Goodbye to a First Class Independent Garden Center

So long to our friends and competitors

Watson's Garden Center has been our friendly competitor for over 50 years. The Watson brothers began their garden center in Towson in 1955, while Valley View Farms' Foard brothers opened in Cockeysville in 1962. A recent article in Baltimore Magazine speaks to the closing of Watson's Garden Center and the future of the Fireplace and Patio Shop, which will remain open. We will miss the camaraderie we shared with Watson's over the years. Our staff would often see and meet their managers and buyers at trade shows. I got to know their greenhouse manager, Eric, over a couple of dinners we shared with mutual  houseplant suppliers Al and Sandy Hammer who visited us both from Florida. Occasionally we would even 'switch' employees when a coworker would trade one uniformshirt for another.

We wish the Watson and Marconi families well in their future endeavors. We hope to attract a few of the company's valued employees to Valley View Farms where they may continue to do the work and share the talent they have mastered at Watson's Garden Center.

MANTS 2016 Rings in the New Year

Baltimore welcomed people from 44 states and 9 countries to attend MANTS-"The Masterpiece of Trade Shows" in its own convention center near the Inner Harbor earlier this week. MANTS is an acronym for the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show. Started in 1970, MANTS was brought to Baltimore by the state nursery associations of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The post-holiday schedule allows garden centers, growers, and other suppliers a chance to catch up on the past season and compare notes on expectations for our collective strongest season, spring.



Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Joe Bartenfelder tours the trade show.
Ornamental Horticulture is a huge part of Maryland's thriving agriculture economy.

New plants are introduced from plant breeders to growers and nurseries. Nurseries and greenhouses share information with garden centers, and we in turn share with our customers.



Maureen Murphy of Murphy Johns Greenhouses

Over 10,000 people attend this show, open only to those in the industry. 1,000 vendors line aisle after aisle exhibiting trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials, herbs, landscape machinery, signage and tagging software, all sorts of gardening supplies and so much more. Take a look at just some of the products displayed.



Displays delight and inspire

You will see small pots of carnivorous plants in our greenhouse

Tillandsias were a big hit at the show

January and February are generally slower times for our companies, but everyone hits the ground running after the show to get geared up for April and May, traditionally our busiest months. A dozen of us from Valley View Farms attend the 3-day show to try and spot trends, look for cool, new items and to network with others in the business. We also get a chance to connect with people who write and talk about plants and gardening including this group of garden communicators known as the GWA.


Garden Communicators had a chance to gather during MANTS

We're glad to have this show as a transition from our Christmas season to our spring set-up at Valley View Farms. We'll take a deep breath, and, before you know it, spring will have sprung.

 

 

Christmas and Giving to the Baltimore Community

You never know who will stop in

This time of year, those of us who are lucky to have family, homes, food and clothing often look to ways we can help those in need. Especially poignant this year are images from around the world where children's most basic needs and freedoms are in limbo. We want to help the world, but also see the need present in our own communities every day.



Holidays and Family

In Baltimore, we are lucky to have many worthwhile charities that help and support children.  At Valley View Farms, are pleased to be associated with the WBAL Radio Kids Campaign' throughout the year, especially at Christmas. WBAL Radio has been broadcasting from Valley View Farms on the days leading up to Christmas for over 20 years. Companies and individuals have donated millions of dollars over that time. The personnel at the radio station distributes the monies directly to people who serve the children in our area. Click here to visit the WBAL Radio Kids Campaign website to see who has benefited from the generous donations. Its nice to know that WBAL uses 100% of the monies for distribution to those children in need. Postage, administrative costs and fundraising are all absorbed by the station.
On December 23 and 24 this year, WBAL Radio will be broadcasting live from Valley View Farms beginning at 5 am.


