio planter like no other petunia we have grown.

We also have Pacifica Red Vinca and Purple Mexican Petunia that are busting out with color and ready for Mother’s Day. We don’t have a zillion different kinds of flowers like the big nurseries; we only grow what does well in these hot humid Oklahoma summers.

We do also have a small selection of perennial flowers: Purple Foxglove and Blue Star Columbine. These are first-year seedlings and therefore will not bloom until next spring. Our perennials have the advantage of not costing four times what a second-year perennial might cost in your mega-nursery. You just have to wait a little longer to see the blooms.

Come see us before Sunday and surprise Mom.

ps: We still have a nice selection of tomato, pepper, and okra plants. It’s not too late to set these out in your spring garden.

Get a Jump on Your Okra Crop by a Month or More

If you love okra as we do, you want it in the garden as soon as possible. That is why we start our okra in the greenhouse and set the plants out when most folks are sowing the seeds. This gives us more than a month’s jump on the season. We always start more than we need for our garden and make the extras available to you. This is the best crop of okra we have had in years. Come by and get yours today.

Of course tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants are ready too. If your fancy turns to herbs we have chives, parsley, basil, and cilantro. Looking down the weather forecast as far as we can, it appears that it is safe to set all of your starts out. We also have Wave Petunias in purple, red, and pink. We also have red periwinkles, and a small assortment of perennial (first-year) flowers: foxglove, purple coneflower, and columbine.

Now if you still like to sow your okra directly in the garden like your grandparents did, we save seed from the best of our Clemson Spineless crop each year and we have okra seed for everyone who asks, FOR FREE (while supplies last). Just ask.

Here are some tips for you okra seed sowers out there:

  1. Soak the seed in a glass of water for a day before sowing. We pump air into the water using an aquarium pump to keep the seeds moving which keeps the seed roots straight.
  2. Don’t let the roots get too long before sowing the seeds, and don’t let the seeds dry out before sowing.
  3. Sow only the seeds that show a root emerging (see the last photo).
  4. Sow the seed no more than a half inch deep.
  5. Sow okra thickly. Okra has notoriously bad germination.
  6. Water your okra rows as soon as they have been sown.

The Greenhouse is Open for 2019 Season

Unlike the big box stores, we do not offer our plants for sale until after the danger of frost is past. We think we have reached that milestone here in 2019, and are now declaring that the greenhouse is officially open. We have a nice selection of Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Herbs, and a few flowering bedding plants. As always, we are usually here but it is best to call ahead to make sure. The variety list commences below:

Tomatoes:

  • Amelia – a regular, determinate type tomato.
  • Better Boy – a regular sized tomato, indeterminate growth habit.
  • Celebrity – similar to Better Boy but with determinate growth habit.
  • Whopper (Parks Whopper) – a favorite indeterminate main-season tomato for many.
  • Florida 47 – a determinate, main-season tomato grown by many commercial growers.
  • Jetsetter – earlier to produce than most indeterminate tomatoes.
  • Juliet – our favorite, a large grape/salad tomato with indeterminate growth habit.
  • Sweet 100 – the only cherry tomato we ever grow. Indeterminate habit produces all summer.

Arbol Peppers, 2018

Peppers:

  • King Arthur – sweet bell, green turning to red.
  • Gypsy – sweet semi-bell, yellow turning to orange.
  • Pimento – sweet, picked red.
  • Espeletto Basque – sweet italian pepper, red.
  • Mulato Isleno – mild, blocky green turning chocolate, similar to Poblano.
  • Pasilla Bajio – mild, long slender green, turning nearly black.
  • Cubanelle – mild, long yellow.
  • Serrano – hot, medium small half the size of a Jalapeño.
  • Major League – hot, our favorite Jalapeno.
  • Red Chili – hot medium small drying pepper.
  • Cayenne – hot long skinny drying pepper.
  • Arbol – hot drying, similar to Red Chili, but longer.
  • Ahn Tran – hot drying pepper, very small Asian type.
  • Habanero Red – very hot, favorite of dare devils.
  • Carolina Reaper – insanely hot, suppose to be the hottest pepper.

Eggplant, 2018

Eggplant:

  • Black Beauty – large round purple skinned fruit.
  • Purple Shine – Asian type long, purple skinned fruit.
  • Bride – Asian type long, creamy white skinned fruit.
  • Kermit – small round green striped fruit used to make curries, a Thai specialty.
  • Calliope – small round purple striped fruit used to make curries, a Thai specialty.

Herbs:

  • Chives
  • Parsley
  • Cilantro
  • Basil

Flowering Bedding Plants:

  • Petunias – red, purple, & pink.
  • Periwinkles – red.
  • Mexican Petunias – purple.
  • Various first-year perennials and biennials (they will not bloom this season)- Columbine, Purple Coneflower, Foxglove.

Several Small Signs of Spring 2019

Here are some cyclamen that bloom at several times throughout the winter months. These beauties (Cyclamen coum) start blooming in mid to late February and bloom quite a long time for us. We especially like seeing them during the cold cloudy days of winter. There are several species of cyclamen that can take Oklahoma winters. Spring time is the time to plant cyclamen. Oklahoma is such a great state for being able to enjoy some bright colors in the landscape all year round.

Be sure to plant some evergreens such as holly & pine trees of different kinds to give texture & some cheerful greenery to a brown blah landscape. It will remind you that winter doesn’t last forever.

This next pic is just a reminder that summer veggies are just around the corner.

Cheerful & Always Welcome ~ Daffodils

Are you ready for Spring? We surely are & thought we’d post a bright spot during some cloudy days in March to cheer you as well as get you thinking about this year’s flower beds in addition to your vegetable garden.

Arnold’s Promise

Next up is another witch hazel that has very showy blooms in February. This shrub has reverted back to being half native witch hazel stock & blooms after the cultivated variety. Both smell wonderful, but we have to say that the cultivated variety is much showier and much more fragrant that the wild stock though we enjoy the entire shrub very much.

February Continues with Color

Next up is a witch hazel named Diane. This is a beautiful smelling tall vase shaped shrub that is covered in tiny burnt orange blooms. It’s fragrance fills the yard during a time when a pleasant aroma outside might be quite unexpected. We would call this plant the queen of the winter outdoor fragrances.

Our Diane is very young in comparison to the next witch hazel we have that is well over twenty years old.

Lenten Rose

‘Tis the season for these pretty winter flowers. They bloom every winter just in time for the Lent season or pre Easter season to begin.

We have had these for years growing under the witch hazel and they are always a welcome site.

Spring 2019

It has been a wild winter & spring is just around the corner. Posted here are a few things that have started to bloom prior to anything being ready for sale on the farm.

First up has been the Yellow Dogwood (Cornus mas) that came from a grower in North Carolina many years ago. It does quite well here in Eastern Oklahoma.

This beautiful small tree blooms in February and continues to bloom for well over a month. The bark is interesting. It peels as it grows and is really quite pretty.

It does produce very small red “cherries” that you may eat & we have had Cardinals nest in this tree as well as hummingbirds.