Volume 33: April 2008
  1. Tomato Kick-off! Sat., April 26th, 1 to 3pm. Chat with Professional Growers
  2. Save the Date! Rose & Color Bowl Demonstration: Sat., May 3rd, 1-3pm
  3. Columbines---Airy Woodland Flowers for the Light Shade Garden (or...Make that Columbine a Double with Spurs, Please.)
  4. Special Deal! Buy 3, Get 1 Free: Bumper Crop Organic Soil Amendment
  5. Dahlietta---Colorful, Spring-to-Fall Bloomer for Containers and Bedding
  6. Who Says You Can't Grow an Orchard on Your Back Deck? Apple Trees on Dwarf Rootstocks are Perfect for Containers and Small Spaces
  7. What's the Beautiful, Weeping Crabapple in Front of RRN? Meet the Echtemeyer Weeping Crabapple
  8. The Carriage Stop Turns 32! A Note from Sally Halstead...
  9. April in the Carriage Stop
  10. April To-Do List
  11. e-GardenClub Special April Offer---Buy Any Tomato Cage, Get one 2" Container Sized Tomato Plant for Free
Tomato Kickoff---Saturday, April 26th, 1 - 3pm. Talk with Professional Growers
This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity whether you've planted your tomatoes or not (the beginning of May is a traditional planting time for many gardeners). Roger Reynolds will host a "tomato day" with the folks who grow tomatoes professionally. Have tomato questions about varieties? Diseases? Problems? Growing practices? This is a fabulous opportunity to get the answers straight from the people who grow the plants you put into your garden. Meet the wonderful Pilar, owner of Sunnyside Organics, and the knowledgeable representatives from Sweetwater Nursery and DoRights!
Save the Date! Rose and Color Bowl Demonstration: Saturday, May 3rd, 1 - 3pm

Special event for Mother's Day! RRN will offer a wide selection of color bowls created by our own designers plus a lovely selection of rose varieties ideal for acknowledging Mom's special contributions. There'll also be a workshop for children to show them how to create a flower pot surprise for Mom, courtesy of Roger Reynolds Nursery (and with the guidance of our patient staff, of course).
Columbines: Airy, Woodland Flowers for the Light-Shaded Garden (or…Make that Columbine a Double with Spurs, Please)
We're bringing in spectacular hybrid columbines (Aquilegia hybrids) that add a cool, woodland touch to the home garden. There's a nodding delicacy to this flower that gives it a special fairylike look hard to find in other plants. Indeed, the "Sunset Western Garden Book" notes "some columbines have large flowers and very long spurs; these have an airier look than the short-spurred and spurless kind." Columbines have other landscape values. They're great hummingbird magnets and easy to grow as long as they have well-draining soil and regular water. Plants live around three to four years but will reseed if you let pods form (although no guarantees about hybrids reproducing true to seed). Be sure to trim off old flowers for a second bloom. Bloom time is spring and early summer.
Special Deal! Buy 3, Get 1 Free: Bumper Crop Organic Soil Amendment
We think so highly of Bumper Crop that we want to encourage you to use it for all of your vegetable garden needs---not to mention, bedding plants, shrubs and trees. It has lots of good stuff in it, including beneficial microbes and a fabulous menu of botanically gourmet ingredients like worm castings, chicken manure and bat guano. Yum! Just the sort of delicacies tomato plants and most veggies want for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Dahlietta---Colorful, Spring-to-Fall Bloomer for Containers & Bedding

We've brought in lots of 4 inch pots of this cute, compact dahlia hybrid that sports large blooms in all kinds of colors from spring to fall. Here's the growers description of this free-blooming specimen: "The compact nature of dahlietta's make it ideal for growing in pots and hanging baskets for short-term color indoors; or mass-plant it outdoors for an impressive garden display." To prolong flowering, we suggest you pick spent flowers and feed regularly. Takes full sun or part shade. But be vigilant with pots in full sun! They can dry out quickly, so be sure to water on a regular basis.
Who Says You Can't Have an Orchard on Your Back Deck? (Apple Trees on Dwarf Rootstocks are Great Container Plants)
Want to eat fresh apples but you don't have room for a full-sized tree? The only sunny spot to grow fruit happens to be on your patio deck? We consulted with Ed Laivo, fruit tree representative from Dave Wilson Nursery, about how to handle such landscaping dilemmas. The answer: Grow your fruit on dwarf rootstock that's great for containers or small places. Come in and check out the cutest little apple trees around---all grafted on the extremely dwarfing, Bud-9 rootstock. We have Red Fuji, Gravenstein, Gala, Granny Smith, Yellow Newton Pippin, and connoisseurs' favorite Matsu (Crispin). (By the way, the Matsu needs a pollinator.)