Keith, Mary Beth and Bryan

Bryan Nehman, Mary Beth Marsden, Brent Hardesty, Keith Mills, and others will be here to share stories, music and fun with everyone who stops in or listens to the show. Local choirs spread goodwill through song,

surprise guests are sure to stop in and the all important donations just keep coming. Classrooms of children who save coins for others, large groups and families come together and local companies give  much back to their communities on these days.
The stories are real, heartwarming and inspirational. We encourage everyone to be a part of this special event. We are reminded of all the good people in Baltimore and surrounding communities.

Gardening Trends for 2016

So what are the gardening trends for 2016? The Garden Media Group, whose members I have had the pleasure of meeting through the Garden Writers Association, has spotted several trends. We've seen some of them in our customers' gardens and heard from garden clubs about a few of these trends.

Rewilding--Getting out to see nature, or visiting a national park, gives us a sense of the big outdoors and is  easy and fun. Sometimes, we view gardening as work. Maybe by rewilding we can blur the lines to cultivate our gardens and enjoy nature at the same time.

Our love of nature includes the 'big outdoors' and our own yards

Syncing nature and technology--I'm guilty, as are my gardening friends on facebook and Instagram, of sharing my experiences with plants and nature via my phone and tablet. A couple of guys from Chicago have taken things a step further through a new mobile app called GrowIt! With the app, users can snap a photo of their plant and ask questions or just share it with fellow plant geeks.

Welltality--We know gardening is healthy, and growing our own food has encouraged us to try new things on our plates. Learning about the benefits of plants everyday in our lives is a consistent source of inspiration for gardening.


Billy grows many vegetables for his family and to share with others

Makers--Pinterest, the Paint Nite phenomenon and other creative outlets, have us shifting from the DIY of doing to making. Creativity knows no bounds.


Miniature gardens allow creativity on a small scale

 Layered landscapes---Our yards can be beautiful and functional to the bigger world. Planting way- stations for butterflies, gardens attractive to pollinators and a space for wildlife, teaches us to share our yard and embrace biodiversity.

Gardens between lawns and paths are wonderful for pollinators

 

Backyard boldness--A bit of our personalities can't help but find its way into our gardens. Use sculptures, works of art and other projects outside. Take a look at Longwood Gardens Nightscape for bold, cool, beautiful lighting that will take the family outdoors to enjoy the garden at night.

A dinosaur in the garden surprises and delights us

Dogscaping--Pets are an integral part of our lives, and their health is every bit as important as our own. The outdoors is theirs too; keep it a safe and fun place. 

Pets love the outdoors too! Right, Bart?



Tucker agrees!

Conservation meets innovation--New tools and techniques allow us to garden in new ways while conserving our natural resources.

What are some of the trends you see? Please share them with us.

Plant of the Week: 'Gowdy', The Munchkin Spruce

Are you looking for a specimen evergreen, which is not too big for a small garden or small enough to keep in a container outdoors? A Munchkin spruce may be just what you are looking for.

We love the purple cones on 'Gowdy'

For a limited time, Valley View is offering 'Gowdy' a tiny (by spruce standards) spruce. Picea orientalis (for those with a botanist's outlook) or Oriental Spruce has short, deep green, blunt tipped needles, graceful, drooping branchlets, and an irregular pyramidal shape. It is native to the Caucasus and Asia Minor and hardy to zone 4. The variety 'Gowdy' is more columnar and very slow growing, attaining a height of 8-10 ft with about half the width at maturity. And if its diminutive size and pliable, soft deep green needles isn't enough, when mature it develops purple cones! How nice is that?
Because of its slow growth, 'Gowdy' would be an excellent choice as a container plant and its cuteness factor enhanced during the Christmas holidays if it were decorated with outdoor lights and baubles. It would also make a delightful specimen evergreen in a townhouse garden where space is limited. While 'Gowdy' prefers full sun, in the Baltimore area's summers, a slightly shaded place during the hottest part of summer days would be best. If using it as a container plant, provide it with a well-draining, rich potting medium, and although it has some drought tolerance, be sure it has consistent moisture during its first few years.
Stop by soon to see 'Gowdy', Valley View's Munchkin spruce.

This week's blog guest blogger is Teresa Schiano, one of our nursery experts.

