When our Co Owner, Kenan White, recently found an opportunity to see James Farmer speak, she immediately booked her flight to the AmericasMart show in Atlanta, Ga. Meeting him after his talk was an exciting added bonus! Read on to see why we are so impressed  with this brilliant Southern gentleman.

James Farmer’s lecture on “Herban Gardening” at the Atlanta Mart was the highlight of my buying trip!

This true Southern gentleman would make his mama proud!  Handsome, polite, self-effacing, and oh so talented.  Since I have been following James’ work for some time, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but this one is the ‘real deal’!  I’ve been in this business for over a decade, seen them come and go, but my guess is that James is here to stay.  Talented for sure, but authenticity counts almost as much.

I’ve tried to recreate his gorgeous arrangements and delicious recipes at home, but after spending an hour watching him arrange and cook and entertain, I realized I have a lot to learn.  His seamless and gracious presentation had me imagining myself on his front porch, a late afternoon summer breeze making it all bearable, sipping on his mint infused tea and taking a bite of Mimi’s Apple Cake.

For anyone who’s unfamiliar James, check out his website … and go out and get his book – A Time to Plant: Southern Style Garden Living.   For all of us below the Mason Dixon, he reads like a well known novel.  For those of you outside of the real South, get ready to experience ‘our’ way of life!

Bless him for sharing.

The sadness of summer fading can only be cured by the excitement of fall.

Cooler temperatures and the bountiful harvest draw our attention away from what was, to the beautiful changes before us. It feels good to bundle up in a favorite fleece for a morning jaunt into the garden. I hope you are making that little jaunt each morning; even ten minutes of trimming, weeding and piddling will brace you for the days work. Think of it as a kind of yoga or meditation practice. After a few weeks of practice, you get flowers and veggies. All that squatting down, reaching around, and scratching in the ground does kind of limber you up, and a few quiet moments looking over your plants does clear your mind, and those veggies will nourish your body and soul.  Flowers brighten your day!

Why would we not start the day in the garden? I don’t know because all of the above is true and we all know how busy and complex life is today. I try to visit my little home herb garden each morning, my excuse is to let the chickens out, but I always piddle and pull a few weeds or pick a little something to leave in the kitchen for dinner. This is a nice start for me because I also know that during the day, through some intrusive media source, word of mouth, or just something I see walking down a city street will give me pause. And I will truly wonder how the human race has gotten thus far. Since there is not much to be done about the world at large, one needs some means of maintaining sanity. The only salvation is a sanctuary, and home with a garden has the deepest roots. Whatever goes on elsewhere, it is grounding to know that the garden is there, orderly and bountiful.

Following the progression of the seasons and anchoring us to nature’s rhythm, even if we can only follow a few moments a day.  But those few minutes are enough to relax our thoughts, lower our blood pressure and give us a restart; recharging us to take on the day! We at The Growers Exchange believe everyone should have their own little garden spot, no matter how big or small. Whether you have ten acres or ten inches, we know how important gardening can be. Your outdoor plot or indoor pot can sometimes be the only oasis in a busy day of fast paced living. We applaud your green thumb, and  if you have one, we have an interesting assortment of plants, we can help beginners, and as always, we send healthy, well rooted plants. Our success depends on your garden success; we want to help you grow!

When many people envision their garden, they feel the need to choose between fashion and function — Flowers or Herbs. Yet, little do they know, that the two can be combined to enjoy the best of both worlds. We tend to forget to appreciate herbs in our garden, focusing mainly on the end product- their flavor. So what does an herb offer for your landscape?

Contrast

Herbs add depth and contrast to your existing flower gardens, by offering a myriad of verdant colors that enhance the color of your buds and blooms. By filling space around, between, and under your existing flowers, herbs allow the blooming colors to seem more vibrant. Essentially, they frame your flowers without detracting from their beauty. The many textures of their varying foliage also make your garden more interesting, and you can alternate from glossy, dark green Basils such as the Italian Large Leaf Basil, to the variegated leaves of the low-growing, Pineapple Mint. Wonderful Golden Variegated and Silver Edged Thymes, Tricolored Sage and Amethyst Basil are just a few of the naturally stunning plants that add can compliment your flower garden, with little effort to maintain.

Color
Many herbs themselves have beautiful blooms that often go overlooked or undesired if grown solely for their culinary benefits. Once an herb beings to bloom and goes to bolt, the flavor profile may change, so culinary herb gardeners tend to prune the flowering tops of these plants to preserve the herb’s flavor intensity. If left to flower, most herbs display beautiful spires, clusters and sprigs of color that will continue all summer long. Pineapple Sage, Rosemary, Basils and Fennel are just a handful of culinary herbs that may be best left un-snipped to allow their blooms to attract wildlife and lend beauty to your landscape. Other herbs not traditionally used to cook with that provide an array of color are Clary Sage, Joe Pye Weed, Sweet Woodruff and Rue.

Naturally Beneficial

Many herbs have natural insect and pest repelling properties that will actually help protect your neighboring flowers from outside attacks from unwanted visitors. Incorporating your landscape with these non toxic defenders will ensure a healthier garden and less stress for you, too. Herbs like Bergamot and Chives which will deter deer and Tansy which repels Japanese Beetles, have wonderful blooms that will look great while safeguarding your other plants. Not only will these flowering herbs keep pests out, but their sweet scents will help entice valuable pollinators like hummingbirds, bees and butterflies to encourage the pollination and growth of your garden. Many herbs are havens for very specific types of butterflies, such as the Monarch Butterfly, which tends to favor Fennel flowers.

