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Bloomer’s springs into flowers

The daffodils are blooming and the gates to Bloomer’s are open again as the local nursery and local gardens wake from their winter sleep.
As they do every year Deb Baker and Connie George have a mix of the usual and the unusual at the Benson Road plant center.

Plants for spring color are ready now, including primulas and pansies for a quick splash of color or forsythia for an early burst of yellow flowers year after year. Also ready to plant are trees and shrubs, and the nursery is carrying tart cherry trees this year after numerous requests for the secret to real cherry pie.

In the greenhouses there is a growing profusion of annuals destined for hanging baskets, planters and, new this year, planter boxes. “They’ll be ready for Mother’s Day,” Baker said. Vegetable starts are on the go as well, with cool season lettuces ready to plant now and warm weather favorites like tomatoes and peppers ready by the end of May.

A new addition this year will be bamboo, a fast solution to an undesirable view. “What we should have here is a ‘hide-your-neighbor’ section because that’s what we get asked the most,” George said. Bamboo can hide a neighboring two-story house in two years, she said, and worry about the species invasive reputation is unwarranted, she added. “So many people are afraid of bamboo because they think it’s invasive but if you give it an adequate supply of water it won’t spread.” Bamboo timber for use in landscaping is also a new addition from Tom’s Bamboo in Blaine.

The nursery has also been getting lots of requests for alternatives to a grass lawn and new groundcovers. They will have Scotch and Irish moss, thyme and baby’s tears ready by mid-April. Grasses are another innovative addition to a landscape and there will be plenty to choose from by April, along with ornamental perennials and the more common annual bedding plants.

There have also been changes at the nursery over the winter that don’t have anything to do with plants. Some of Baker’s little donkeys will be spending time in a new paddock in the middle of the sales area, and they welcome a scratch on the head from little visitors. Baker reminds all visitors to the nursery that the horses and donkeys don’t get along with dogs, so please leave the pooch at home.

Bloomer’s is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and you can call them at 945-1359 with any special requests.