Big Earl--- 2015's Big Pumpkin

Now that's a big pumpkin!

Believe it or not, we might take for granted that some of the largest pumpkins ever grown have graced center stage here at Valley View Farms. Take this year's gargantuan orange orb; it's 1543 pound mass isn't the largest we've ever had.

Big Earl, front and center

 It is probably the best looking, brightest orange big pumpkin we have had in years. It's when we see the looks of wonder and awe on peoples faces that we remember just what it took to grow, harvest, ship and display Big Earl. The fact that four other large pumpkins look diminished in size (two weighing in at over a half ton) next to Big Earl is fascinating.

The questions we get are fun:

How many years did it take to grow a pumpkin of these huge proportions? One season. Most were probably started indoors in late spring then moved outside as the danger of frost subsided. Big Earl grew fast once the plant rooted well in the garden. When a Baltimore Sunpaper's reporter  asked how fast, the pumpkin grower said 900 pounds in just the month of August.

Where do the giant pumpkins come from? Groups gather around the country to celebrate all things pumpkin. Weigh-offs are held in several regions of the United States and the world. Valley View Farms past-president and founder Bill Foard is able to purchase the pumpkins directly from the growers. He has told me that I'm only allowed to say "up the river" when asked where the pumpkins were grown. But, Google can probably pinpoint where the biggest are harvested.

Yes, Billy knows how to grow pumpkins and other vegetables

How many seeds are in a big pumpkin? Sorry, I can't divulge that answer, even if I knew. We have a contest going on where people have to guess how many seeds the big pumpkin does have.

Tom Tasslemyer gets help from his family

On Halloween Day, we will cut the pumpkin open. Chief WBAL Meteorologist Tom Tasselmyer will count each individual seed. The winner of the contest gets a $300.00 gift card.

The demolition crew is in charge of opening up the big pumpkin



What happens to the pumpkins after Halloween? We cut up all the remaining pumpkins and dispose of "the bodies". Seeds are extracted, dried on window screens, and sent back to the grower so that he or she may have a better chance of growing large pumpkins again next year.

Pumpkin guts!

Has Valley View Farms ever had the largest pumpkin in the world? Yes, back in 1989, we had the world record holder. Though the pumpkin was unnamed, it was grown by Mr. Gordon Thompson. We heard that news of the pumpkin, then a mere 755 pounds, was broadcast worldwide.

Fall is the perfect time to celebrate our garden's harvest. And what harvest is more awe-inspiring than a behemoth pumpkin. Come on out and take a look at Big Earl. Bring the kids and the camera. There's lots to see.

Plant of the Week: Allium

Allium Drumsticks

An article appeared on facebook from the National Garden Bureau today; it was all about alliums. These ornamental onions are a fantastic addition to any garden, especially a perennial border. They can be planted over the next couple of months and will bloom in late spring here in Maryland. Alliums have an amazing appearance.

Allium Summer Drummer

 I always thought that the large ones looked like some sort of alien craft as they dominated the back border of a perennial bed at over 4 feet tall. Others resemble fireworks, balloons, lollipops and bubbles.

Allium Fireworks Mixture

 Kids are drawn to the globe shapes as are gardeners looking for something a little different.

Allium Gladiator

Alliums are deer and rabbit resistant, a very valuable feature in suburban gardens. The ornamental onions are interesting additions to floral bouquets and arrangements. And, there are so many really cool varieties from which to choose.

Allium Red Mohican

 The photos included in this blog have been provided by The Netherland Bulb Company. The packaging that our spring flowering bulbs arrive in are chock full of information about height, depth of planting, deer resistance, time of flowering  and all sorts of other information. If that isn't enough, the website Dig. Drop. Done. has even more information about bulbs of all kinds.


Allium Sensation

Our gardening fun hasn't finished yet. Planting bulbs is an easy, happy, and hopeful task that gives us a wonderful gift come spring. Enjoy your fall, and some late-season planting.
And, a personal thanks to Diane Blazek with NGB, for sharing information about alliums through her own blog.