WHAT we do and WHEN we do it using pictures from my picture-newsletter. If these pictures don't open click here. Clicking the picture will sometimes open a bigger picture Words up at the top & pictures below so scroll down). 09:55 I take cuttings from a variety of plants all year and stick them in 1 gallon pots to sell mail-order. I take thousands of cuttings and root at least 25% of lilacs, old garden roses, hybrid rugosa roses, rambler roses, blueberry bushes, native azaleas and rhododendrons (links at bottom of page). I usually work alone but Curt comes once a week to help with things I can no longer do and friends and family show up in spring to help pot plants. I take pictures whenever I interact with plants showing them in my newsletter and elsewhere in my web pages (links mentioned are at bottom).
I sometimes add new varieties when a customer gives me a list of plants they want and some of them are varieties I have not propagated before but are hardy and disease resistant (if I can get a source of cuttings I may decide to add it to a catalog). I only propagate plants that are hardy enough to be over-wintered locally out in the cold with their pots surrounded by mulch, and disease resistant enough so I dont have to use fungicide to keep the foliage looking good. I have used mist interval propagation in the past like other nurseries but I prefer to use my version of the old way; sticking four cuttings in a 1 gallon pot, inserting it in a 2 gallon ziplock bag and overwintering in the bag (we also layer and divide both roses and lilacs). When I run out of time or energy to propagate plants I bag them up and send them priority mail to a greenhouse that contracts with me to root them and return them in June (I bag them altogether by type; alba, gallica, damask, centifolia, rugosa, rambler, etc. we will identify them when they flower).
In the fall roses are removed from their tables and inserted in coldboxes where they will be protected from dessication, mice and deer until summer. Every year I end up with more than I had the year previously. 2013 was a bad year for me because mice got into the cold box and there was not enough poison to deal with them (Lilacs, blueberry bushes and azaleas sold well but mail order roses are at least half of our sales). Everything survived by coming back from the roots but because plants got eaten back to soil level most plants did not flower and so they were not identified. This year we have the cold box lids set up so we can easily open them to add more poison. Click the picture and it will open a larger image you can save as wallpaper.
After the winter is over and it warms up the cold box is used as a table. We can cover the hoops of the larger house so its a warmer inside but uncovering the house in winter means I dont have to worry about snow collapsing it. For more information go to my home page linked at the bottom.
When plants outgrow their one gallon pots they are repotted into gradually larger pots and either used to take cuttings from or sold to people who will pay more and are willing to come to the nursery and pick them up.
Andy
marchfertilizinglilacssmall.jpg & marchpoppinglilacssmall.jpg
aprillabelingrosessmall.jpg & aprillabelingandpottingsmall.jpg
aprilpotlilacssmall.jpg & apriltransplantlilacssmall.jpg
mayacrossfrontsmall.jpg
mayaucubaefolialilacsmall.jpg & maybluefrenchlilacsmall.jpg
maykrasavitsamoskvylilacsmall.jpg & mayludwigspaethinbudsmall.jpg
mayplantsinrowhsmall.jpg & mayplantsinrowgsmall.jpg
mayplantsinrowfsmall.jpg & mayplantsinrowesmall.jpg
mayplantsinrowdsmall.jpg
mayplantsinrowbsmall.jpg & mayplantsinrowasmall.jpg
maygrowingcrop086small.jpg
maybelgianfencesmall.jpg
juneispahansmall.jpg, ownrootdamaskssmall.jpg
ownrootclimberssmall.jpg
junesignsmall.jpg & juneweek3signsmall.jpg
juneweek3rosesalesmall.jpg & juneweek3frontofhousesmall.jpg
juneweek2espaliersmall.jpg & juneweek2firstcutsmall.jpg
juneweek2ispahan45galsmall.jpg & juneweek2leverkusen45galsmall.jpg
maycuttingssmall.jpg & maytrailersmall.jpg
maybelledenancyfrenchlilacsmall.jpg & maymichellebuchnetfrenchlilacsmall.jpg
maymmelemoinefrenchlilacsmall.jpg
newlilacrowsmall.jpg & lilacsplacedinfieldsmall.jpg
juneweek4mowingsmall.jpg & juneweek4pottinglilacssmall.jpg
julytakingcuttingssmall.jpg
julyprunelilacsmall.jpg
augustapplygeodisc027small.jpg & augustapplygeodisc028small.jpg
augustbabyaucubaefolialilacssmall.jpg & steveandaltheasmall.jpg
septemberfrontofhousesmall.jpg & septemberacrossfrontsmall.jpg
septemberdevilshornsweedsmall.jpg & septemberaucubaefoliababiessmall.jpg
septemberastersmall.jpg & 00926devilshornssmall.jpg
septemberspurtrainsmall.jpg & septemberbartletpearspursmall.jpg
septemberalongsidesmall.jpg & septemberdelicatasmall.jpg
septemberdortmundsmall.jpg & septembermmegeorgesbruantsmall.jpg
septemberrobinhoodsmall.jpg, septemberrobustasmall.jpg
septemberpotinpotbed004small.jpg, septemberpotinpot020small.jpg
octoberbackporchsmall.jpg
octoberpickuprosesmall.jpg, octoberslippingrosessmall.jpg
octobersortingrosessmall.jpg, octoberstoringrosessmall.jpg
novembersignsmall.jpg, novemberpotinpotsmall.jpg
novembermulchingpotssmall.jpg, novemberwinterizingsmall.jpg
novembersortpotssmall.jpg, novemberrichmulchingsmall.jpg
novemberrichcoldframesmall.jpg, novembercoldframerichsmall.jpg
novembermovingpotssmall.jpg, novemberespaliercropsmall.jpg
decemberfrontofhousesmall.jpg, decemberrosestoragesmall.jpg
januaryfrontporchsmall.jpg, januaryacrossfrontsmall.jpg
januarybarnsidesmall.jpg
februaryfrontporchsmall.jpg, februaryfrontofhousesmall.jpg
februarychores19small.jpg, februarychores04small.jpg
januarythefarmsmall.jpg, februarycosmictreesmall.jpg
januarybarnsidesmall.jpg
februaryrosestoragesmall.jpg, februarysortingpotssmall.jpg
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Availability? Rose Guide & Inventory. We grow plants to sell at our plant sale. Go to my growing page to see what we do and when we do it. Read my notes on the zone hardiness numbers I use. Do we do mail order? Check my picture-newsletter Want to purchase? email me.