Garden Source

The Bachelor Button Tall Blend, ‘Centaurea cyanus’, is a carefree annual that adds vertical interest and an array of colors to your garden. The Bachelor Button, also known as Cornflower, is drought tolerant and needs little pampering. The seed the plant drops quite readily comes back the next year to produce another crop of beautiful flowers. The Tall Blend Bachelor Button produces 1/2 to 1 inch wide flowers in colors of purple, light blue, pink, and white. They will bloom 10 to 12 weeks after seeding. The normal bloom period is 3 to 4 weeks. Bachelor Buttons prefer full sun but will withstand some shade. Average to poor dry soils will produce great flowers. Remove spent flowers to extend bloom season and flower size. Plant in early spring 1 to 2 weeks before last frost. In warm climates plant in in summer to early fall. The Bachelor Button is great for cut or dried flowers.

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The Corn Sweet Bodacious, ‘Zea mays var rugosa (Hybrid)’, is a gourmet sweet corn with exceptional flavor. It was developed for the home garden and the fresh corn market. Corn is much better home grown than bought from a store. Bodacious is a truly homozygous sugary enhanced hybrid. Its wide adaptability in northern latitudes and consistent performance have made Bodacious the most popular variety in its class. Plant in the spring, a week or two after the last spring frost or when the soil is warm. In the deep south, this can be as early as February. Successive plantings in two week intervals will produce a much longer cropping season. Corn prefers a deep, rich well drained soil. Harvest the ears when the husks are dark green and the silks are brown but not brittle. Corn is usually ready 3 weeks after silks appear.

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The Swiss Chard Bright Lights, ‘Beta vulgaris (Cicla group)’, has spectacular stem colors that can include yellow, gold, orange, pink, purple, or intermediate shades of these colors. Some believe the leaves of Bright Lights are tastier than spinach. The stalks crunch like celery but have a slight hint of asparagus. Bright Lights has an improved, lighter flavor and is delicious raw in salads. Swiss Chard can tolerate shade and will not get bitter in hot weather. Swiss Chard is actually a beet without the beet. instead of growing beets, the plant grows wide, dark green, heavily crumpled leaves that are very tasty. Plant in early spring, 2 to 4 weeks before last frost or as late as 2 months before first fall frost. In warm climates, plant in late summer for fall/winter crop. Chard grows best in in well drained soil with lots of organic matter.

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The Beet Detroit Dark Red, ‘Beta vulgaris’, is a tender, sweet, tasty, and extremely nutritious root vegetable. The foliage is also highly regarded for taste and it has more iron than a hamburger. Home grown beets are delicious! The top growth is as tasty as chard or spinach. Detroit Dark Red Beets are great sliced and in salads. It is also a good container plant. The Detroit Red Beet is a blood red globe-shaped vegetable. The Beet is cold hardy, and seeds can germinate and grow in soil temperatures as low as 40 degrees. Plant in early spring, 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost. Growing during hot temperature periods should be avoided. In mild climates, seed can be sown September for February harvest. Beets prefer deep, well drained soil with lots of organic material. They need to be kept moist.

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The Love-In-A-Mist Miss Jekyll Blend, ‘Nigella damascena’, has delightful papery-textured flowers with thread-like foliage. Love-In-A-Mist is a quick blooming, cool season plant with flowers that look great in the garden, and as cut flowers. The flowers are 1 to 2 inches with white, light blue and dark blue blooms. The Miss Jekyll Blend blooms in the spring for 4 to 6 weeks until hot weather arrives. Love-In-A-Mist prefers full sun but will withstand some partial shade. The soil needs to be well drained and have average organic material. Spent flowers should be continually cut off to promote more blooms. Plant in the early spring, 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost or in warm winter climates plant in early fall. The Miss Jekyll is used for borders, dried flowers, cut flowers, and the seed pods look great in dried arrangements.

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Maxicrop is a great choice for those who do not want to use synthetic rooting compounds or for those who want to feed their plants more than 70 minerals, vitamins, and enzymes. Maxicrop is extracted from Norwegian seaweed. This all natural product has a guaranteed analysis of 1-0-4. The liquid is ready to dilute in water. Maxicrop is excellent for soaking seeds to improve germination. It also can be used as a soak for bulbs to increase their vigor. Apply it to seedlings, and watch them grow into healthy, vigorous plants. Maxicrop will strengthen cuttings, bare root trees and shrubs before and after transplant. Maxicrop can also be used as a foliar feed indoors or out. It can green up lawns, too. Remember, a healthy plant is a pest-free plant! The quart concentrate makes approximately 384 gallons. Usage/Rates: Soaking Seeds and Bulbs: Soak overnight in a solution of 1 tsp/gal of water. After planting, water with the same solution. Seedlings: Water

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The Lavender English Dwarf Hidcote, ‘Lavandula angustifolia’, is an improved dwarf variety of Lavender that stays 12 inches high and is very uniform and compact. The English Lavender Dwarf Hidcote has lots of flower spikes growing very dark purple, fragrant, 1/4 to 1/2 inch flowers. The Lavender blooms in late spring and into the summer. It also has the characteristic square stems of the mint family. The English Hidcote prefers full sun and loose, light, well drained soil. Do not fertilize, over rich soil will cause the plant to be less fragrant. Plant in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked or in late fall. The Lavender can be used for a short hedge, edging, rock gardens, and pots. Lavender also are used in sachets and pot pourri.

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