June 1 & 2

Ladybugs are the friendly garden bug that eats the bad bugs that create troubles in your garden. On June 1 & 2^nd Pike Nurseries is giving away over half a million ladybugs. Visit your neighborhood Pike Nurseries to receive one FREE packet of ladybugs per family. Supplies are limited.

Learn more about ladybugs at the free Beneficial Bugs class Saturday, June 1 at 10am.

June 1 at 10 am

While some insects wreak havoc on your plants, there are others that help plants thrive. Find out which bugs benefit your garden during this free class. Plus, we’re giving away over a half a million ladybugs June 1 & 2 during Ladybug Days, so you’ll get to take a sample packet home with you. 

Growing herbs is easy and fun. Whether you grow a few herbs on your kitchen window sill or have a raised garden bed dedicated them, you will find the rewards of growing your own herbs both on your plate and in your wallet.

Walking out into your garden and snipping a little rosemary to go with your chicken, a little tarragon for your potato salad, or mint for your mojito is a truly satisfying experience.

All of the herbs we list here will need to be planted in a sunny spot (a spot that receives 6 - 8 hours of sun a day). If you are planting them in the ground amend your native soil with Foothills compost and Pike Vegetable and Flower planting soil. If you're planting in pots (most herbs grow great in containers) use a high quality potting soil that provides nutrients and adequate drainage, like Pike Potting soil.

1. Basil - you will love the fragrance of the leaves of the basil. Start with Sweet basil, it is a must-have for Caprese salads and pestos. But then, branch out and try other basils. Each has a slightly different taste and growing habit. We love Thai Basil, it's great for Asian style cooking and has a slight clove undertone. Purple Ruffles and Red Rubin have pretty purple foliage and they both have milder flavors which works great in a mixed green salad. Boxwood Basil has small leaves and a compact growing habit which makes them great for smaller containers and mixed container gardens. Basil is an annual for warm weather. Plant it in spring and enjoy them till frost. Read our previous blog to learn how to harvest and store your basil before the first frost to use all winter.

2. Chives - are easy to grow and are perennial. Plant them this year and enjoy them for years to come. Onion chives and Garlic chives have slightly different peppery onion flavors. Not only is the foliage edible, the pretty pink flowers are too. Sprinkle the pretty flowers on your next salad.

3. Oregano - if you love cooking Italian dishes, you simply MUST plant oregano in your garden. Dried oregano is a kitchen staple, but once you've cooked with the fresh stuff, you won't want to go back. Oregano is perennial too and is a spreading groundcover. Plant it where it has room to trail or spread.

4. Parsley - what you need to know most about parsley is, it's not just a garnish! Parsley is full of vitamins and minerals. Add the leaves to soups and sauces, salads and meat dishes. Parsley is a hardy biennial herb. Biennials are plants that complete their life cycle in two years. It performs great in cold and warm weather. Parsley is an essential plant for butterfly gardens as it's a host plant for caterpillars. So, be sure if you want to attract butterflies to your garden to plant extra parsley. Some for you, and some for them.

5. Tarragon - is an underused herb with amazing flavor! It has hints of licoriceand is similar to a rosemary and oregano blend only milder. Try it in stews (you'll find the aroma amazing as the stew slowly simmers), it's great with chicken, in pastas and really livens up a southern potato salad. French tarragon is the most common culinary tarragon however, it's an annual. Texas Tarragon is a semi-hardy perennial and is equally delicious. Fun fact: Tarragon is closely related to marigolds. Texas Tarragon is Tagetes lucida, the common marigold is Tagetes patula.

6. Rosemary - might be the most popular herb to use in cooking and to grow and with great reasons. Rosemary is not only perennial, it's also evergreen. Plant rosemary and you'll be able to snip it fresh from your garden to use for your Easter brunch, Fourth of July Celebrations, and Christmas dinners. It is also easy to grow because it is quite drought tolerant and requires very little maintenance. Rosemary can be used with many different dishes. Read  our previous Rosemary blog and find some of our favorite ways to use Rosemary and get our Roasted Spicy Rosemary Pecans Recipe. Rosemary grows in different habits. Upright rosemary like Arp, Tuscan Blue and Barbecue grow straight up while Huntington's Carpet, Irene, and Prostratus are spreading varieties.

7. Mint - you must grow mint, and we suggest you grow it in a container. Mint is a very vigorous spreader that will root in as it grows and continue spreading. Mint is delicious on desserts, in salads, in drinks, with fruit or when chewing a leaf freshly picked from the plant. There are too many mint varieties to name and we recommend you try a few different varieties because they all have different flavors. A few of our favorites are Spearmint, Peppermint, Apple Mint, Pineapple Mint, Chocolate Mint, Grapefruit Mint, Orange Mint, and Mojito Mint.

