The Queen of Cleomes

Cleome hassleriana, or Spider Flower, as it is often called, is an amazing, long-lived annual in the garden. Pictured here are 'volunteer' Cleome plants living at our nursery. Volunteers are plants that grow up from seeds left in the ground from a previous gardening season. They were unplanned and found themselves a perfect spot in our front garden bed.

This particular variety of Cleome is 'Pink Queen' and like all cleome of this particular species, it grows to 4 ft. tall and spreads about 18" wide. The plant has large palmate leaves and the hairy and very prickly stems are sturdy enough to hold up the huge, globe-shaped, spidery flowers for which this plant gets its' common name! Cleome needs full sun and well-drained soil to be most successful. Regular watering during summer is helpful to keep it blooming until after first frost!! We sell already started plugs in May-June and seeds throughout the season. We may even be willing to share seeds from our volunteers if you ask nicely!! They are still flowering now in early October and looking like the garden 'Queens' that they are!

Fuzzy Wuzzy...flowers?

Chenille plant or Acalypha hispida is a great indoor/outdoor plant for the novice or experienced gardener alike! What a very interesting flower it produces...usually 3-4" long and fuzzy like a cattail or, well, like chenille! The color is a light red and the plant is prolific. Chenille plant likes bright light if indoors and partial shade if outdoors in the summertime. Keep the soil barely moist for best results. Feed every two weeks with an all-purpose water-soluble plant food, at half-dose. If you have a fuzzy wuzzy plant already, don't forget to bring it indoors for the winter, as they are not winter hardy here!!

Time to Harvest.

With the cooler temperatures finally having arrived and the glorious weather here, it is so pleasant to be outdoors! No more humidity...hurrah! I see my garden winding down for the season, but I am still getting mad harvests of tomatoes, zucchini and cukes! Yum! Tomato and cucumber salads galore!

Hummingbirds!

Come see our new hand-blown glass hummingbird feeders, made from recycled glass! They are uniquely gorgeous and come in various shapes and sizes. They make great holiday gifts too!!


This is an important time of year for feeding hummingbirds -- a time that people don't always think about, since the summer is coming to an end. With the southern migration of hummingbirds starting, it is very important to have feeders ready with lots of fresh nectar for them to load up on. It not only helps them build up their body weight for their long journey back to their winter homes, it also proves that you will be a dependable feeding station for them to come back to next year. Hummingbirds do come back to the same gardens every year!!

Check out the Hummingbird Society's website for more great information at www.hummingbirdsociety.org/.

WNC staff

Myself and my wonderful coworkers on just another long, hot summer day. Hard to believe we have had 31...count 'em...31 90 degree plus days! Holy hotness batman. What a tough season to keep everything watered, but they do and they do it well! Pictured from left to right we have, Amanda, Kyle, me Jessica and Sheryll. Missing: Tami and Susan.

Cornus canadensis

On a recent trek in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I spotted alot of alpines, sub-alpines and cool woodland plants, as well beautiful mosses, growing in nooks and crannies of the terrain we passed over. Pictured here is Cornus canadensis, or Bunchberry. This native plant is in the dogwood family. It generally grows 3-8" tall and prefers cool woodland areas. Native Americans made a tea from the leaves for aches, pains and fevers. The scarlet colored berries were eaten or stored for the long winter. Generally the white flowers come out May-July.

Amaryllis in July?

Our Amaryllis bulbs are a bit confused, rightly so with this crazy weather! Blooming in July is a bit unorthodox for an Amaryllis living in Connecticut. Usually these bulbs, which are forced for indoor bloom, are known to bloom sometime between mid-December and mid-late March.