By: Ava Green
As temperatures begin to cool down, autumn colours set in and surround us with the beauty that is fall in southern Ontario. Suddenly summer is gone and it’s time to think about creating a cozy atmosphere inside and outside that is inspired by the world around us.
Autumn Outside
Whether you gather items from the garden or from the garden centre for a display, there are lots of natural materials all around us to draw from. Take some plumes from ornamental grasses and put them in decorative buckets. Add branches with colourful leaves or dried seed pods, and pumpkins or mums for a pop of colour. A bland background becomes the perfect backdrop.
Looking for something to grow? Create fall planters with sunflowers, ornamental kale, ornamental peppers, live grasses, and, of course, fall mums.
We offer beautifully festive arrangements with a variety of ornamental fall plants, as well as individual plants to decorate an outdoor table, or as a planter creating a warm welcome on your front porch (watch here: Jeanine create a fall planter on our IG).
Eising’s popular Porch Packages make it easy to decorate the entryway to your home. But don’t wait, they sell out quickly!
Autumn Inside
When there are fall colours outside, autumn displays inside create continuity that will carry your indoor decorating right into the holiday season in December.
Displays that are vibrant, warm, rustic or whimsical are fun and easy to make. Here are some basic design principles that will help you get started, along with examples we’ve created using items in the Eisng shop.
The Rule of Odds
Using an odd number of items (3, 5 or 7) is always more appealing. Why? For some reason, odd numbers are just more harmonious for us to take in. Designers and photographers call it the rule of odds.
Pick a Theme
Pick a theme like a common colour, a shape, a design or motif. Look for containers or items you can include that fit in with your theme.
Like the arrangements we offer at Eising Garden Centre, include the following in your designs:
- a thriller like a beautiful vase or container, a tropical plant, or fresh or dried flowers
- a spiller like a plant, dried or silk leaves or moss around the base of containers
- and a filler like foliage plants, fruit, candy, mini pumpkins and gourds, or moss
Size and Scale
Scale is important! Keep the display short if it’s for the centre of a dining table so that guests can see each other across the table! Create taller displays if you’re decorating a corner table or a mantlepiece.
Light it Up
Adding light, including flameless candles or fairy lights, instantly brings warmth to any display.
Aromatics
Include scent: using plants like eucalyptus, or fruit like apples or oranges, and spices like whole cloves and cinnamon sticks all add a homey touch.
We would love to see what you create and hope this has sparked your creativity. Don’t forget to tag @Eising Greenhouses & Garden Centre on your Instagram and Facebook posts when you share your decorations online - we would love to see them!
By: Dave Zeldon and Ely Schweyer
The classic fall-blooming Chrysanthemum varieties of burnt amber, golden yellow, and deep burgundy blooms have been enormously popular for years, and as each new fall season rolls around, there always seems to be new varietal introductions – like multicoloured pinks with the hues of sunrises - to enhance your front porch display of pumpkins, corn stalks, and gourds.
These robust plants will produce blooms for weeks, even in the coolest of autumn weather. Their hardiness even offers versatility when it comes to their display; some gardeners prefer less labour-intensive groundskeeping and leave them in their original store pots, whereas others prefer to transplant these flowers into larger planters, window boxes, or into flowerbeds to add an easy seasonal flair.
While resilient, these plants still need some TLC. Try these tips to keep your Mums looking fresh throughout the fall.
- Choose green plants with tightly closed buds. This way when your Mums do bloom, you will be able to keep those colourful displays for much longer.
- The Mums' foliage should have a deep green colour and lots of growth at the garden centre.
- Also, make sure the soil in the container is moist when purchasing your plant, as dried out Mums may have already suffered damage.
- You'll find out in short order that your potted Mums are very thirsty plants! Water them daily and make sure the soil remains moist. A shot of liquid fertilizer to the irrigation water once a week would be great as well.
