Halloween is near and it's Bargains Galore!

"I am one of those people who loves rummaging around in the attic. I can easily spend a whole afternoon sifting through old memorabilia, getting lost in visions of old days, old friends and family." If that is you then Brecks has just the thing - "Grandma's cutting garden". A collection of old-fashioned favourites. 100 bulbs at half the list price.

Over at Gurneys! there is a Fall Clearance Extravaganza! You could save as much as 75% on daylilies, phlox, pansies, daisies and more.

If Eye of the Tiger Iris takes your fancy then Dutch Gardens will sell you twenty top-size bulbs at 57% off.

At Gardener's Supply Co it is a straight 10% off everything in the store. Featured is a Cattail Sculpture which doubles as a bird feeder. If that doesn't appeal, how about a Deluxe Pyramid Composter, Floating Rain Gauge, Vermont Fruitcake or a pair of Happy Toes Booties.

Just sign up for their newsletters and you will have offers like these every week.

Watermelons and the Organic Revolution

My recent bulb planting has distracted me from keeping up with the snippets of gardening news that caught my eye. Here are three items from the beginning of the month:

"Greenhouse gardening is growing at an exponential rate," says Mike Helle of Sunshine GardenHouse. He would say that the cynical might reply but apparantly although the number of gardeners who own greenhouses is still quite small, "the growth in the last few years has been in the range of 15 to 20 percent a year." In England, he says, "one of every five homes has some kind of greenhouse... . They've grown up with them, they know how to do it. That's not true here - greenhouses are not part of our gardening history. But we're getting started on a new adventure here." Read more...

On a recent unseasonably cool Sunday afternoon, the Organic Garden Club held its first ever Work Brunch at their headquarters along Spinney Rd. "The idea is simple," Charlie explained. "Healthy soils create healthy plants, healthy plants make for healthy people, and healthy people make for a healthy planet." Read more...

And finally for all those tomatillos and watermelon that you were wondering how to avoid going to waste, here are some suggestions. Read more...

BTW I have finally reached the bottom of the sack of daffodils and so hope to look forward to a colorful spring. If you haven't seen it already, there is now a page on my site all about daffodils.

More Bulb Planting.

We had our daughter and new son-in-law to stay last weekend but, with my wife's help, I managed to plant the two plum trees. A Victoria and a Czar selected both for their fruit and blossom. Now the new trees are in place, I will be able to remove the fir tree which is in front and use the space for a flowerbed.

I am left with half a sack of daffodils to be planted. It has rained every day this week leaving the ground too wet for digging. Hopefully I will be able to get the job finished as soon as the weather improves.

I have been busy this week writing my newsletter Garden Ramblings. Just subscribe and you can have a free copy of "Easy Plant Propagation" by Mike McGroarty.