By Ava Green

As soon as warm weather and sunshine arrive in Southern Ontario, it’s time to head to the garden centre and pick up all the plants we’ve been dreaming about all winter long! May 24th is generally the date we look forward to — the unofficial marker when frosty mornings are behind us and the promise of summer is ahead. 

By now, cool-weather plants like cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peas, and lettuce should be well established in the vegetable garden. And for everything else, it’s go time!

TIP: Before you start planting, this is the ideal time to amend your soil. Top up your garden beds with fresh topsoil or enrich them with compost to improve soil health, add nutrients, and promote vigorous plant growth. Don’t forget to refresh the soil in your containers as well, with potting mix or compost.

Warm Weather Vegetables

When soil temperatures are consistently 60°F (15°C) or higher, it’s safe to plant all the warm-weather vegetable crops we’ve been waiting for! Plants that thrive in warmer weather include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, zucchini and corn.

At Eising Garden Centre, you’ll find vegetables in 6-packs, 4” pots, trellised patio containers, patio bowls and hanging baskets - while supplies last, of course!

Herbs also love warm weather, and tender varieties like basil are safe to plant once all danger of frost has passed. Whether you plant herbs directly into the ground or create a potted herb garden near the kitchen door, they’ll add fresh flavour to your meals all season long. A container of herbs also makes a wonderful gift when visiting friends and family for a summer BBQ.

While you’re in the vegetable and herb aisle, keep an eye out for everbearing strawberries in planters and containers of tropical fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges.

Annual Flowers

Winter-weary flower beds can be revived almost instantly with a burst of colourful annuals! If you’re looking for an immediate impact and blooms that last all summer long, annual flowers are the answer.

Whether you plant them in beds, containers, window boxes, or hanging baskets — or choose from one of our gorgeous pre-planted options — just add water and fertilizer, and you’ll be rewarded with a vibrant display that keeps on giving.

Perennials

While perennials may not bloom all summer, many offer extended bloom periods, and by combining different varieties, you can create a succession of flowers that lasts for months. Perennials also provide essential greenery to anchor your garden and enhance the look of your flowering plants.

You can plant perennials from spring through fall, but getting them into the ground now gives them a strong start. From hostas and ornamental grasses to daisies and delphiniums, there’s a perennial for every style of garden — and the best part is, they’ll return each spring like dependable old friends.

Trees, Shrubs and Vines

Often called “the bones” of the garden, trees, shrubs, and climbing vines add essential structure, height, and seasonal interest. Planting them now allows you to design your garden layers thoughtfully, incorporating annuals and perennials around their base.

Spring is also the prime time to purchase and plant fruit trees and fruiting shrubs. At Eising, spring offers the best selection for starting your home orchard. Are you thinking of adding a few edible shrubs? Gooseberries, haskaps, hardy kiwi, rhubarb and raspberries are excellent choices.

Mulch

Okay, it’s not a plant, but this is a reminder to add mulch to your garden beds or containers. After planting, adding a layer of mulch to your garden beds or containers helps retain soil moisture, reduces transplant shock, and suppresses weeds. Even if a few weeds manage to sneak through, mulch makes them easier to pull.

Water Garden Plants

If you have a garden pond, spring is the perfect time to add water plants. Floating plants, such as water hyacinths and water lilies, help shade the pond’s surface, reducing algae blooms. Marginal or bog plants, such as water iris, papyrus, and cattails, also help keep the water healthy and clear by improving oxygen levels and providing habitats for beneficial wildlife.

Time to Grow!

May is one of the most anticipated and exciting months in the garden. Whether you’re dreaming of fresh vegetables, a lush landscape, or a colourful flower display, planting now sets the stage for a beautiful, bountiful season. Visit us at Eising Garden Centre to find everything you need — and let’s get growing!

The sight and sound of water in the garden can bring life to its surroundings and a sense of calm that we all seem to need right now. 

A water garden can be created in many forms with varying degrees of simplicity or complexity. A small water feature in a half-barrel-sized container on a patio. A small to medium one in a preformed fibreglass pool or pond in the ground. An old stock tank or bathtub. A pool liner laid over a hole dug into the ground. A natural pond fed by springs. A fountain, stream or waterfall for moving water. Planning is key, but there are endless options! Just be sure to check any local zoning restrictions before you build.

Whatever the pond form, water can immediately attract nature even in the middle of an urban space. Dragonflies, birds, and frogs will show up to sip, dip and enjoy!