Over-Wintering Mums
Modern Mum breeding is aimed primarily at creating plants that look good in their pots at their point of purchase, sacrificing the plant’s hardiness and performance for future years - meaning when home gardeners try to overwinter these big potted plants, they are not usually successful.
All Mum plants at garden centres are hardy, meaning that they are perennials in most climates. However, if these plants are put in the ground from August on, most won't make it through winter. The reason is that Mums planted late in the season are near, or at, the flowering stage, when their energy is focused into blooming, and they won't grow roots to sustain plants through the winter. This is why Mums should be planted in the spring if you want a perennial plant that has a spectacular autumn show!
If you really adore your fall purchase though, you can try to over-winter your Chrysanthemums in the basement or a dark, cold closet, after the first frost. Water well and place in an area where it is totally dark and 0°C to 10°C. The plants will hibernate for the winter if you keep their roots damp. Check the pots weekly.
In the spring, gradually acclimate your Mum plants to light and plant them out in the garden after the last killing frost, remembering to pinch them twice prior to the first of August for a full, lush plant.
We hope this helps you to enjoy your Mums just a little bit longer! Use our Plant Finder to search for a sample of our Mum selection by your preferred colour. You can find many Mum varieties and more information at Eising Greenhouse and Garden Centre, please stop in for a visit this autumn!
Growing Vegetables in Pots!
A few years ago, I was walking through town with a friend as we discussed planting vegetables in our tiny front gardens. It seemed like an unusual idea until we spotted not one but two front gardens with pumpkin vines rambling amongst the shrubbery. What a novel way to cover the ground without mulch and have the bonus of showy, bright blossoms and bold foliage! Of course, this is eventually followed by the standout feature of brightly coloured pumpkins. It’s built-in fall decorating!
Right now, everyone is looking for ways to reduce grocery bills, and growing a few vegetables amongst the flowers and shrubs can make a big difference. If your garden is on a patio or balcony, there are lots of ways to add edible plants to maximize your space and beautify it at the same time. Who says vegetables can’t be ornamental and beautiful?!
Gaps and Small Spaces
If you have a new shrub and flower garden that has gaps or there’s a space in your garden where you’re not sure what to plant, consider tucking in a potted vegetable. In a cool, shady space, try some luscious lettuce bowls. Shade allows lettuce to grow more slowly in the heat of the summer. Keeping lettuce in a cool, shady spot will prevent it from bolting and becoming bitter.
If you have a small garden, a patio or a balcony, pots with compact varieties and hanging baskets are a terrific alternative for growing vegetables, herbs, and some fruits. These are some of the options we offer at Eising Garden Centre (based on availability) that can be purchased fully planted, or you can grow your own from seed if you have time, space and lights.
Trellised Planters and Patio Pots
For patios, balconies, or even a gap in the garden, there are lots of vegetables that can be grown in a trellised planter.
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplant all love warm soil and growing in pots provides the heat to help them thrive. Eising trellis pots are planted with specific varieties that are smaller but pack a flavourful punch.
Sweet Snackabelle, Candycane Chocolate Cherry or Red, Mocha Swirl and Fresh Bites peppers.
Little Sicily, Patio Hybrid, Candyland Red, Rapunzel and Tidy Treats tomatoes.
Eising Greenhouse also carries eggplants in trellised pots - a patio pot with Patio Baby eggplants is a perfect choice if ratatouille is on the menu!
All of Eising's trellised planters would look lovely plopped into one of our decorative outdoor cover pots!
Herb Planters
Many herbs thrive in a sunny and warm spot with well-drained soil, making a pot the perfect container for them. Herbs also make great companion plants with other vegetables and can be tucked into other pots. Most herbs also love to be harvested frequently, especially when they’re given these ideal conditions.
Lettuce Bowls
Lettuce bowls are a great way to grow greens in small spaces. Our 10” bowls are chock full of a variety of lettuces and are never boring!
👍Tip: Try the “cut and come again” method for harvesting lettuce, which prolongs the plant’s life. Simply pinch off the outer, mature leaves each time you pick the lettuce and leave the centre of the plant to keep growing.
