All "lit" up!!

The Pinus Mugo Pines are candling!!  Candling is the term used when evergreens begin producing their new growth.  The term "candling" is used because their new growth shoot up above their old growth, appearing like candles.

Strange, unusual, and morbid findings....

So, while inspecting my Tsuga canadensis plants today, I peered ahead and upward at something unusual sitting ontop of our shade cloth in our shaded plant  lines.  Upon further investigation, I discovered to my horror what remained of a rabbit.  How it got up there, I've yet to figure out.  But the other question that came to mind was, just what exactly happened to the rest of this poor fellow?!

Going, going, gone

Spring is our busiest time of the year.  We have rapidly begun to run out of product; especially our fruits.  Here, what remains of the Heritage Raspberry variety.  We started the shipping season (last week in March) with approx. 11,000 one gallon containers of these.  About 30 are all that remain.

Eye catching!

These Rhod yedoense Compact Korean Azaleas came in this morning on a Yamhill truck load.  They're popping with color and really stand apart from the rest of the crops!  Fresh green foilage also appears on the Buxus Green Velvet in the background.

Something's Shady....

Production is beginning to assemble our shade cloths for our shade loving little green friends.  Here, a shade cloth covers some of our shade-loving perennials.

Spaced out!

In the fall, our Production crews consolidate all our shrub containers together before winterizing.  In the spring, once the plants begin to flush out, the Production crews once again space the containers back out.  Here, a look at how they get everything into such neat lined up rows. The pipe shows measurements as to how far apart each pot should be spaced, and also serves as a "straight edge" guideline. These Golden Carousel barberries were getting spaced on Tuesday.

What the heck is a KUBOTA??

We have something new on the farm this year!!  It's a "mini" truck manufactured by Kubota.  This one, shown here, is being used by our Production and Shipping departments.  It's been seen zipping around the farm a lot lately.

Spring Events- Welcoming Back Another Spring Season

I arrived back out to our farm at the end of March.  Most of my "green little friends" aka the plants, were still covered in Sudan grass and dormant.  As the weeks went by and temperatures increased, spring awoke the container field and tones of tan and brown were soon being accompanied by a pallete of greens, reds, yellows, and oranges.  Over the last two weeks, early flowering plants have been displaying their showy petals and giving us excitement that the long, dreadful winter is now over.  Here, a look at some of our colorful displays of spring on the farm.

With spring comes mud.  With mud comes extra laundry loads. 

Lemon Lights Azelea's in bloom!

A closer shot of the Lemon Lights flowers.  Sunny yellow!! 

Magnolia Ann's are blooming!! 

The Ann Magnolia has such beautiful deep pink blooms!!

Our first Yamhill semi load of the year!!  In Yamhill, Oregon we have another branch where we grow plants that don't overwinter well here in Minnesota. Because of Oregon's mild winter climate, we are able to get a head start on the crops grown in Yamhill. This load, that arrived on Monday,  is almost fully flushed out; whereas our Minnesota crops are just beginning to push out foilage.

Here, a closer look at our Daphne Carol Mackie that arrived on our Yamhill load.