Christianson’s Nursery October Garden Notes

we offer a wide variety of

common and uncommon plants,

garden accessories, antiques, and gifts.

Open Daily

9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Experience our diverse plant selection and notable seasonal gifts and antiques this Fall

As a thank you for your support, we will be offering complimentary fresh-pressed organic cider this Sunday, October 1st, and Sunday, October 8th, from 12-2, at the Vinery during our Farmers Market.

Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Autumn has made its sweet entrance with crisp mornings and earlier evenings. While we are thoroughly enjoying these beautiful fall days, we are busy planning for the holiday season ahead! We are very excited to announce that this year's Open House theme is "Old World Christmas". Primrose will be transformed into a European Holiday experience brimming with all of the surprises and magic of the season. We are especially excited to feature one-of-a-kind new and antique holiday decorations and truly unique gifts for all ages. A winter wonderland awaits in the Garden Store and Conservatory featuring additional nature-inspired gifts in celebration of the Yule season of Solstice. You’ll find unique and exquisite holiday gifts for everyone on your list, from handcrafted ornaments to gourmet treats. Our Greenhouse will be transformed into a traditional Christmas Market with stalls filled with local products and local artisans selling their wares. Saturday evening, between 4-6, we will serve complimentary wine and light bites as you wander through the market. Don’t miss out on this enchanting event as we kick off the start of the holiday season. We hope you will join us for a weekend of holiday festivities!

Fall is for Planting!

September 29th - October 19th

conifer sale

tall and dwarf evergreens, including spruce,

fir cypress, pine, and junipers

20% off

October 20th- November 2nd

hedging sale

laurel, boxwood, Japanese holly, Leyland cypress,

privet, and arborvitae

20% off

Fall Bulbs for Spring Color

Saturday, October 28th

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

class fee: $35

Get ready for a beautiful spring with our Fall Bulbs for Spring Color class, taught by the talented Sarah Wagstaff from SUOT Farm. During this one-hour session, you’ll learn how to create a stunning potted display in clay pots of fall color using a variety of bulbs. All supplies are included, so you can just show up and get creative! Don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the best in the business and take home a container that will surely delight come spring.

A colorful spring garden of tulips and daffodils requires planning and planting in October. Our spring bulbs are arriving now and are available to purchase in the Garden Store where our selection will be at its very best in October and November. Bulbs can be planted in a succession of colors by choosing varieties around specific bloom times. This information is located on the backside of the bulb bags. Besides daffodils and tulips, we carry sought after varieties of galanthus, bearded iris, hyacinths, narcissus, and crocus. Giant alliums, which bloom in the Schoolhouse Gardens during the summer months, are one of the most asked about flowers in the garden and this is the time to plant them along with the bulbs mentioned above. They are only available as bulbs this time of year, so we kindly remind you to plant your spring garden now. It is a pleasant surprise come spring when you have forgotten exactly what you planted, and you’re surprised when early spring blossoms of yellow, purple, pink, orange and white give you great hope for the spring ahead.

Join us on Sunday, October 1st

10 am to 2 pm

Tallamy’s “Homegrown National Park”

By Joan D. Stamm, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener

For thirty years, I’ve been enamored with native plants from Asia—peony, azalea, camellia, hydrangea, wisteria, kerria, bamboo, and chrysanthemum to name a few. But recently, after reading Douglas Tallamy’s Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard, I’ve turned to NW natives. Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware, urges us to ditch our lawns and ornamentals and grow native plants instead. “Turfgrass has replaced diverse native plant communities in more than 40 million acres, and we are adding 500 square miles of lawn to the United States each year,” says Tallamy. Then there’s the question of our water resources as we see drought spreading across the Western U.S. and other parts of the world. “In the U.S., lawn irrigation consumes on average more than eight billion gallons of water daily”; and, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, “40-60 percent of fertilizers applied to lawns end up in surface and groundwater.” In addition, we have pesticides that further contaminate our water and routinely kill pollinators. “Forty percent of these chemicals are banned in other countries because they are carcinogens.”

Tallamy’s mission is to begin a grass-roots movement of individual homeowners and gardeners growing native plants to create corridors of natural landscape. Tallamy suggests three action steps:

• Reduce our lawns (which will curb water, fertilizer, and pesticide use).

• Plant more natives (which will bring in beneficial habitat, and food for native pollinators, and

reduce water use).

• Remove invasives (because they crowd out and replace vital natives).

For more specific ideas, photos, and discussion about creating native gardens and their beneficial impacts on the ecosystem read the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener blog post at https://www.skagitmg.org/natures_hope/