Water gardens also provide a space to garden with plants that bring unexpected beauty and intrigue. It’s a whole new world of native and tropical, annual and perennial plants that exist in the water or on the edge of a pond.

Three Categories of Water Garden Plants

1. Underwater or Submerged Plants

Oxygenating plants are not showy but are also found underwater, and they are essential. Anyone who owns an aquarium knows the importance of good oxygenators to improve water quality. They compete with algae for nutrients and win the battle each time. Elodia canadensis looks a little bit like seaweed, but it’s a hardy and vigorous water perennial here in southern Ontario, which makes it a very popular choice.

2. Floating

3. Shallow water or Marginal Plants

This is the bog folks! The plants grown here are also known as marginal plants. While the term bog doesn’t conjure dreamy Monet water lily paintings, the plants in this area of a pond or wetland can be beautiful, interesting and beneficial. Marginal plants and moisture-loving perennials, grow in the soil just below the water's surface or in consistently wet soil. They are beneficial because they keep water clear by keeping algae at bay. However, as previously mentioned there are many beautiful and interesting plants that grow on the pond's edge.

Here are just a few:

Growing plants in and around a water garden can be a very satisfying project. Curious guests will love to chat about it and ask questions making it a great conversation starter. It also provides a peaceful spot in your backyard to relax and watch the dragonflies whiz by! 

The promise of Spring signals the season of revitalization, even for your wardrobe. Wouldn’t it be great to open your closet and find clothes that go together and that fit? Also, why is it that just when you find the perfect pair of black pants, there is never anything in the closet that seems to go with them?

Reorganizing your closet so that you can find what you need and know what is missing is easier than you might think. Even if you are already organized and can effortlessly pull an outfit together, this is always a great exercise to freshen things up. A revitalized closet just makes life easier! And organizing each year can be a quick, simple task that is quite enjoyable. Especially when you know there’s a payoff at the end of the job - getting something new to add to the mix!

These simple steps will help you see what items you need to update your closet. Then, when you come in to shop, you will know whether you need something with a burst of colour to freshen things up, like a colour block tee, or one of the great graphic tees at Sassyfras. Or maybe you bought a men’s dryweave shirt from us last year, and one just isn’t enough to use for sports, supper out, and that vacation in Spain. Once you follow this plan, you will know, and it will probably save you money.

If you set an afternoon aside, and do this with a friend - in person or on a video chat - time will fly by. Or, just put on some good music now and let’s get started.

1 - Make a Pile

First take everything out of your closet. Empty out drawers and all the things on the shelves above and below, including those birthday presents you meant to give out last year. Put it all on the bed or the floor, depending on the amount of space needed.

2 - Sort

Grab five boxes, bags or bins and label them as: Keep, Donate, Sell, Other and Trash.

As you pick up each article of clothing from the pile, decide which of the five containers it should go into. It can be a tough thing to do if you hate to part with old favourites. This is when you need that friend to support you and ask questions like “How often do you wear this? Is it still useful to you?” If you’re going it alone, and you’re not sure, just put it in the Other bin for now, along with those birthday gifts from last year.

3 - Clean 

Don’t let this one scare you! It’s an empty closet, so it will go quickly. Give the closet a good vacuum. Wipe down poles, shelves, drawers and the floor. Maybe even add a quick coat of paint. Just make sure that it’s dry before continuing to the next step!

4 - Organize 

Drawing from the Keep pile, start to put these items back into the closet in an organized way - pants in one section, blouses in another, etc. Keep colour in mind as you go so that you can organize items by colour as well. For example, keep all the blue blouses together.

If anything on the shelves was disorganized when you emptied the closet (sweaters, t-shirts, shoes), find containers to gather each of these items into and label them clearly. Even if it’s cardboard boxes with labels written in magic marker for now - you can always find a clear bin later and swap them out if you like.

Once everything that you know you want to keep is back in the closet, take another look in the Other bin. Where those items go may be more clear to you now. If not, put that box into the closet, except those birthday gifts - for heaven’s sake give those away. Or, hang these items up with the hangers facing backwards. If the hangers are still facing backwards in a year, or the Other box still has items in it, it’s time for those things to go!

5 - Remove

Now you’re ready to post the items you’re selling, or put the box in the car to take to a consignment store, along with the box of items that you’re donating.

Take the trash bag out to the curb, pull your shoulders back, and brush your hands together because you’ve done some great work! Doesn’t it feel good?! The final step is your sweet reward.

6 - Revitalize

While a sparkling clean and organized closet does feel good… nothing feels better than a new piece of clothing. It’s time to think about what’s next.

