Crop 331 Pictures taken in March at the Flowering Shrub Farm in Voorheesville, NY 12186 (links at bottom of page). We propagate and grow for retail sale many hard to obtain roses, lilacs, blueberry bushes, and report how we are doing to potential customers in the newsletters (larger plants are usually available for pickup during the plant sale). Click on the picture and it may open a larger version with more detail. 09:11
In Winter roses are stored in the cold box so they dont get nibbled on by rabbits, mice or deer. In March or April we drive up next to the box with a tractor and trailer, remove roses from the box and place them on drip line to be fertilized with Rose Tone. Right now space on drip lines is taken up by Lilacs that will be moved onto drip line at the plant sale location soon.
marchcoldframesmall.jpg, marchsignsmall.jpg
In January, February and March we are propagating plants from divisions and root cuttings. The Newsletter I am working on this month is linked here. The pictures below are probably from previous years unless they have been recently over-written.
Cutting back lilacs that flowered last year, were identified and labeled with an individually numbered yellow label with the variety name painted on it. Once the snow is gone we will feed them all with rose tone and divide some of them (probably in April).
march17 and March 19
We had one last big snow in March. It keeps us mostly out of the fields until the snow is gone. I am replying to many emails in my answer page.
Cutting back lilacs we have at this time on drip line. Individually numbered yellow labels, that we printed the variety name on last year when the lilac flowered, are moved down to the base of the stems as they are cut back to just above the drip line (price stickers are on the side of the pot). Those that are cut back will be easy to sell mail order before they respond by producing a thicket of upright stems so its easier to divide them or sell them in larger pots for more money.
Mme Lemoine Lilac on left and Hybrid rugosa 'Blanc Double De Coubert' on right. In March many Lilacs that flowered last year and were identified with a label and price sticker will get cut back so that when they grow back they will be multi-stemmed. The Hybrid rugosa is in a 45 gallon pot and we will take cuttings from it sometime this year.
Checking poison baits in cold box 1.
Pot in pot on left where we store many roses that we take cuttings from with their roots surrounded with mulch. Beyond the red door we pot up plants and pass them through the sliding windows.
Snow drops on left may indicate how close to spring we are by comparing with snow drops in past years. This 'Roseraie de l'Hay' planted in the ground will be used as a source of cuttings once its a bit bigger.
Ispahan roses in cold box
March and April Lilacs are divided and cut back to around four inches. We use a sawzall to cut the root in half and sometimes into thirds or quarters. Those that come out of dormancy and grow vigorously may be sold mail order or get transplanted into a larger pot and returned to the field.
The Lilacs by Mail picture shows all the plants we had available for mail order as of a date within the picture.
cutting back Lilacs in March.
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In 2012 there was about a week of warm weather around 80 degrees F that made the lilacs flower around 30 days early so we try to compare when certain spring flowering bulbs grow and flower with previous years and be able to determine when Lilacs will bloom this year. We fertilize everything for the first time after the early spring bulbs flower, up to the flowering time for the forsythias.
Mme Lemoine Lilac on left and Hybrid rugosa 'Blanc Double De Coubert' on right. In March many Lilacs that flowered last year and were identified with a label and price sticker will get cut back so that when they grow back they will be multi-stemmed. The Hybrid rugosa is in a 45 gallon pot and we will take cuttings from it sometime this year.
Checking poison baits in cold box 1.
Pot in pot on left where we store many roses that we take cuttings from with their roots surrounded with mulch. Beyond the red door we pot up plants and pass them through the sliding windows.
Snow drops on left may indicate how close to spring we are by comparing with snow drops in past years. This 'Roseraie de l'Hay' planted in the ground will be used as a source of cuttings once its a bit bigger.
Cutting back lilacs we have at this time on drip line. individually numbered yellow labels, that we printed the variety name on last year when the lilac flowered, are moved lower down as lilacs are cut back to just above the drip line. Some of these will be divided before being sold mail order or before being repotted and returned to the field while others will get repotted into a 7 gallon pot to be sold for $40 each (those not cut back are sold for $25 each).
