By Sprout Home Brooklyn, May 6th, 2012, Brooklyn, Uncategorized
Here are a few recent additions to the garden that can mean an investment plant in yours. Perennials come back every season.
Bleeding Heart – A gorgeous ornamental shrub that will come back every spring. Also in a stunning red, as seen below.
Classic Lilac – the traditional spring blossom comes in 600-900 cultivars thanks to the French. This plant likes to live in well-ventilated, full sun plots. Amazingly fragrant.
Vines: An easy way to cover an unsightly wall or fence. Honeysuckle and Trumpet Vine are voracious growers. Wisteria and clematis are always favorites Check out our wide selection.
Elderberry – A unique and dramatic addition to the garden. Check out these amazing blossoms.
By Sprout Home Brooklyn, April 29th, 2012, Brooklyn
With such a mild winter, garden pests will be out in full force this year. Some of you may have already noticed an early outbreak of aphids on your roses, tulips, ivies — you name it. Aphids are leaf-sucking insects that can do permanent damage to your plants, and, if left untreated, can kill them.
What is the best, most organic, and least invasive treatment for your garden when these pests invade?
LADY BUGS!
Lady bugs were named by Catholic farmers who prayed to the Virgin Mary when pests attacked their crops in the middle ages. These colorful insects showed up and were thought to be a miracle. They are, in fact, a wonder of the insect world. They pray on garden pests without doing any environmental damage themselves. During their 3-6 week life cycle, they can feed on up to 5,000 aphids.
Lady bugs are quite crafty. Their red color signals to predators “I don’t taste good!” When threatened, the insects secrete “fake blood” from their leg joints that smells and tastes bad. They also “play dead” in sticky situations with birds and other predator insects.
Plus, if one lands on you, it’s good luck.
We sell refrigerated bags of these beneficial insects in our store. Take them home and sprinkle them near shrubs and plants where you have seen aphids, scale, or plant mites. They will eat up and move on with no residual effect to your garden.
By Sprout Home Brooklyn, April 27th, 2012, Brooklyn
After a long stretch of drought in the Northeast, our plants are enjoying some spring showers.
By Sprout Home Brooklyn, April 21st, 2012, Brooklyn, flowers
Happy Weekend everyone. We added a couple new pics to our bouquet, arrangement and terrarium sections
By Sprout Home Brooklyn, April 10th, 2012, Brooklyn
We are selling bat homes and guano here at the Sprout. Today we hung the new home in our garden with the hopes of thinning out the misquito population come July.
Did you know that our bat friends can be very beneficial to the garden, besides for eating summer blood-suckers? Bats eat an average of 1,200 insects perhour. They eat plenty of other bugs, including those that like to snack on your garden plants. Bats dine on buggers like the adult moths that populate your yard with leaf eating worms.
Bat poop is also great for garden soil. If you want to by-pass the bat condo, you can pick up some guano at the store, which is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus—100% organic.
