Newsletter / March 2010

We are getting psyched for spring and so are the birds making their way up from the south. Hummingbirds in particular are on their way up from their winter homes in Central America, so have those feeders ready later in the spring. You probably know that it's their fast-moving wings that create the "humming" sound. But were you aware that these amazing little birds can flap their wings up to 80 times per second and can fly in virtually any direction, including upside down?

After a bit of rest in January and February, we're already on to spring preparations. We are in the process of replacing all of the wooden doors on the greenhouses with garage doors. These will keep our little seedlings warmer as they grow into colorful beauties for opening day.

This is also the time when David and crew begin the seeding process. Then, later in the month, over one million seedlings will be transplanted to individual pots and nurtured into strong, healthy plants. Old standards and new variations such as Pretty Much Picasso (Petunia hybrid) and Snow Princess (Lobularia hybrid) will be available when we open in April. Other more temperature sensitive plants will be ready a bit later in the spring. It's a labor of love and a time of the season we truly enjoy.

We will have some new plants, new gift shop items and even a new event to look forward to this year (see below). Watch for details on all of these and on our classes with Barbara. One new opportunity we'll be offering is a planting station of sorts where you can bring in your own containers or purchase one of ours, choose your plants and put it all together right here! Watch for more information.

We hope it has been a fantastic winter for everyone--there very well may be more of it to come! But here at the farm, our sights are on spring.

Looking forward to seeing all of you again in April.

Barbara & David Frerichs