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This is Why I Do what I Do.
It was early Sunday morning, the third day of our fall plant sale and I was walking through the nursery. It was a beautiful September morning, very quiet except for the birds chirping, even the Donkeys were Quiet, just watching me stroll through the nursery when suddenly it hit me; What an amazing thing it that we do In this Little Nursery!
Oak Leaf Hydrangea. These were mere rooted cuttings in June!
Who gets to do this for a living? Later that day as I was showing some plants to a customer a Bald Eagle flew over head making that sound that only a Bald Eagle can make. A Bald Eagle!
All Summer Beauty Hydrangea, also just rooted cuttings a few months earlier.
This truly is amazing. In June these All Summer Beauty Hydrangea were mere rooted cuttings, pretty much sticks with roots, only 6″ long. Look at them now. Completely over growing their pots.
And I do have a point to make. In Our Members Area from time to time we have a debate about fertilizers and I am here to tell you that every single plant in my nursery gets 1 tablespoon of fertilizer a year. That’s it! One tablespoon for a complete growing season. Unless they are in a 2 or 3 gallon pot, then they get two.
I don’t use liquid fertilizers, I don’t use all kinds of magic glop that is supposed to do this, that or the other thing.
So as you peruse this page, keep that in mind, itty bitty, tiny, rooted cuttings, one tablespoon spoon of slow release fertilizer and mere months later I have salable plants.
Pow! Wow! Wildberry Echinacea.
These Cone Flowers were very small plugs in June, this photo take on September 18th.
Plants at Mike’s Plant Farm in Perry, Ohio
So as I was strolling through the nursery making sure nothing got knocked over in the night, I was taken back just looking at the plants that we offer. In this photo just one of the many Hosta varieties that we offer. This one is “Pow Wow! Happy Days”. Coreopsis, Butterfly Bush and Some Japanese Red maples way back in the corner.
Big Daddy Hosta
Dancing Queen Hosta
Who gets to do this? Who gets to put beautiful plants like this in the hands of happy, eager customers who are filled with a child like excitement as they pick out plants for their home?
Then they come back and tell you how well the plants that you sold them in the spring, or last year did. The lady who said; “You gave my son a plant that the donkeys snatched through the fence and ate and I’m here to tell you that even “Donkey Pruned” plants do really well. He calls it his “Donkey Plant”. That kid will remember that plant for the rest of his life!
That’s why I do what I do!
Pink Chiffon Aster at Mike’s Plant Farm, Perry, Ohio
Patriot Hosta at Mike’s Plant Farm, Perry, Ohio
This is an interesting photo, the Patriot Hosta look great but look to the right. Those are All Summer Beauty Hydrangea that we shifted from our small pots to 2 gallons this spring. Look at the growth and they are blooming as well. On 2 tablespoons of slow release fertilizer. That’s it.
Blue Mouse Ears Hosta at Mike’s Plant Farm, Perry, Ohio
Blue Mouse Ears Hosta is always a big hit, always in demand.
Beautiful Rose of Sharon at Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
I don’t know the variety of this Rose of Sharon. Either I got it miss tagged or we lost the tag, so we just call it Ally in memory of The Little Yellow Dog.
All Summer Beauty Hydrangea at Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
This is why I do what I do!
These All Summer Beauty Hydrangea were rooted cuttings in June when we potted them. That’s right, 6″ sticks with a few leaves and some roots. No liquid fertilizers, no magic potions, just one tablespoon of slow release fertilizer.
A couple of years ago I heard how nice the All Summer Beauty Hydrangea was so I started looking for a few. Today I have hundreds of them and we are sticking cuttings as I write this! Just doesn’t get better than this.
A sea of Beautiful plants at Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
When we finished our spring plant sales this area was all but empty. After we trimmed, weeded and consolidated what was left there were just a few rows of plants at the far end. We started filling this area with plugs and rooted cuttings in June. I took this photo in mid September of the same year. Amazing!
Little Princess Spirea at Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
This spring we sold completely out of Little Princess Spirea and we had people asking for them. These were little tiny rooted cuttings, barely as long as your finger and skinny as can be. Look at them now!
Heuchera, Coral Bells, at Mike’s Plant Nusery, Perry, Ohio
These Coral Bells I bought as plugs from One of Our Members, Neil, in April. Completely over flowing the pots now.
Plant shopping at Mike’s Plant Nursery in Perry, Ohio
Here’s a shot of some customers near the “Donkey’s for President Sign” at the nursery.
Annabelle Hydrangea, Snow Ball Bush, at Mike’s Plant Nursery in Perry, Ohio
This is crazy, crazy, crazy!
These Annabelle Hydrangea are from cuttings that we stuck last November. We stuck them in November, potted them in June or July, I don’t remember, I think July, and look at them now. They are setting right next to the Bed that They Were Rooted In.
Beautiful plants at Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
This is a cool shot because it has so much going on. The grass that you see in the center we mere plugs in July? I know we potted them late. Yeah, one tablespoon of slow release fertilizer did that.
Right next to them more of those Annabelles. In the foreground you can see hundreds of Juddi Viburnum, one of the more fragrant viburnums. People ask for them all the time. I’m going to make a hedge of these for stock plants.
Just outside of this container area you can see some of our Japanese maples that are for sale. And of course Finnegan the Miniature Donkey wondering what I’m doing.
Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
Off to the left you can see one of the landscaped mounds. Those are the stock plants that we use for cuttings. The Lucy Rose of Sharon are in bloom, the Purple Sandcherries have really long canes, ready to give up hardwood cuttings.
Beautiful plants at Mike’s Plant Nursery, Perry, Ohio
This is the other side of that mound. You can see Variegated Lirope that will be divided in the spring, Little Princess Spirea, Gold Mound Spirea, Blue Rug Juniper and off to the right you don’t see in the photo, Burning Bush, Gold Flame Spirea, Snowmound Spirea and around the back Weigelas and Potentilla.
The right side of the same mound.
Here’s the right side, didn’t realize I had this shot.
Interesting point about the plants in this mound. They have never been fertilized, never been sprayed with any chemicals but we do use pre emergents for weed control and sometimes post emergents for weeds. I wish I could find the photos of videos of building this mound. All it was was a pile of dirt that we dug out to make the container area. I know I have some video of it somewhere. It’s probably one of those early Mondays with Mike videos.
The soil in this mound is pure sand and gravel. And look at how those plants grew. Here they are very young, right after we finished landscaping.
So that means we dug this area out in the spring of 2014. If you find that video for me just put a link in the comments and Duston will give you a free book of your choice. Tell him I said that!
I remember standing on that dirt pile, or Amber standing on that dirt pile. That’s all that I remember.
Cathy and Pam making hydrangea cuttings while I’m out wandering around talking with customers and taking photos.
Girls! They just hate getting their picture made when in work attire but they did smile because they knew that I would post it regardless.
Questions, comments? Mean things to say? Post them below.
Source: http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2016/09/this-is-why-i-do-what-i-do/
