“I LOVE watching the birds now.  I’m putting up another feeder outside my kitchen window!” she told me.

Karolyn likes things neat and orderly.  Years ago, she stopped putting out bird feeders because there was always a mess and strange things sprouted under the bird feeders.  Then she discovered No Mess Blend from Wild Birds Unlimited.  Enough said.

So Bill Henderson and I are off to snowy Indianapolis this week for 8 days of training at WBU headquarters.  I’m sure we’ll have lots of great information to share.

I’m not making these up.  These are some of the varieties of seeds we’ve just received from Seed Savers Exchange.  This organization’s motto is “Passing on our Vegetable Heritage.”

As their motto implies, Seed Savers seeks out and sells seeds for heirloom varieties.  This means varieties that are not hybrids and that have characteristics that may have been bred out of many of the vegetables and flowers we’re used to.

You know that those large, red tomatoes that ship well and look so beautiful in the store may not taste very much like a tomato should.  That’s where heirloom seeds come in.

So if you’re ready to try something new (old very old) in your garden this year, come see the dozens of varieties on our Seed Savers rack.  Your $2.79 investment might yield some great-tasting vegetables and a lot of interesting conversations.

More taxing, to me, is the knowledge that the decisions I make in this brief period can make or break the profitability of our business for the rest of the year. Buy too many of the wrong things and your hard-earned money is tied up in merchandise that does not sell, leaving you unable to purchase things that will sell. But get too conservative, and you miss the opportunity to make money by not having the items your customers are looking for (anyone have my crystal ball?).

We saw this first-hand in 2009 when we sold out of Christmas trees by Dec. 14, then spent two weeks turning away potential customers.

And even though you’ve just packed away your Christmas decorations, we’ll be ordering the Christmas merchandise for 2010. The way manufacturers operate these days, they won’t make anything until they have firm orders for it (no one wants a warehouse full of unsold stock), so if you don’t order it in January, you won’t have it in your store this coming fall for Christmas sales.

In addition, I’ll be looking for pots, garden accessories and that special something for Spring.

Wish me luck, and come in soon to watch all the new goodies arrive!

1. Plant trees, shrubs and perennials
2. Use Ferti-lome Weed Free Zone to kill many weeds in lawn areas
3. Apply Ferti-lome All Seasons fertilizer and weed preventer (pre-emerge) if you haven’t already
4. Put out hummingbird feeders
5. Plant early season annuals like dianthus, snapdragons and petunias
6. Purchase caladium bulbs and store in a warm place till May

1. Protect your pots! Whether they are ceramic, concrete or clay, cheap or expensive, and kind of pot will break if it gets moisture in a tiny crack and then freezes. Move them to the garage or wrap with blankets.
2. Anything that hasn’t frozen yet probably won’t freeze now. There are a few plants that we use in our landscapes that may suffer — waxleaf ligustrum, oleanders and windmill palms will survive most winters, but may not make it through this kind of cold.
3. If you want to protect tender plants, cover with light cloth — never cover with plastic.
4. The heavy snow on Christmas Eve will actually help us. Plants that have already had some cold weather (and especially a lot of moisture) will handle severe cold better.

So don’t fret too much about your plants — protect your pipes, your pets and yourself and your neighbors!

He wasn’t talking to the miniature horses. He was exclaiming over the terrific quality of these binoculars as he looked to the South.

“I didn’t know you were going to be carrying these! I just bought a pair two weeks ago!. They’re not nearly as good as these, and they cost me more money!”

Of course, I immediately suggested he return the other pair and buy some from the WBU section of Smith’s. But he said he’d already discarded the box and couldn’t return them to the other store.

So please, my friends, learn from Cody’s mistake. Check out our new binoculars (what a great Christmas gift!).

Although we have some remodeling to do, and the actual WBU store won’t be officially opened till February, we already have some feeders and seed here, in time for Christmas.

And as I talk with people about this new venture, I’m amazed at how many people are as excited as I am! I hear, “Oh, we go to the store in Dallas whenver we’re down there,” or, “We used to shop at a WBU store in Illinois when we lived there!”

That’s because Wild Birds Unlimited is THE industry leader in back yard bird feeding and bird watching. The company develops its own blends of bird feed for different regions of the country, different types of birds, and different seasons of the year.

All WBU seeds are guaranteed fresh, and they have what they call “no waste” blends. And if you want to know what to do about squirrels in your bird feeders, come in and pick up a free Hobby Guide that answers this and many other questions about your wild birds.

We have to go through some extensive training in the next couple of months, and as I said, we’ll do some remodeling. But come on in and get a taste of Wild Birds Unlimited at Smith’s.

They’ve been brought back to health and sent to new homes, and now visitors to Smith’s will have the chance to enjoy them.

They each measure only about 27 inches tall at the shoulder. The black one is a stallion, the other three are mares. One of them is obviously with foal, so there will be a teeny baby in a month or so.

Come see them soon, and help us choose names!

Just think about the millions of poinsettias sold in the United States every year. If they were dangerous to children or pets, don’t you think television and newspapers would be full of stories about dead babies and cats?

Yet every year, we have to contend with this old wives’ tale. Even my own vet sent out a newsletter warning pet owners that poinsettias are poisonous. (I’m sending him a copy of the research).

So there is no need to worry about keeping a poinsettia in your home or sending one to a family with small children and pets.

FACT – Poinsettias are tropical plants, originating in Central America. So even though they are sold at Christmas time, they cannot withstand cold temperatures outdoors. Keep them at a comfortable room temperature, away from cold drafts and hot appliances.

FACT – The bright colors we refer to as blooms are actually not blooms – they are specialized leaves called brachts. The plants are “photo-periodic”, meaning it is the ratio of sunlight hours to darkness that triggers the coloration in the leaves. So in October and November, when we have roughly 11 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness, the leaves change color.

]]> http://www.smithsgardentown.com/2009/11/poinsettia-myths-and-facts/feed/ 0 http://www.smithsgardentown.com/2009/11/christmas-trees-are-here/ http://www.smithsgardentown.com/2009/11/christmas-trees-are-here/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:16:58 +0000 admin http://www.smithsgardentown.com/?p=117 Smith’s’ shipments of fresh cut and living Christmas trees are now available.

Remember, Smith’s Gardentown Farms displays all our fresh trees inside, under cover. This makes your shopping experience more comfortable — and it keeps our trees out of the wind and sun, so they will stay fresh longer!