Ispahan roses in cold box and march supplies 24
march rose tone in truck and march rose tone in barn
march cold box 45 and march cold box 48
march cold box 51 and march ispahan
march la belle sultane
marchstoragesmall.jpg, marchin45small.jpg
march cherry espalier 410 and march harisons yellow in 45
People ask me via phone or email about a particular variety, I make a note of it in the newsletter beneath the pictures. Whenever I take more pictures I look for varieties that have been mentioned and if I find them take a picture. I make a special point to take extra cuttings from it in summer.
march celeste alba in 45 and march agnes in 45
Later when they flower, I erify the labeling, add a price sticker, take a cuttings picture to over-write with and place a link for that variety in my INSTOCK page.
march kazanlik in 45 and march pinxter bloom
march fantin latour and march felicite parmentier in 45
march leda in 45 and march monge in 45
march lilacs in field
Note the yellow labels marking those that flowered (some of these get cut back while others are divided). We pot them into 3 gallon pots and place them in the field under drip line. Once they flower I label it with an individually numbered yellow label with the name printed on it using a paint pen. Those that have too few stems are cut back and once they start to grow vigorously may be repotted in a larger pot (probably a 7 gallon or 15 gallon). A few may be planted in 45 gallon pots and used to provide cuttings.
march orchard and march dividing lilacs
march liberty espalier 985 and march liberty espalier 987
I espalier train a few trees every year in 45 gallon pots to be sold some future day when they start producing flowers and fruit. I carry a Kindle Fire with me wherever I go and use it to check my emails at least ten times a day. The on screen keyboard is hard for me to operate but I usually send a short reply followed by a longer reply from the computer when I get home.
march indicator 6and march sarah van fleet
march indicator 8 & march indicator 9
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marchfertilizersmall.jpg & marchfertilizingsmall.jpg
marchrenovatinglilacrow080small.jpg & marchrenovatinglilacrow78small.jpg
marchfeedingsmall.jpg & marchpruningsmall.jpg
marchbelledenancysmall.jpg & marchcharlesjolysmall.jpg
marchindicatordaylilysmall.jpg & march3gallonrosestoragesmall.jpg
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In 2012 due to temperatures around eighty degrees lilacs started to display their flowerbuds as much as one month in advance of the regular time. This may become a problem if there is a return to more normal temperatures below freezing that could damage the buds. I notified my subscribers when we opened early, May first. Send me an email if you wish to subscribe.
marchespalierpearsmall.jpg & marchespalieringpearsmall.jpg
marchjerklilacs003small.jpg & marchjerklilacs004small.jpg
marchrosetoneintrucksmall.jpg & marchrosetoneinbarnsmall.jpg
marchgrowthonbelledenancylilacsmall.jpg & marchgrowthonmmelemoinesmall.jpg
marchgrowthonlowbushblueberrysmall.jpg & marchgrowthonnorthskyblueberrysmall.jpg
marchgrowthondarknightlillacsmall.jpg & marchgrowthonnadezhdalilacsmall.jpg
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marchlatesnowstormsmall.jpg & marchlilacwalksmall.jpg
marchcutbackfantinlatourtopropagatsmall.jpg & marchcutbackledatopropagatsmall.jpg
marchprotecttreefrommicesmall.jpg & marchprunerosehedgesmall.jpg
We use foam pipe insulators to protect the stems of espalier trained fruit trees from mice.
marchsignsmall.jpg & marchlevelofgrowthin2013small.jpg
marchsuperbasmall.jpg & marchvoorheesvilleavenorthsmall.jpg
marchfertilizinglilacssmall.jpg & marchpoppinglilacssmall.jpg
marchpotlilacs017small.jpg & marchlilactransplanting0007.jpg
marchlilactransplanting0011.jpg & marchlilactransplanting0016.jpg
marchlilactransplanting0018.jpg & marchdisplaylilacssmall.jpg
marchpinxterbloomseedlings002small.jpg & marchpinxterbloomseedlings001small.jpg
In 2012 due to temperatures around eighty degrees lilacs started to display their flowerbuds as much as one month in advance of the regular time. This may become a problem if there is a return to more normal temperatures below freezing that could damage the buds. I notified my subscribers when we opened early, May first.
People track what I am doing, how plants are growing and what's new by checking the pictures in my free picture-newsletter. I add new pictures of many of the crops of plants we are growing, closeups of flowers, fruit, fall foliage on plants for sale, and pictures of our Nursery Operation, to the most recent picture-newsletter practically every week linked below at NEWSLETTER.
HOME PLANT SALE ROSES ROSERAIE ALBA GALLICA DAMASK CENTIFOLIA RUGOSA CLIMBING OLDROSE ZONE3ROSE NEWSLETTER GROWING LILACS LILACGRO INSTOCK LIST HELP ORDERING CONTACT