Hanging Baskets
If there’s a spot to hang a basket or place a shepherd’s hook, you will want to grow one of the edible options we offer.
Topsy Tom tomatoes.
Pot-a-Peno and Peppers From Heaven peppers.
Tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries are all available in hanging baskets. Our deliciously sweet everbearing strawberries are also available in 4.5" pots and bareroot, which are great options for window boxes.
👍Tip: Pick strawberries as they ripen to encourage your plants to produce more. Also, remove runners as they grow to allow your plants to send energy into growing fruit instead of bigger plants. Painting rocks to look like strawberries is said to deter birds from feasting on ripe berries.
Citrus and Figs
Consider growing a beautiful and fragrant lemon, orange, fig or grapefruit tree in a patio pot. Just keep in mind that it will need to come indoors in the fall.
Container Plant Care
Whether you’re growing edible plants in the garden, a pot or a hanging basket, don’t forget to give them the care they need to maximize productivity:
- Water regularly, deeply and in the heat of the summer, frequently. Watering early in the morning is ideal. Pour water on the soil, not the foliage to prevent diseases like powdery mildew.
- Feed your vegetables and fruits throughout the growing season with fertilizer or compost.
- Remove dead foliage and prune plants as needed. Especially herbs.
Once you start foodscaping by including vegetables with your flowers and ornamental plants we’re sure you’ll want to keep looking for innovative ways to grow your own food! Who knows, maybe even pumpkins by the front porch!
Tropical Hibiscus evokes all of the best descriptions imaginable when you see one. Showy, stunning, exotic, vibrant, impressive, large, lush, colourful and flamboyant flowers grace branches of dark, glossy, green leaves. It just seems unreal! This plant conjures up images of the tropics, but it will grow in a pot on your sunny patio or inside your home!
Tropical Paradise
If you’re looking to create your own tropical paradise, this surprisingly low-maintenance plant is a great addition. Its showy trumpet-shaped blooms make it a great focal plant and the wide variety of shapes and colours available is astounding!
Tropical Hibiscus flowers are rich in nectar, attracting hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial pollinators to your garden.
Planting tropical Hibiscus in a pot makes it easier to move the plant to a sunny, warm location, which provides the conditions for it to thrive. Be sure to ease your plant outside by hardening it off though. If it’s been indoors or in a greenhouse, give it time to acclimate, or it will become scorched or worse, die. Hardening off is a simple process of slowly easing your plants into life outdoors.
Blooming Good
Tropical Hibiscus will bloom all summer long here in southern Ontario when provided with sun, warmth, ample water and nutrients. During the growing season, water the soil regularly to keep it evenly moist. While it loves full sun, the sun’s rays can be dehydrating. Hibiscus is a thirsty plant when it’s in bloom so don’t let the soil completely dry out. Of course, there’s a limit to how much water you use. Too much water will cause the roots to rot. The key word is “moist” - not monsoon wet! Using mulch will help to retain moisture in the pot.
To provide your plant with proper nutrition, use a time-release fertilizer in May or a balanced, diluted water-soluble fertilizer like fish emulsion about once a week over the summer months.
Each blossom lasts one day. They are short-lived, but don’t worry - Tropical Hibiscus will produce a succession of flowers during the growing season with ample light, water, and fertilizer. Once a faded bloom wilts, remove it from the plant to make way for the next one.
Looking Ahead
If you’re planning to keep your Hibiscus over the winter, here are a few tips to help.
Before the first frost, inspect the plant thoroughly for any bug hitchhikers or pests like aphids or spider mites. Give the entire plant a thorough shower and then bring it indoors. If you’ve found that your plant needs constant watering and has outgrown its pot, this is a great time for repotting before it comes indoors. Find a pot that is only 1-2” bigger than the pot it’s currently in and transplant it with some fresh, tropical potting mix.