8. Sage - is another perennial herb. Apart from it's culinary uses, there are several varieties of sage with quite beautiful foliage, most notably Tri-color Sage and Golden Sage. Fun Fact: Sage is a Salvia and therefore is closely related to the popular annual flower Salvia splendens. There are many culinary uses for sage you can pair it with eggs, chicken, polenta, pasta, beans and bread.

9. Thyme - is a beautiful creeping groundcover. All thyme is fragrant with Lemon Thyme having a particularly lovely citrus fragrance. Wooly Thyme is soft, fuzzy and gray and is a great container garden accent. Elfin Thyme grows completely flat making it a great plant to grow between pavers in a garden path. When you brush past thyme in a pathway the fragrance is a warm welcome. Snip the leaves of Thyme to use when cooking lamb, poultry, stews, chicken and tomatoes.

10. Lavender - Lavender would be a great plant to grow in your garden for its fragrance, the gorgeous flowers, and its drought tolerant nature alone. Throw in other uses and it's a 'must-have' for your garden. Lavender is easy to dry for fragrant potpourri and is lovely as a fresh cut flower. It's also growing in popularity for its culinary uses. Use lavender with chicken, ham, and salmon. And try lavender with breads, desserts, and drinks.

Herbs are versatile, hardy plants with multiple uses. Find a spot to plant an herb garden, or incorporate herbs into your existing beds and containers. Then, have fun snipping them and trying new recipes and other ways to use them.

Saturday, June 18 at 10 am

Did you know worms are good for your garden? Bring your kids to this class to learn how worms benefit soil.

 Full Sun Project

This mailbox garden will show off your patriotism. It’s designed with easy-care red, white, and blue summer flowering plants. 

Bed is roughly 8 foot by 6 foot triangular

CLICK HERE for a Printer-Friendly Download

Get inspired with other ideas in the Playing in the Dirt Blog >

View Inspiration Magazine for more ideas >

Growing tomatoes is easy and you’ll be rewarded with juicy, flavorful tomatoes you can use on sandwiches, in salads or salsa and more. Visit your neighborhood Pike Nurseries and let us help you pick the perfect tomatoes for your garden.

• Find a Sunny Spot
• Tomatoes need at least 6 hours of sunlight
• If there’s not a sunny spot in your garden you can also grow tomatoes in a large pot

• Choose Your Tomato
• There are two basic types of tomatoes: determinate & Indeterminate
• Determinate
• All blossoms and fruit develop on the plant at about the same time. Harvest time is short. The plant is self-topping and does not continue growth from the terminal bud.
• Indeterminate
• The terminal bud of an indeterminate tomato does not set fruit, it always produces leaves and more stem from the growing tip.
• The vine can grow indefinitely if not killed by frost in the fall.
• The blossoms and fruit develop progressively as the vine grows so tomatoes in all stages of development may be on the vine at one time and harvest may last several months.
• Pike Nurseries has a huge selection of tomatoes from sweet cherry tomatoes, large beefy tomatoes like ‘Big Boy’ and even yellow tomatoes

• Plant Your Tomato
• Good soil
• It has the nutrients plants need to establish a healthy root system
• Good soil will provide the plant with good drainage so it gets enough water but it’s not sitting in water which would cause the roots to rot
• In the Garden
• Amend soil with Pike Vegetable and Flower Mix at a 50/50 ratio with the native soil
• In a Pot
• Use a high-quality Potting Mix like Pike Potting & Container Soil
• Tomato Cage
• Tomatoes get large quickly
• Place a Tomato cage on your tomato as soon as it’s planted

• Care
• Watering
• After planting, water plants extremely well. Thereafter, water only when the soil indicates the necessity of watering.
• As a general rule of thumb, water your tomatoes often enough to keep the soil cool and moist.
• It’s important to keep tomatoes on a regular watering schedule
• Irregular watering can cause the fruit to split

• Feeding
• Regular feeding is important.
• We recommend E.B. Stone Tomato and Vegetable Food (100% organic).
• Apply 6-8 weeks.
• Dry fertilizer should never touch the main stem and should be lightly cultivated into the soil.

View on overview of some of the tomatoes we carry >

Check out our video on planting different types of Vegetables >

Scrumptious Strawberries

It's strawberry season! This time of year we celebrate our strawberry harvests by making wonderful desserts, salads, drinks and smoothies with this delicious fruit.

Growing your own strawberries is easy and harvesting the plump juicy fruit will be the real treat. Whether you're topping your morning cereal with them, making a fresh smoothie or making strawberry jam or a strawberry cake, your home-grown strawberries will taste even better than store-bought berries. Plus, growing them at home saves you money! Strawberries are perennial plants that come back year after year. Plant them this year and enjoy the literal fruits of your labor for years to come.

