On June 17th, somewhere between 8 and 9 PM, an 8-minute hailstorm devastated our vegetable gardens and flower gardens, and did substantial damage to our Garden Center.  We spent a day cleaning up and licking our wounds, and then we sucked it up and moved on.  We put the remaining viable plants in a “What the Hail” sale, threw away the product that was unsaleable at any price, and ordered in new stuff for you.  Down, but definitely not out! Come in and see what’s new!

We are moving into the larger perennial phase of the season.  Most of the plants that we get in from now on will be in larger pots– for your benefit as well as ours.  We figure that by now you’ll want a plant that has a pretty good head of steam in the development department rather than a quart-size starter plant.  And larger pots are easier for us to keep looking good when it gets hot.  (If it ever gets hot this year…)

Bob went north yesterday to comb the suppliers for nice plants.  Come in this weekend and see all the goodies!

No, the season is not over at Ferda’s.  The big boxes are gearing down from selling plants, and are moving into selling grills and tiki torches and all that outdoor accessory stuff.  We are more of your plant source.  We know you aren’t done planting just because the big boxes are done selling plants.  Fresh shrubs and perennials have arrived for you to choose from, and we have received a fresh shipment of flats of bedding plants.

We have heard through the customer grapevine that some of the other garden centers in the area are out of tomatoes and peppers.  We are happy to say we still have some nice ones! We are out of a few of the varieties that we had at first, but we can get your vegetable garden off to a good start.  The latest crop of zucchini and cucumbers are still small, but growing quickly in this heat– they should be ready by the weekend.  If you are still wanting to jump in to growing your own vegetables, we are the place to shop this week!

I got up this morning and put on my work-in-the-garden clothes, and then stuck my head out the door  to see what the weather was like. Brrr! It’s cold!  Maybe this will be a work-in-the-house day off.

Be sure to stop in this weekend for Herb Fest.  We’ve put together some special herb combo pots that we think you will like.  Container gardening at its best. And we’ll have some sampling going on in the gift shop.  Now if it will only warm up!

Well, Mother’s Day weekend 2009 is history.  Lots of hanging baskets and other beautiful flowers went riding home to moms all over the Ohio Valley this weekend.  But if you didn’t get yours yet, don’t worry! There are still more to choose from at Ferda’s Garden Center.  Also lots of bedding plants, vegetable plants, trees and shrubs.  The season has only just begun.

When you are looking around your yard, trying to decide what flowers and shrubs you would like to plant, don’t forget that we have a We Plan/You Plant program that can help.  We come to your home and talk with you about your wants and needs for a specific area in your yard, and leave you with a sketch and plant suggestions for the space.  The cost for this service is $100, payable before the appointment.  With your sketch, we give you a coupon for $50 to use on the purchase of your plants for the area– minimum purchase $200– so the program ends up costing you only $50.  If you decide that you want us to install the landscape, then we apply the entire $100 to the cost of the installation.

Call today for details and to set up an appointment for your consultation. 

Rain, rain, go away! Come again some other day– but not for a while, OK? 

I guess too much rain is better than not enough, but right now I could use some sun.  How about you?  I can’t keep up with pulling the weeds.  The rain makes them grow double time, and I refuse to sit and pull weeds in the rain.  That’s just above and beyond the call of duty, in my opinion.

Come into the greenhouses right now and you’ll be overwhelmed by the colors! There are flowers blooming in every hue from the calm and cool whites and blues to the kick-it-up-a-notch hot pinks, reds and oranges!  Shop this week and we’ll have a surprise for you at the register– a money-saving coupon good on your next purchase!

Our May newsletters went out today to those of you who have shared your email address with us.  If you’d like to get a newsletter, there is a sign-up link on the home page.  Click there and give us your info.  (We’ll never spam you or share or sell your email address–we promise!)

Wow! Haven’t we had some nice days for the weekend and Monday? I know what many of you have been doing lately.  Planting all the shrubs, perennials, herbs and veggies you got this weekend. 

New stuff is coming.  The rest of the hanging baskets arrive on Wednesday, flats of annuals will be here on Thursday, and more perennials will be here one day this week.  Come in and see what is new!

Thanks to all of you who came to our Spring Garden Party yesterday.  We hope you enjoyed yourself, got a hot dog and soaked up some sun.  (We certainly had great weather for it, didn’t we?) Come back next weekend for the Fabulous Fern Frolic. No hot dogs, but sale prices on all the ferns in stock.

I’m off to attend the wedding of our Landscape Manager, Dawn.  May she and her new husband, Dave, have many happy years together!