Dear Hydrangea enthusiasts,

 

Welcome to the March 2010 newsletter for Hydrangea Plus®. 

 

Orders are pouring in here.  Get your orders in soon before I run out of the special cultivars.  The cold weather on the east coast isn’t hampering the gardening spirit, thankfully.

 

What’s Happening here…

Have you ever had one of those weeks that you don’t have a free moment?  I’ve had a few in a row.  I finally have a chance to sit down and write our newsletter.  We are busy here at the nursery and the VanHoose abode.  We have a retail weekend coming up in a few weeks so we’re frantically cleaning up the tractor and washing the dogs and spiffing up the nursery for your arrival.  We received our new plant and trees from our wonderful suppliers (check out the Paniculata trees and the 1 year Pinky Winky and Limelight) so I’ve got a little dirt in my fingernails so I’ll clean myself up before you arrive, too.

 

The Yard, Garden & Patio show was a huge hit.  Over 24000 people came to the show in Portland on a glorious President’s Day weekend.  Plant geeks were awed, amazing art was showcased, some great gardens constructed in the middle of the convention center in just three short days were incredible.  We had a great time chatting with our customers and making new friends. 

 

Finally, we’re working on the garden.  Our webmaster placed the 15 steps a few weekends ago and we’re heading to the lumber yard to get edging for the paths, my next step in ‘my plan’.  ‘My Plan’ includes finishing by April 1st.  Aggressive, I know but it has to be done.

 

Mother Nature has been very kind to us this pre-spring.  Plants are looking great and we’re ready for a great hydrangea year.

 

Hydrangeas Plus® Catalog (X)

The number 10 catalog is done and printed and it looks gorgeous.  Remember that I’m going to have to charge for them this year.  Because we are doing fewer, the cost is much much greater.  The charge is $5.  Order on line (at http://www.hydrangeasplus.com) or send me a check to

Hydrangeas Plus®

PO BOX 389

Aurora OR 97002

 

I did put the PDF on the website and you can order a download version on the catalog.

 

Spring Retail Hours – BIG BIG SALE

We are planning our retail weekend for March 19th and 20th.  Let’s hope for some good weather but we’re under cover in the first three greenhouses so don’t worry about getting wet.  I will have the 2 year and the 3 year plants on sale as well as the Paniculata trees.

 

March 19th – 10am to 5pm

March 20th – 10am to 5pm

Our address is 6543 S. Zimmerman Road

Aurora OR 97002

Directions are on the website under 2010 scheduled events category to the left.

 

Sale – Free shipping

Free shipping for orders of $150 or greater. This offer is good just through March 31st.  Orders must ship before June 1st, 2010 and is good to US addresses only!  It’s a coupon code and if you have trouble using the coupon, just let me know.  Use the coupon code, FREE SHIPPING (below your shopping cart) once your order has reached $150.  You won’t be able to see the coupon is accepted and in effect until your reach the check out stage.  If there is an error with the coupon, you will get a purple box at the top of your shopping cart that says ‘you have entered an incorrect coupon code!’.   But again, if you have trouble, just email or call and I can fix it for you.

 

Spring tip – fertilizing and amendments

It’s getting close to that time again.  We recommend using a balanced, time release fertilizer that will last 3 to 4 months.  Start the fertilizing when you start to see leaves forming (a little past the budding stage) on your macrophylla hydrangeas.  It would also be a good time to do the soil amending to change the colors of the hydrangeas.  It is aluminum sulfate to get more blue blooms and garden lime or super phosphate fertilizer to keep them more pink or red.

 

We do sell aluminum sulfate in four pound boxes, Hydrangeas Plus® brand fertilizer in two pound bags and Hydrangeas Plus® lime in four pound bags.  If you order just amendments, I can ship them UPS ground or priority mail in a fixed price box (for cheaper than the shipping calculates, I promise).  The aluminum sulfate $10.50, fertilizer and lime is $5.50.  I have it all in stock and ready to go now.  The aluminum sulfate product we offer (Lilly Miller) is being discontinued so order early before I run out.

 

Transplanting

I’ve been getting lots of questions about the timing for this task.  Spring is a great time to transplant that hydrangea is getting too much sun or not enough.  I recently heard a great quote from a great lady, ‘if you haven’t moved a plant three times, you’re not trying.’  When they are mostly dormant, the moving of an established plant and its transplanting is most successful.  Most hydrangeas are shallow rooted so it’s not as important to dig deeply as it is to get a lot of the lateral roots.

 

FaceBook and I’m a tweetin’ on Twitter

Where do these entrepreneurs come up with these names?  I shouldn’t make fun, they are the millionaires.  We are up to 3300 fans on Facebook.  I try to check the site every day and add a comment or picture once a week.  A little more frequent than my newsletters but it keeps my ideas handy and lets you know real time, what’s going on at the nursery.  You can see pictures and get hints & tips for what you should be doing with your hydrangeas.  I will also offer special discounts for Facebook users.

 

Shipping and office schedule

You don’t want to see my calendar, this week was just crazy.  Anyway, just call with any questions but be sure to leave a message.  I may be gone for just a few minutes or the rest of the day but I will call you back.

 

Hydrangeas Plus® important dates for your calendar – more details on the website

Here at the nursery

Open House - Retail Sale – March 19th & March 20th

Overstock Sale – April 24th  to  May 8th

Garden Unveiling/NW Hydrangea Society meeting  – June (depending on blooms)

Gardenpalooza, the Tour  – September 11th to September 19th

 

Markets and events where Hydrangeas Plus® will be selling plants

Gardenpalooza (Aurora OR) – April 3rd

Gardening on the Edge (Newport OR)– June 26 (we may not be able to make this due to Dance Recital)

 

 

Privacy Notice

We respect your privacy and want to be sure this is sent to those customers who have subscribed to the Hydrangeas Plus® newsletter.  Please use the unsubscribe link below if you received this in error or no longer wish to subscribe to our newsletter.  We apologize if you have asked before and we’ve neglected to take your name and email off our list.

 

Sincerely,

Kristin VanHoose

Hydrangeas Plus®

http://www.hydrangeasplus.com