When planning your garden, consider putting in some herbs--or even an entire herb garden. For the home chef, dried herbs are no match for those freshly picked. Even herbs purchased fresh at the grocery store or farmers market have lost some of their essence by the time they're sold. And the most popular and easiest herbs to grow in home gardens are Mediterranean herbs. Their leaves flavor everything from meats, soups, and stews to pizza, spaghetti and even some desserts.

Mediterranean herbs also add beauty to home gardens and are some of the most rewarding plants you can grow. Most herbs are perennials, with the exception of basil and parsley, which should be planted new each year. They prefer to be planted in full sun and watered regularly with the rest of the garden, but most tolerate drought and less-than-perfect soil.

Mediterranean herbs add some of the best flavorings for many foods and drinks, imparting a complex array of tastes that can't be matched by most other kitchen seasonings. The fragrance of fresh picked herbs stimulates the senses with their complex oils that can dissipate once they dry out.

There really isn't any rule of thumb about what constitutes a Mediterranean herb garden--it's all a matter of taste. Click here to see a list with photos of traditional herbs that no kitchen garden should be without. We carry a great selection of herbs throughout the year, so drop by and see us when you are ready to start planting your Mediterranean herb garden!

Hummingbird gardens must not only offer the nectar-filled flowers but also must be a habitat that supports their lifestyle. These little birds need both sun and shade, shrubs and tree branches for perching, fresh water for not only drinking but for bathing too. Oh yes, and they will need materials for nest making such as spider webs, dryer lint, or bits of leaves.

These delicate birds spend lots of energy flying, so it comes as no surprise that they feed many times each hour (3-5 times). While our flowers are blooming, there is nectar for them to sip, but once you have offered them a flower food source, you can also place hummingbird feeders in prominent locations to feed them too. Hummingbird feeders supplement the flower nectar, especially when flowers are few. Hang them from tree branches or a carefully placed shepherd's hook, high enough to keep the hummingbird safe from the neighborhood cats.

If you decide to have a few hummingbird feeders, use our prepackaged Hummingbird nectar or a water (4 parts): sugar (1 part) mixture for the nectar (no food coloring please!). Clean the feeders every week, as molds can grow in the sugar water. Most feeders are red with some yellow too, just a couple of the hummer’s favorite colors!

We mentioned having a water source for the hummingbirds. They love quiet moving water, such as a bubbling fountain. Like the songbirds that will frequent this fountain of water, so will the hummers come and perch for a bath or drink. This is an absolutely delightful sight to see!

Hummingbirds love tubular shaped flowers although that shape is not absolutely required. Fragrance is not important to them, but vivid colors of red, purple, pink, orange and yellow will attract them to your garden. We have a large selection of flowering annuals and perennials that will attract hummingbirds into your gardens.

Pick a location in your landscape for the hummingbird garden. Maybe it will be a small garden or perhaps it will encompass all of your garden beds. Amend the soil with Bumper Crop or Gold Rush before planting. Feed your new hummingbird plants with Dr. Earth Organic Fertilizers to keep those flowers coming!

Just a hummingbird safety note: Please be careful about your use of pesticides with the plants in your hummingbird garden. Just as care must be taken to save beneficial insects, the same is true of the hummingbirds (and other birds) that you have attracted. If they drink nectar with pesticide or eat an insect that has eaten or been sprayed with a pesticide, you will bring harm also to the hummingbird (and other birds in the garden).

We can’t wait to see you. We’ll meet you in our gardens. Click here for a beginning list of flowering plants, but don’t hesitate to ask one of our salespeople for more help getting you started.

“It's the time of tiny leaves, delicate blossoms, and long graceful catkins, the time of fragile hues, gentle rains and the glowing days that sunshine brings.” Gwen Frostic

If you live where the four seasons of the year are immensely distinctive, not subtle or subdued, do you realize how lucky you are that those seasons are expressed by the changes in each tree? The summer brings breezes rustling through the leaves and shade for hot sunny days. Fall brings vivid foliage colors and a sweet fragrance embedded in your memory banks throughout time. Winter is not barren--it is the time of year that a tree exposes itself fully, demonstrating its boldness in structure and beauty all the while quietly regrouping.

And then spring, a time of nature’s rebirth or reawakening, leaves budding and flowers blooming, birds singing, and bees returning. What could be more delightful to beckon you out into your garden but a flowering tree, one of our first signs of spring? And that spring flowering tree is a delight in moderate climates as well.

Trees, spring flowering or not, come in a large variety of sizes and shapes, flower types and colors. When choosing a tree for your garden these characteristics are a large part of the consideration. Do you want a patio tree (up to 20 feet) or do you have room for a larger scale tree that may reach 30 to 40 feet? Is there a leaf shape that is attractive to you? Or maybe what is important is the flower shape and color. Perhaps your garden has room for more than one tree and your considerations are bloom times and bloom colors.

We have a number of suggestions for you to ponder. Keep in mind the space in your landscape, and the size of tree vs. proximity to your house or scale of your house. Patio trees allow us to look out of your window at the beauty of a tree and see the structure, foliage and flowers from the first floor or second floor of your home. A larger tree might be best placed at a distance from your viewing window to allow you to appreciate all that it has to offer from a distance, rather than placing it close to your house where your best view may be only the trunk and bark. We do not want to understate the beauty of bark, but in all likelihood, that is not all that you desire to appreciate about your tree.

