Rush Order

William Shakespeare once said, “Wisely, and slow. They stumble that run fast.” You get this morning’s message. Not being properly prepared for the spring season is like hitting that snooze button one too many times and well, you know the rest of the story. Are you ready for the meltdown? This week’s weather is a reminder that the coldest part of the winter is behind us. We are in the slow transitional thaw; a snow shovel in one hand with a garden hoe in the flanks.

So have you placed all your plant orders? Think more than just seeds. Bare root stock orders are up at bat. No time to stumble and strike out on this one. If you wait too long, the crop is gone until next year. Here’s a quick laundry list of bare root stock that often disappears early in the order season:

Fruit category:

Fruit trees
Blueberries
Grape vines
Raspberries
Strawberries

If you call the nursery and your plant is out of stock, reserve your order for next year. It sounds premature to plan for the 2012 season but you get first pick and you won’t be left rootless.

Vegetable Category:

You may think this typically falls under just seeds but bulbs and tuber orders should be placed immediately.

Seed potatoes
Onion sets
Garlic
Asparagus

Ornamentals:

If you have large areas to plant and the capacity and manpower to prep these locations in time, bare root stock is a great option for some woody plants and herbaceous perennials.

Want to plant a large stand of ferns or groundcover? Ordering bare root stock may be the best way to save substantial costs. Pick from a number of bare root workhorses (i.e., Daylilies, Hostas, Ivy) to name a few. It’s worth doing some research to find the right plants that can do well with this planting method.

So that’s a wrap for Thursday. And remember this funny one liner to get you cranking on your order. “The road to success is always under construction.” Great gardens are a work in progress.

P.S. For anyone subscribing via email that prefers to reply direct, I’ll keep an email address in the blog agbilowz@comcast.net. You can always post on our fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bilowz-Associates-Inc-Our-Blog-Annies-Gardening-Corner/325316334444 or http://www.facebook.com/abilowz or follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/annbilowz.

Images from the Internet