Fall Decorating

Fall is such a FABULOUS time of year!

Here at Strange's we love the change of weather- the crisp, fresh season of Autumn brings such exciting new opportunities in the gardening world. But we don't just love the plants, we have SO much fun decorating for Fall! 

Finding beautiful combinations of Fall plants, ceramics and natural items is our idea of a good time:

And we love the vibrant colors of Fall:

Pumpkins and gourds are GREAT for decorating a space for the season! And the best part is, they're perfectly appropriate from September through November- talk about cost-effective decor!

And of course, a Mum will complete any Fall decoration!

Do you love decorating for Fall? 

We've found a few blogosphere friends that do:

If you'd like to check out some fun Fall Decorating ideas, like this one from The Lettered Cottage, click here to see how other people are decorating this year!

Happy Gardening Decorating!

Keys to Success: Fall Bulbs

It's Fall, Y'all! 

Since Fall is such an exciting time of year for gardening- festive plant colors and textures, ideal temperatures, increased rainfall, etc.- we thought we'd share a Fall-tastic series of posts for you on how to make sure your gardening efforts are successful this Autumn! We're calling it the 'Keys to Success' series, and we'll be posting on a new, Fall-specific topic each week. We hope you enjoy!

Up next in our series is Fall Bulbs!
Nothing says Spring like the perky yellow daffodils, graceful tulips & precious crocuses that add so much cheer to the tired, late-winter landscape! To introduce a few of these beauties to your garden, you'll need to start now! Fall is the time to plant those early-spring bulbs, so we've come up with some quick tips for easy, successful bulb planting. Enjoy!

1. Pick the right spot

Most bulbs do best when planted in a sunny, well-drained spot. Picking a good spot goes a long way in bulb success!

2. Use Bulb Tone

Applying a natural feeder product like Bulb Tone helps newly-planted bulbs establish more quickly and produce bigger blooms. Use Bulb Tone at the time of planting for best results.

3. Got Voles?

The best way to prevent voles from munching on your irresistibly fresh bulbs (short of investing in a cat) is to amend your bulb planting holes with some Permatil.

4. Got Squirrels?

Voles aren't the only critters tempted by your bulbs- squirrels are often the culprit of missing or moved bulbs (that's right- don't be alarmed if the clump of daffodils you plant this fall showcase a few hyacinths from another part of your garden come Spring!) The best way to keep squirrels from rearranging your bulb design is to soak your bulbs in I Must Garden's Squirrel Repellent for 5 minutes. Once they've dried, plant them as your normally would. This should deter the squirrel-sponsored landscape re-designing this winter. 

Thanks for dropping in for our tips on planting Fall Bulbs! We hope you're inspired to envision and plant a beautiful container or bed space for early spring with some beautiful Fall Bulbs!

Happy [bulb] gardening!

Keys to Success: Mums

It's Fall, Y'all! 

Since Fall is such an exciting time of year for gardening- festive plant colors and textures, ideal temperatures, increased rainfall, etc.- we thought we'd share a Fall-tastic series of posts for you on how to make sure your gardening efforts are successful this Autumn! We're calling it the 'Keys to Success' series, and we'll be posting on a new, Fall-specific topic each week. We hope you enjoy!

Let's talk about Mums this week! Mums are a quintessential element in Fall decor. Whether inside or out, Mums are perfect for adding vibrant color and soft texture to any Fall scene. And they're a great value-per-dollar plant, too! Not only do Fall Mums make a huge visual impact, they are perennials-- plant them in your beds after you put away your Fall decor, and you'll be able to enjoy them for years!

In case you're going to incorporate Mums into your Fall decor this year, we'd love to share some of the things we know about this beautiful Fall-blooming plant!

Here are our top tips for getting the most out of your Mums this fall:

1. Water a few times per week
Plants in containers need plenty of water. As the season gets cooler, though, your Mums will likely need less water; stick your finger in the soil to test if there's enough water- if the soil feels dry, give it a drink. Just be sure to avoid keeping the soil soggy.