Patio trees – Growth to 20 feet

The Flame Maple is a beautiful winter/spring flowering tree for mild winter climates. Its orchid-like flowers are spectacular, with colors that range from cranberry maroon through purple and rose to pink, depending on the variety. The twin-lobed leaf is a beautiful foliage shape that adds an interesting texture to this semi-deciduous tree. There are several different varieties available, so be sure to consult us regarding the best selection for your zone.

The Redbud (Cercis) is a tree valued for its heart-shaped leaves as well as its flowers and fruit. In the spring, the rosy blossoms are borne in large profusion on bare branches. Several species are available, the most common being Cercis canadensis or the Eastern Redbud and a variety, the burgundy foliage Forest Pansy. The Cercis occidentalis or Western Redbud, a native of California, Arizona and Utah, is also available over a wide growing zone region.

Dogwood (Cornus) is another wonderful deciduous tree offering attractive foliage and spectacular mid and late spring blossoms. In reality, these showy petal-like structures are bracts or modified leaves. But never mind the botanical techno-lingo, they are a beautiful spring show not to be missed!

Prunus is an enormous plant family of trees that includes not only beautiful flowering trees, but also flowering varieties that also bear edible fruits such as cherry, plum, peach, almond and many more stone fruits. For our gardens, we more often see the ornamental species which can be found in the two main categories of deciduous or evergreen. Probably the flowering plum, with its midwinter/spring pink blossoms giving way to red to purple foliage, is the most popular garden patio tree in the Prunus group. Talk to our nursery experts for the best variety for your zone.

Crimson Cloud hawthorn is one beautiful tree, in bloom or not. Springtime covers this tree with gorgeous, delicate red flowers with a white center only 1/2 inch across just as its leaves are emerging. Through the summer the tree has deep green, finely-toothed leaves and green 1/4" -1/3"inch fleshy apple-like fruit that turn bright red in the fall and are persistent on the tree through the winter. Young, golden brown branches grow in a wavy manner, and as the main trunk and branches mature the golden bark begins to turn gray and flake off, which adds to the winter character of the tree. The strikingly beautiful red flowers in the spring make this an excellent hawthorn selection for accent type plantings.  This tree is very adaptable to diverse soil types, including clay soils. Mature height will be somewhere around 20 feet with a spread of 15 feet.

Midsize to Large Trees

The Lavalle hawthorn has lustrous foliage and fewer thorns than some other hawthorns, making it a good border plant. In spring, large, profuse white flowers cover the tree, and its fruit ripens in the fall in bright, orange-red clusters marked with brown which persist throughout the winter, attracting songbirds. This hardy tree has simple, serrated green leaves that change to a bronzed red in autumn, making it a good choice for providing interest throughout the year. The Lavalle hawthorn matures to a height of 20 to 30 feet with a 10 to 25 foot canopy.

Sure to brighten any landscape, the Washington hawthorn is a small, colorful tree whose leaves emerge reddish-purple in spring and mature to a dark green. In late spring this hardy tree produces a graceful display of clusters of white flowers, which yield small, glossy red fruits. Its flower show will repeat in the form of a beautiful white dusting of fallen flowers under the branches of the tree in summer; each autumn the leaves turn purple, orange and scarlet, and the bright red berries remain throughout the winter, often contrasting beautifully with the winter snows. If left unpruned, its thorns make a very effective barrier. Maturing to a height of 15-25 feet, Washington hawthorn can be grown as a multi-stemmed clump or as a single-stemmed tree.

Magnolias are simply magnificent flowering plants. Open any book on trees, look up magnolia, and you will find a list so long, you will wonder how to pick the best one for your garden. That is when you need to consult one of our local garden center pros. Spring flowers can come in white, pink, red purple and even yellow. Magnolias can be either evergreen or deciduous. Probably the most common to all of us is Magnolia soulangeana or the Saucer Magnolia. However, the Southern Magnolia or Magnolia grandiflora is well known too. We could include Magnolia under the patio tree section as well. Some varieties grow to only 20 feet.

Ornamental Pear (Pyrus not Prunus) is known for its profusion of early spring white flowers. In the spring, stroll into your yard and just listen - you will hear a low hum "hmmmmmmm," the sound of the bees gorging themselves on the flowers. It is simply amazing. And by the way, don't be alarmed if you are not a bee lover. These bees are busy with one task, collecting nectar and pollens. They really aren't the least bit interested in you.

Paperbark Maple is a round-headed maple tree that grows moderately fast when young and has an open, spreading canopy that reaches about 10-30 feet at maturity. In summer its leaves are dark green, changing in the fall to vivid browns and reds. Paperbark Maple is best used as a lawn or specimen tree where its copper-colored, ornamental bark is visible in the winter. The ultimate tree height is about 20 to 30 feet.

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Product Spotlight: Master Nursery Gold Rush®

Master Nursery Gold Rush® is formulated to help create a perfect growing environment for all of your trees, shrubs and flowers, and because it's organic, it's safe to boost fruit and vegetable production, too. Gold Rush contains a perfect blend of long-lasting organic fir bark soil conditioner and mulch with composted chicken manure to improve soil porosity and drainage. It's useful as a soil amendment, in containers, or as a top dressing--it conserves water, inhibits weed growth and improves soil structure. Use Master Nursery Gold Rush and grow the beautiful, lush garden of your dreams.