My Favorite Independent Garden Center - Guest Post by #rosechat Administrator

My Favorite Independent Garden Center

I am very pleased to tell you about my favorite Independent Garden Center– COUNTRY HARMONY in Brownsburg, IN.
The atmosphere is quaint but also upscale and urban! The location is peacefully tucked away in a corner of natural foliage in the heart of our little town. Very “oasis” like!
No matter the season, you will find beautiful and unique home and garden decor.
During the growing season you simply must come! Their abilities as garden designers and their vast selection of highest quality plants put them way ahead of any other garden center I’ve visited (and that list is long!).
Another area that sets them apart, is the expert care they give to their plants. Whether it is early in the season or at the end of a very long, hot summer, everything looks amazing. Every plant is hand watered on a plant-by-plant basis. Owner Ryan, Designer Brad and the entire staff are very good at what they do! They are knowledgeable and friendly and are willing to literally walk along side you down the rows and rows of beautiful plants to find the perfect ones for your garden or home.
Last year my garden went through a major renovation and one of the first things I did was to contact Country Harmony to bounce around ideas and seek their expertise. The end result was a perfect plan tailored to my taste and garden space. Take a look ….

I can say all of this because I am somewhat of a Country Harmony expert … IF frequent visits count as expertise! I am there every week during the growing season … sometimes multiple times a week. My husband likens my trips to Country Harmony as putting another child through college… as least as far as check writing is concerned!
Reminds me of a quote by Mrs. Emily Whaley in her book Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden …

Gardening is not inexpensive. … One successful way to finance your gardening, is to choose carefully whom you marry. A good and generous man is needed. … If you are so lucky to find such a man, you must fully realize and fully appreciate the fact that you have found a “pearl of great price.”

I do and I sure appreciate him. There is no doubt the folks at Country Harmony do too!
Teresa Byington
http://thegardendiary.com/
Twitter: @agardendiary

Adventures In Gardening: Spring Has Sprung, Zone Changes & Buying Local!

Hello & happy Spring friends!

We officially left "the Winter that wasn't" behind on Tuesday and continued our "May weather in March" trend for much of the week. Temps dropped a bit yesterday and though we'll get into the 60s today, it looks like we'll be in the 50s for some time once the rain arrives tomorrow with a couple of nights dipping into the 30s! (Time to bring in those tender plants!) Daffodils are already past bloom (disturbing!) and just about every flowering tree & bush in the entire area is in bloom and even if I didn't see them I'd know - AAACHOO!!!

Both my northern & coastal gardens have had Zone changes per the updated 2012 Plant Hardiness Zone Map from the USDA which you can find here. I've moved from 6 to 6a up north and apparently from 7a to 7b here on the coast, though I'm not too certain about that. When I look at my coastal zone on the map, the color indicates 7a, which is what I've been since we moved here and I looked it up in 2005. But, when I search by my coastal zip code, it says I'm in 7b! I think it's great that the USDA has made changes to the map, even adding zones, with all of the climate changes around the Country, but I had hoped the new map would have negated any confusion!

Thursday was Forsythia Bush buying day! What do you mean you hadn't heard?! You must have missed my tweets!
















On the way home from the doctors office, we stopped at a longtime, local area fixture, the Betsy Ross Farm Market, established in 1919, located in Port Monmouth NJ, so I could pick out two new Forsythia for out front. This is the only place I buy my Forythia from! Buying local is very important to me, whether here on the coast or up at our northern home and I do so as often as possible for everything before going to the big box stores etc.. I start in town then work my way to the surrounding communities & so on.
















I also buy other plants for the garden here at Betsy Ross Farm Market, usually annuals like the Pansy's in the first photo above, their gorgeous yellow & wine colors my favorite & their scent so tempting, but I only had enough "sneaky money" (as I call it) for those Forsythia! (Ah gardening budgets!) He has a healthy, beautiful selection, reasonable priced for their large size and they do well in containers! (Very large containers). I was tempted to pick two in bloom like mine at home but thought the trip home, albeit it short, might do more harm than good so I picked two that hadn't opened yet. Hopefully they are the same large, vibrant yellow like I have already (I suspect they may be the more pale yellow with the smaller flowers), but either way I know I'll love them! I've loved Forsythia since I was a little girl. I love them for their Spring & Autumn beauty as well as their year-round privacy! (Even without their foliage in the Winter, there's enough of their 'bones' to provide some privacy).

Healing our landscape post Hurricane Irene has begun in the back yard! The three foot deep hole in the corner of the yard (where the fallen tree roots also pulled up the fences) is filled in and my containers of Roses, Hydrangea & Bleeding Heart and the bird bath have been returned to their places by the gate. (Please excuse my 'naked' containers, I haven't painted them for the season yet!)
















Next step is bringing our chainsaw home to the coast from our northern shed so Hubbs can get rid of what's left of those fallen trees & their roots left behind by the power company & see what needs to be done to fix the fences. (Another step may be picking up two additional Forsythia to place along that chain-link fence to fill two empty spots & add privacy). Then the red fence will get re-stained.

I can't tell you how Good it felt to sit on the patio and see that corner (mostly) as it was pre Hurricane Irene!

What are you up to in the garden right now? What do you use your "sneaky money" for? I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time...
~Jo
@BloominChick
NJ Zones 7a? 7b? & 6a
Diggin’ Around
New Jersey Through My Eyes

PS: Did you see that #gardenchat made the news?! Click here to go to the post with the video!!!

Support Your Local IGC .. TWEET IT!

Did you know that you can reach over 100,000 people on the #gardenchat network on Twitter? According to the official social media stats at The World Of Social Media over 25 billion tweets were sent in 2011. The gardening friends who support sharing their love for gardening on the hashtag #gardenchat has a strong positive outreach and we are asking YOU to join in the cause this spring season by sharing from your local independent garden centers (IGC).


YOU can make a difference in your community by sharing with BILLIONS of twitter users about what's growing in your IGC in 3 easy steps :

Step 1 : Tweet a photo,video or just a Twitter friendly sentence about the IGC you are visiting. 
Step 2:  Attach #gardenchat #IGC in the tweet.

 

Independent Garden Centers Make The Gardens Grow!

Share with the world what is growing on in your community and be featured on the #gardenchat network site during the month of April and May 2012!  




* we will be posting your tweet on the #gardenchat website as part of our cause to bring social media to our independent garden centers and support our locals.   See @BG_garden for more details or questions.