2. Decorate
Pair Mums with pumpkins, gourds, straw bales and Indian corn for classic Fall decor.

3. Use good soil
If you're going to plant your Mums, use a good soil. For planting in containers, use our Strange's Soil to provide a well-draining, supportive planting media. If you're planting your Mums in a bed, incorporate some Perma-til into your soil to improve drainage.

4. Use mulch! 
If you plant your Mums in a bed to overwinter, make sure you use a 1.5-2.5" layer of mulch to provide insulation. The foliage of the Mum will die back after the first hard frost, but if the roots of the plant are well-insulated, your Mum will start growing again in the spring!

Thanks for stopping by to learn about our Mum tips-we hope your Fall plantings and decor are a beautiful way to welcome your friends and family to your home!

Happy [Mum] Gardening!

Keys to Success: Pansies!

It's Fall, Y'all! 

Since Fall is such an exciting time of year for gardening- festive plant colors and textures, ideal temperatures, increased rainfall, etc.- we thought we'd share a Fall-tastic series of posts for you on how to make sure your gardening efforts are successful this Autumn! We're calling it the 'Keys to Success' series, and we'll be posting on a new, Fall-specific topic each week. We hope you enjoy!

This week's topic is Pansies! And in honor of the completion of the first full week of this year's college football season, we'll be using a cheeky football metaphor throughout this whole post- hope you love football as much as pansies!

1. Use a good Soil

They say if you're going to have an undefeated football season, you've got to win the first game. Same goes for planting pansies! If you're going to have a champion (bloom) season, you've got to 'win the first game.' And in our little football metaphor, the first game is the soil, and winning is making sure your soil is in peak condition to support your winning pansy lineup. 

Here's what we recommend to help you win the first game:

If you're planting your pansies in a container:

Fill your containers with our professional Strange's Mix potting soil  Our potting soil will provide a good soil consistency to promote healthy root establishment as well as provide nutrients for your pansies.

If you're planting your pansies in a bed:

Mix some Perma-til with your existing bed soil to improve drainage. Pansies don't like to have 'wet feet' and your plants will be more likely to win if they're not bogged down in soggy soil.

2. Score the Root ball

Every winning coach has an exciting pre-game pep talk to pump up their players. As coach, you ought to take a moment to 'pump up' your pansies before the first game: 

When it comes time to plant your pansies, grab a trowel (or even use your fingernails) and break up the rootball a little. This is like the proverbial pre-game high five- it jazzes up the pansy's roots and encourages it to work quickly to establish itself on the field in its new container. 

3. Feed Your Pansies

Your pansies need nourishment! Like football players, pansies need a good 'water break' every so often to replenish the energy they're using to bloom and grow. Try a good fertilizer like Fertilome's Premium Bedding Plant Food, or Greenview's Pansy Food. 

4. Fight Pests

Think of your beautiful pansies as the goal line, and your pest defense tactics as the defensive line. A good defensive line is strong, has a coordinated plan of defense, is ready to make quick decisions to react to the unexpected, and is only used when the other team has the ball.
Similarly, you want a coordinated plan for fighting pests that you only use if you need to. The biggest pest challenge to pansies is the Pansy worm, and the best way to treat your pansies for Pansy worm is with Sevin or Thuricide. Remember, it's always a good idea to rotate products to prevent insects from building up an immunity to any one product. 

5. Apply Mulch

In the world of pansy football, if pest defense is your defensive line, mulching your beds is your offensive line.  Picture this: you've got your star quarterback in position, ready to throw the winning touchdown pass. He looks up to find his receiver and realizes he's got no line protecting him and the defenders are barreling down the field to sack him. Nobody wants that (well, no one rooting for the offense, anyway!)
And nobody wants that in their Fall pansy planting, either. So once you get your star pansies in place and ready to win the game, make sure you mulch them! All sorts of factors (water availability, weed competition, frost) will come to challenge your pansies, but if you provide the offensive protection of mulch, your pansies will be set up to do just fine!
When mulching, apply a 1.5-2.5" layer of mulch to improve water availability, reduce weed growth, and protect from frost damage. It will make all the difference. Plus, it looks tidy!

Thanks for stopping in to learn about the Keys to Pansy Success! We hope you have a beautiful pansy display this year, and that your favorite football team has a championship season!

Happy [Pansy] Gardening!