This is another big transition for your plant, and you may find it loses some leaves unless you slowly migrate it from outdoor to indoor conditions. Place your Tropical Hibiscus in a warm, sunny window. Don’t move it to a cold basement right away, even if that will ultimately be its winter home. Just as you hardened it off in the Spring, slowly move it to a cooler location for winter storage if you don’t have a sunny, warm location. Be sure though that it ends up in an area where it’s getting at least 3 hours of direct sun each day.
At this point, stop fertilizing your tropical Hibiscus and reduce the amount of water used. Allowing the soil to dry out between waterings while the plant is dormant and not blooming is okay.
Enough talk of winter! While the weather is warm, pop an umbrella into a fruity summer drink and enjoy your beautiful tropical Hibiscus oasis!
We always get excited when our winter fashion collection arrives, but the 2019 winter season is extra special. After all, it's the end of a decade, so we've gotta ring in the new year in style! Winter fashion in Simcoe is loads of fun because it's just chilly enough without being unbearably cold, so we can dabble in the latest trends without having to layer on an extra three sweaters and a parka. Here are our favourite looks to rock during this winter season, so you can slay (...or, sleigh?) at every holiday event this year.
Winter 2019 Fashion Trends
Whether you're dressing up for the office holiday party, the family Christmas feast, getting glammed up to say "sayonara" to 2019, or simply embarking on the many, many shopping trips that will have you rushing around town, these 2019 winter style essentials should give you some inspiration!
Cozy Leggings
Just because it’s cold outside, doesn’t mean we’re ready to ditch our favourite form-fitting bottoms. Terry-lined leggings flatter your shape just like regular leggings, but the ultra-cozy lining helps to keep you toasty warm on weekend errand runs. Bamboo leggings are super-soft and comfy, not to mention beautifully breathable. They’re great for layering under your jeans for extra warmth, or for lounging around the house as you recover from NYE. Plus, bamboo is a sustainable fabric, so it’s a great choice for eco-conscious babes. We love styling both of these cozy leggings with sweater dresses or sweater tunics. The warm layers look as cute as they are comfy, and the whole ensemble is perfect for family brunch on Christmas Day.
Fur-Trimmed Knitwear
Regular sweaters and vests? Nothing to write home about. But sweaters and vests with adorable faux-fur trim? Suddenly you're a fashion-savvy snow bunny ready to hit the slopes. Top it off with a knit toque with a fur pom pom, and you'll be the queen of the ski hill. Fur trims are great for adding a hint of glamour to an otherwise casual piece, so you never end up looking underdressed. We're often quick to associate cozy clothes with ultra-casual looks that are strictly for lounging around the house, but it really doesn't get any cozier than a fur-trimmed hooded sweater or cape.
Capes
Speaking of capes, if you haven't jumped on this trend wagon yet, you are seriously missing out! In terms of comfort and warmth, it's pretty much the equivalent of wearing a warm blanket over your clothes, yet somehow it looks so dramatic and elegant. Casual capes are fantastic for when you want to bundle up at work, whereas more formal styles make a spectacular cover-up for fancy nights out. Thicker wool capes can be worn as outerwear instead of the typical peacoat. Try one in a rich berry tone, like deep red or purple, to stand out from the sea of drab grey and black parkas.
Mad for Plaid
There's just something so wintery about plaid fabrics, and that TV show Outlander has certainly brought it back in fashion! The key to pulling off tartan is by balancing it out with solid coloured pieces. Accessorizing with plaid always looks sharp, so if you can get your hands on a pair of tartan leggings, a scarf, or a cape to top off an all-black outfit, it will be the perfect pop of colour to complete your look. Or, try a buffalo check shirt with black or blue jeans for that pure Canadiana look.
As 2019 comes to a close and a new decade begins, now is as good of a time as ever to get some fresh new wardrobe pieces for winter. When you look great, you feel great, so why not start 2020 with your best foot forward? You deserve it! Come visit us at the Sassyfras Boutique, and one of our in-house fashionistas will gladly help style you up for winter.