What's the Beautiful, Weeping Crabapple in Front of RRN? Meet the Echtemeyer Crabapple
Many customers admire the form and flowers of the small, weeping crabapple by our front sign on Encinal Avenue. This Echtemeyer Crabapple was planted years ago, and has enchanted many passers-by with its graceful weep and stunning, purplish-red blooms that fade to a dusky pink. Until recently, we've had a hard time finding a source for this crabapple, disappointing many customers who'd love to have one. Finally, we found a source. Crabapples like the Echtemeyer offer something wonderfully visual most of the year. After flowering, a wine-red, one inch fruit starts to form that decorates the tree in the fall and winter. The Echtemeyer can reach 15 feet but we have kept ours smaller over the years through pruning.
The Carriage Stop Turns 32 this Month! A Note from Sally Halstead...
My grandmother found the building that houses the Carriage Stop over 50 years ago and had it moved to the nursery. She named it the Carriage Stop and used it as a guest cottage. In those days, the nursery went from El Camino to the RR tracks. My grandmother's home was on the property then. I remember my family came from Hawaii to visit and stayed in the guest cottage for three months. Eventually the building was leased to Edy's Ice Cream, which became the favorite ice cream shop for miles around. In 1975, my grandmother turned the nursery over to her family. My young son and I moved from Hawaii so that I could help work the nursery. At that time, Edy's lease ran out and the Carriage Stop became the official shop for indoor plants and gifts. Since then, the shop has thrived and become an important part of the nursery. We have come a long way. Please stop by and visit.
April in the Carriage Stop...
Spring is here and all of us the Carriage Stop are ready to help your indoors bloom as cheerfully as your outdoors! Our indoor plants-both green and blooming---are of the finest quality. You'll only find the very best in the Carriage Stop! Our knowledgeable, hospitable staff is eager to help you put together anything from a hostess gift to a house full of plants and color….We've just received a large shipment from Vietri, known for their fabulous, handmade-in-Italy ceramics. Come in and see all the beautiful containers and urns from their "Rustic Gardens" collection…..Also just in from Global Pottery is a fantastic assortment of small and medium (4" and 6") containers in fresh, fun spring colors----ranging from soft violet-purple to seaside blues to Tuscan greens and beiges.
April To-Do List
  • They're back!!! Those Mohawk-sporting, ravenous critters, the Western Tussock Moth caterpillars that chomped on just about everything around last year, are here once again. Spray Safer's "Caterpillar Killer" Bt Spray now to control these guys. (Bt, the active ingredient, won't harm our beleaguered bees.)
  • Did worms eat your apples and pears last year? Set out "Codling Moth Traps" traps immediately because those pesky moths are now flying around looking for mates. The traps have a pheromone that will confuse the male moth. It won't confuse ALL male moths but it will considerably cut down on the damage caused by the moths' larvae.
  • Safer's "Caterpillar Killer" Bt spray is also good for controlling geranium budworm, that infamous destroyer of pelargonium. Here's the scoop: spray Bt the day before the first full moon in April, the auspicious day the female budworm moths have chosen to lay their first set of eggs. Then, spray a second time a week after the full moon.
  • Replace cool-season bedding plants with specimens that like warm air and soil: petunias, impatiens, lobelia, alyssum, zinnias, marigolds, cosmos and more. Use a good Starter Fertilizer to give your flowers a boost. Replenish soil with Bumper Crop or Black Forest Organic Compost.
  • Reminder: If you didn't fertilize last month, get going! Like we suggested in March: Go organic with Dr. Earth's line of fertilizers. Try to keep your synthetic fertilizer numbers on the lower side (under 10-10-10) to reduce environmental damage due to run-off into waterways and wells. A good synthetic fertilizer is Formula 49 (8-4-4), which we use in the nursery for our shrubs and trees.
  • Reminder: Replenish used soil. Amend with Bumper Crop or Black Forest, among the best organic soil amendments around. Layer several inches of this fantastic stuff on top of your old soil and dig to at least a depth of six inches. Don't know how much to use? The back side of the bag has a square footage chart to figure out how many bags you need.
April 2008
Buy Any Tomato Cage, Get One 2" Tomato for Free
It's sweet and simple! Tomato season is here and we're wanting you to get off to a good start. Buy a tomato cage and we'll pitch in a little tomato plant ( 2" size, priced at $1.10) for free. Sweet deal!
(Offer expires end of April, 2008.)
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