Planting your Strawberries

Plant strawberries in the ground in spring in a spot that receives full sun, that's an area that gets 6 - 8  hours of sun each day, and has well-draining soil. They will grow no more than a foot tall and wide.

In the ground, space your plants 2 - 3 feet apart and space rows leaving a foot in between. Dig a hole for each plant. Mix the native soil at a 50/50 ratio with E.B. Stone Planting Mix. Remove the plants from their nursery containers and place the plant in the hole. Backfill the holes with the mixed soil and tamp down to remove any air pockets.

Water your new strawberry patch thoroughly after planting. Spread a layer of straw or mulch around your plants to retain moisture and cut down on weeds.

For everbearing strawberries, remove the first set of flowers so you have bigger berries with the next set. If you plant June bearing strawberries, its best to remove all the flowers the first year and wait to let it fruit the second year.

Strawberries grow great in containers as well. Plant strawberries in hanging baskets and strawberry jars. Use Pike potting soil when planting in containers. Its a nutrient rich potting soil that allows for good drainage. 

Now, enjoy yummy strawberry and basil salads, strawberry jam on biscuits, chocolate covered strawberries....the recipes are endless...or just pop them in your mouth and enjoy their natural sweet flavor.

Take a look at our Strawberries board on Pinterest for delicious strawberry recipes >

Learn about pink blooming 'Lipstick' Strawberry plant >

Succulents are one of the biggest trends in gardening.  They're easy to grow, drought tolerant and require almost no maintenance. 

What are succulents?
Succulents are plants that store water in various structures, such as leaves and stems. They are very heat and drought tolerant.

Why are succulents popular?
Succulents are extremely diverse and come in many colors, shapes and sizes. They have clean lines which make them very architectural and modern. They are super easy to grow.

How to grow succulents
The most important thing for succulents is well draining soil. Succulents store their own water, so they need very little water. Succulents love the sun, so plant them in a spot that receives 8 or more hours of sunlight.

To get enough drainage, plant soils in E.B. Stone Cactus Mix in containers or mix into the ground. Succulents thrive on warm, hot weather and many varieties won't make it through our winters. Plant succulents in containers and bring indoors when the average night time temperature is similar to the temperature inside your home.

View an overview of Succulents we carry in our plant library >

 Full Sun Project

Succulents and aloes provide wonderful, low-care architectural interest, and are great choices for containers. The rosette of a red Aeonium becomes the focal point and a stonecrop spills out to the side.

Project Shopping List

1 - Glazed Pot 20 Inches
1 - Pike Potting&Container Soil 2cu ft bag
1 - E.B. Stone Sure Start box
1 - Hedgehog Aloe
1 - Ghost Plant
1 - Aeonium ‘Black Rose’
1 - Chinese Sedum

Plant Recipe:

A - Hedgehog Aloe
B - Ghost Plant
C - Aeonium ‘Black Rose’
D - Golden Japanese Stonecrop

CLICK HERE for a Printer-Friendly Download

Get inspired with other ideas in the Playing in the Dirt Blog >

View Inspiration Magazine for more ideas >

Creating a garden that attracts butterflies is easy and fun for the whole family. Beautiful butterflies add life and vibrant color to your garden as the flutter around from one bloom to another. Creating a habitat that attracts butterflies involves just a few basic things. Provide them with food, shelter, water and sunlight and attract them with brightly colored flowers.

Food: It's important to provide food for both caterpillars and butterflies.

Host plants - will meet the needs of the butterflies in all stages of their life - from egg to caterpillar, then chrysalis to adult. Favorite host plants include dill, parsley, and fennel.

Nectar flowers  -  When the butterflies emerge from their cocoons they will begin searching for nectar. There are many flowers that provide nectar. Lantana, salvia, coneflowers, butterfly weed, and butterfly bushes are favorites for the butterflies to feed from.You can provide additional liquid nectar in a butterfly feeder. Butterflies are also attracted to overripe fruit like bananas. Our butterfly feeder is designed with spots to place the fruit.

Shelter: Butterflies need protection from the elements.They seek shelter on shrubs such as Laurels and Anise that have larger leaves and provide great places for butterflies to light. Find a spot to put a butterfly house in your garden. The houses are similar in style to bird houses - with different openings.

Water: Butterflies like shallow water. They won't drink from open water instead they siphon their water from moist soil. Place a shallow saucer in your butterfly garden, a pot saucer works perfectly with sand in it. You can also use a shallow bird bath with sand and stones or pebbles placed in it to provide more shallow spots. 

Sunlight: Butterflies are cold-blooded and need to absorb the heat from the sun to warm their wings so they can fly. Place large flat stones in your garden for additional sunbathing spots. Be sure to plant your butterfly garden in a sunny spot that is sheltered from the wind.