Planning Is Key

Gardening with herbs does not have to be complicated; with a bit of planning and a little imagination, you can either use herbs to transform an existing bed or start completely from scratch.  In either case, it is important for you to do some preliminary groundwork. Determining the purpose for your garden is one of the first steps to enjoying it. Having an end use in mind will help dictate what and how you plant. For example, a kitchen garden might be best planted close to your back door for easy access to fresh herbs while you cook. You want those fresh flavors close at hand when you need a sprig of Tarragon and don’t want to trek across your yard.

What space do you have to work with? Remember that your plants will mature quickly and flush out beautifully, so space needs to be a consideration when planning. I’ve made the mistake of planting starter plants too closely and they end up choking each other out. Save yourself the future headache and allow at least three to eight feet for a perennial herb and about one to three feet for an annual. This will ensure that your plants have plenty of space to stretch out and grow. The height and spread of each plant, are also important in terms of light. Make sure to plant your more dramatic, upright herbs closer to the back, leaving ample space for low lying, creeping herbs like Thyme closer to the front where they may still get plenty of light. Your herbs will need at least six hours of direct light a day, and if you invest in perennial plants, you’ll have to plan for shifting sunlight as the days get shorter, moving into the Fall season.

The soil that you start your garden in, is just as important as the amount of light the area gets. Herbs need well draining soil, and some, like Lavenders are particularly fussy about “wet feet”. Test your soil and plant accordingly. You may even want to add sand or organic compost to different parts of your garden, to cater to the specific needs of certain plants. That being said, study up on each plant. Even the “usual suspects”. Knowing each plant’s specific needs will allow you to provide for them and diagnose any unforeseen issues that may arise. (It’s also a good way to make sure you’re not planting unwanted plants like invasive species.)

It helps to plot out your garden on paper first, before you break ground. This is a wonderful way to spend your cold winter nights. Just curl up with some graphing paper and a pencil, with a cup of hot chocolate begin to dream and scheme about the spring. Thinking ahead will keep you company through the cold and you’ll be ready to get started as soon as the ground thaws.This will save you a lot of trouble and it will ensure that each plant gets the proper attention and resources that it needs.

It’s time to reinvent the way we look at growing herbs and remember to choose them for their colors, textures and blooms. Many herbs are perennial and will remain long after your flowers fade. Most need little water and don’t prefer to be fertilized, making them very simple ways to round out your landscape for a more interesting look. So this spring, as you’re buying plants and making plans for your yard, consider adding herbs not just for their flavor, but for the beauty the can bring to your favorite spaces.

Wondering why we’re changing out the plastic roofs of our three main greenhouses? The benefits are actually twofold. For one, it’s to help conserve energy. See the picture with the giant stack of wood below? We’ve chopped up some of the large trees that fell across our driveway during Hurricane Irene (We had about 30 trees across our driveway alone!) to use as fuel to heat our greenhouses this winter. To help our wood furnace heat the nursery more efficiently, we’re replacing the plastic that covers our greenhouses. In doing so, we’re adding new, sturdy plastic to  prevent any holes from leaking heat out, and we’re also creating an area of insulation to hold the heat in. We’ve used commercial blowers to fill the space between the inner and outer walls of the greenhouse with air. Once this space is filled it will create a pillow to help make a buffer against the cold and hold the heat in.

Heat is a huge concern for very obvious reasons. We winter over some of our plants, like Lemon Grass, which loves the heat. It thrives in zones 9-11 where it can get lots of sun. The new plastic and insulated walls will definitely help us to keep more cold-susceptible plants alive throughout the winter, so that we can offer you more mature plants, larger sizes and also have healthy specimen plants to make cuttings from in the Spring.

We’re also replacing the plastic on our roofs so that our plants can get more light. Especially after this past year’s weather (multiple snow storms, hurricanes, floods…even a freak earthquake!), the plastic had started to get pretty dingy. The yellowing of the plastic was filtering the sunlight and preventing more direct rays from getting in to the plants.  After finishing one roof already, we can definitely see a huge difference in the amount of light inside the greenhouse. This will help prevent delays in crop availability, as we saw in a few cases this season due to Hurricane Irene and then Tropical Storm Lee. It kinda of gave a new meaning to the phrase, “when it rains, it pours” for us here in zone 7!

This is our newest member of The Growers Exchange, Brandon, helping us prep the roof for new plastic.

In a business that revolves around things growing, and some plants grow verrrrrrrry slooooooooowly, patience is a virtue. (Any gardener who loves Bay Trees can attest to this! They take FOREVER to grow, but it’s well worth the wait)  Our patience is often rewarded by new growth, beautiful blooms, delicious vegetables or the literal, juicy fruits of our labors. The same patience is needed in planning, and acclimating new plants. When you receive new plants, especially if by mail, the patient gardener will always be the most successful. Upon excitedly opening your new box of plants, make sure you take the time to thoroughly read our planting instructions and then acclimate your plants for a day or so, in a shaded spot. They may be jet lagged from transit, as any of us would be, and may need a drink of water and a moment of relaxing rest in the shade before being asked to perform in your garden. Please make sure to read and heed these directions as well as our section found on each plant product page called “Briscoe’s Tips” for specific planting instructions, because more often than naught, planting immediately doesn’t allow the plant to recuperate from traveling in a box for a few days. So just remember friends:

When you get your new plants, don’t be antsy in the pants;

your herbs will do best, if given water and rest!