Clover's Garden Centers - Real Landscape, E-News - Late Winter, 2008

Dear Gardening Friend,

Busy, busy, busy - preparing to open our locations in your community.

Although the weather has been slightly less than cooperative, we are excited to announce that our stores in Berwyn (7065 W. Cermak Road), Hickory Hills (8845 W. 87th Street), and Westmont (251 W. Ogden Avenue) opened on April 4th.

Our Willowbrook location is opening April 10th (Thursday).

This week we are planning to set-up Elmhurst (110 W. North Avenue), Naperville (1290 E. Chicago Ave.), Niles (on Milwaukee Avenue between Church & Golf Roads), and Roselle (550 W. Lake Street), all with a store opening date of April 15th - is there a better way to celebrate tax day, than to buy some cheerful flowers for the yard?

More store opening announcements to come -

Gardener in April::

~ visit Clover's Garden Center to see what's new for 2008 for your real landscape
~ clean up the leaves and debris in the garden
~ transplant shrubs and small trees before buds open
~ cut down to about 6 inches tall, your ornamental grasses, Russian sage, and lavender
~ prune Forsythia after it finishes flowering
~ fertilize your evergreen shrubs
~ fertilize the lawn
~ divide your perennials as they emerge ( daylilies, hostas, iris, etc.)
~ use a systemic fertilizer on your roses
~ plant your summer flowing bulbs - dahlias, and gladiolas
~ plant some cold tolerant vegetables and flowers (see articles below)
~ celebrate Earth Day (April 22)
~ celebrate Arbor Day (last Friday in April - this year - April 25, 2008)

Now Hiring::

We are always looking for people who like working outdoors, with people and plants, if you are interested in working for Clover's Garden Center, or know someone who might be, please visit our employment page at the following link: http://www.cloversgardencenter.com/employment.html . On the employment page you will find a link to our online job application, and other methods for applying to work at one of our many neighborhood locations.

Perennial of the Year
(designated by Perennial Plant Association)::

Geranium 'Rozanne' - this spectacular true geranium, is an asset to any border planting, with its colorful mounding habit, and long bloom time. To learn more about the perennial of the year, click here - http://www.cloversgardencenter.com/resources2008PerennialoftheYear.html

Are you looking for something special?

As we start ordering our plant stock, we are always excited to see the new offerings by our growers, and maybe you are looking for something new, too. Please e-mail us at: contact@cloversgardencenter.com with plants that you are looking for, including the store location you like to shop. Then, we will try to make them available for you!

Friends of cooler weather ::

Are you ready for spring? Have you had enough snow? Brighten you landscape with some happy, cold tolerant flowers to welcome spring. Flowers that can handle a Chicago Spring (hot one day - winter the next, not to mention wind) are pansies, violas, sweet alyssum, stocks, snapdragons, dianthus, sweet peas, forget me nots, calendula, and lobelia. Stop by one of our open locations today, and bring some spring flowers home.

Let's talk vegetables::

Have you been out in the veggie patch? I have. Yes, the first warm day a couple weeks ago, I cleaned up the bed in preparation for my cold weather vegetable plantings. I love my flower beds and container plantings, but the vegetable garden is the heart of my garden. I enjoy growing my own food. It is so rewarding to make a broccoli casserole, or cheesy broccoli soup, from my own home grown vegetables.

I look forward to amending my soil with some composted cow manure and organic peat (soil shipments are arriving soon to Clover's), and then I am ready to plant!

Certain vegetables don't mind the cold - in fact, I think, they may enjoy it. So, I will be ready to plant broccoli (Did I mention this is my favorite?), lettuces, spinach, cabbages, brussel sprouts, beets, radishes, swiss chard, kale, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, collards, cauliflower, kohlrabi, asparagus, mustard, onions, and turnips.

Note: If you want to get your tomatoes and peppers to give them an early start, I would recommend planting them in large pots that you can leave outside on warm, sunny days, and move into the garage at night - as they DO NOT LIKE THE COLD WEATHER.

It is also time to plant some herbs, too, like - parsley, chives, horseradish, mint, cilantro (plant some cilantro now, and again in a couple weeks - to extend your crop season), and thyme.

Yikes! That reminds me, I am out of "thyme" - back to work, getting plant orders ready!

Sincerely,

Garden Girl
Clover's Garden Center

gardengirl@cloversgardencenter.com

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