Take a look inside your beautiful closet, and see what you need. It should be so much easier to make a list of items that will revitalise your wardrobe now.

Bring that list with you on your next shopping trip! Of course, Sassyfras is stocked up with lots of great clothing, and ready to help you when Eising Garden Centre reopens on Thursday, March 2 for the 2023 season.

If you would like updates with everything that’s happening at Eising Garden Centre, this is the link to sign up for our fabulous newsletter.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Sassyfras Hours

Beginning March 2, 2023

Monday - Saturday 10am-5pm

Eising Garden Centre

Spring Hours - Beginning March 2, 2023

Monday - Saturday 9am-5pm

Believe it or not, winter is the absolute best time to ponder, dream, and plan your garden and landscape design. Why? Spring is the optimal season to plant and transplant, and with a design in hand, we can hit the ground running once warmer temperatures arrive. Can you plant and transplant throughout the garden season? There are some exceptions, but for the most part the answer is yes. But why not get a head start, and take advantage of having plants established at the start of the growing season? Sure, we have designers sitting by the phone right now on these long, cold winter days but don’t just feel sorry for them - take advantage of the fact that it’s a great time to contact them! Contact details for Eising Garden Centre Landscape Design* are at the end of this post.

You may be asking why you should bother having someone else design your garden? One reason that I have learned the hard way is that it pays off in the long run. I’m probably not the only one who has planted flowers before putting in a patio or walkway, only to rip everything up because of construction, then re-plant all over again. 

Besides saving you money on costly mistakes, here are a couple more things to consider:

1. Curb appeal and property value

When most people think of those two concepts, they think about preparing a home for selling. I’m not referring to that. Every day, when you arrive home from work, or errands, wouldn’t it be great to love the way your home and garden looks when you pull into the driveway? That’s curb appeal and property value for your own benefit! However, if you are planning to sell, investing a bit of money in sprucing up the yard definitely impacts the selling price.

2. Design for living

Because we have a few precious months to enjoy our outdoor spaces, landscaping allows you to make better use of the space available. What do you use your space for? What do you need to incorporate into your plan to include those activities? Will you need to  install a patio, or create a garden, and where should you put them on the property? Maybe you need to create privacy with an evergreen hedge? Landscape design makes sense of all of it. 

Maybe you’re interested in an opportunity to make your garden more environmentally friendly. For example, adding native plants, a birdhouse and birdbath. Perhaps you want to add shade trees to shelter birds, and decrease the need for air conditioning your house in the summer.

3. Structure and a plan are sexier than you think

Lastly, I want to tell you a personal story about my experience hiring a landscape designer. I’m a plant lover and I never considered design. I studied plants, and spent several years joyously collecting all kinds of perennials, shrubs, water and bog plants, and trees. 

My garden was chaotic! But I loved the wild looking patchwork quilt of rare and unusual plants scattered within the confines of borders around my property. I nurtured each individual plant, and when I looked at my garden that’s what I saw, individual plants. Then I hired a landscaper to build a bigger pond for my growing collection of water and bog plants. 

When the time came to build the pond, he moved my plants to make way for all of the construction. Once that was complete, he placed my plant material back following his design. My plants, the same plants I had before the project, looked completely different. There was harmony in the arrangement. 

The overall effect was such an incredible improvement that I could not believe my eyes. It was a whole new garden, and proved the value of good garden design. Hint: it doesn’t involve buying a new, spectacular plant and plunking it into an empty spot, or digging another bed in some random location that gets sunlight. That was my AHA! moment.

Someone who understands plants AND design can take the things on your wish list and make them all come together in a way that just works.

*Eising Garden Centre Landscape Design

Contact Roman Bodnar to set up an appointment: by email here or call 519-428-4607.

Consultation Fee: $175 consultation fee per space (2023 pricing) - for example, the front yard would be considered one space. 

What your consultation includes:

1) A knowledgeable staff member will meet with you at the site of the project for up to 1 hour.

2) Any questions and concerns that the customer has will be reviewed and helpful suggestions will be made to ensure a successful project.

3) A simple 3D visual landscape design will be made, to enable the customer to see the potential of their space.

4) A detailed list will be provided to exhibit the needs, amounts and prices of the materials.

5) A 10% discount will be made available on all plant material in the design within 90 days of the consultation purchase.

Our specialty is soft-scaping: plants, soil and mulch. If the design we create warrants it, we will also utilize some armour stone and other natural stone features. We can’t wait to show you the potential of your property! Don’t delay your planning any longer…contact Eising Garden Centre today.