Colorful Container and Hanging Basket Classes this Weekend

Drinks for everyone – including my amaryllis!  Yup, this post could also be called “Drunken Amaryllis” because that is exactly what I did.  I gave my bulb some booze and made it a little tipsy.  Amaryllis and paperwhites have a tendency to get tall, leggy and then flop over when grown in water which isn’t really the most attractive way to have flowers displayed.  Alcohol helps out by reducing the amount of water the plant can suck up and thereby stunting the growth.  Just like anything else, there is too much of a good thing.  If you add too much alcohol you can kill your plant, but just enough and the leaves and blooms will still be just as big and as beautiful, just shorter.

After dumping the water out of my container, I grabbed my choice of clear alcohol from the cabinet and replaced the water with a mix of 1 part alcohol to 7 parts water to get me in the 5% alcohol neighborhood.  We will see what happens next.

For all the details and more on the science behind this process, check out the article from Cornell’s hort department.

Celebrate the season!  Sargent’s welcomes you on Tuesday, Dec. 1 from 5 – 8 PM for our Holiday Premier!  Join us for an inspiring evening including refreshments, demonstrations, chocolate samples from Red Wing Confectionery, gift basket drawing and of course, shopping!  Don’t miss this event including a special discount for all attendees.  Bring a friend!

We are passionate about plants and people at Sargent’s Nursery! Keeping you connected with the latest in plant trends and design tips is what we do best. This is the first of many valuable blog posts that will benefit you!  Subscribing to our blog will keep you informed and inspired about gardening and the many facets that are involved. We hope that you enjoy this new avenue of communication.

Meet our blog authors:

Tori Clark is a wonderful part of the team at Sargent’s. Since the spring of 2008 she has been working in the Garden Center answering horticulture questions and helping customers make appropriate plant selections for their landscape. She was the host of our radio talk show and will now put her thoughts to paper in the form of Sargent’s blog!

Tori grew up in Wisconsin, helping her parents in the family vegetable and annual gardens. It wasn’t until Tori and her husband purchased their first home, with a yard in need of serious attention, that the gardening bug really got her. Since then Tori’s interest in gardening has grown dramatically. Her last four years as a Dakota County Master Gardener have given Tori many great educational and hands-on opportunities to learn more about horticulture and to share her knowledge with others.

Tori lives south of Hastings with her husband and children where they tend to various gardens including perennials, annuals, shrubs, veggies, fruit trees and berries.

Anne Matzek is a Landscape Designer at Sargent’s. You’ll find Anne behind the scenes working with clients to transform their space into a green masterpiece! She is a Certified MNLA Landscape Professional. Anne will post her projects, gardening experiences and tips on Sargent’s blog.

Anne grew up in this family business and is a fourth generation Sargent. She learned early on to love the nursery industry while spending time gardening with her grandmother, Carol Sargent. In her teens she worked on the garden care crew trimming, weeding and planting. After college she worked as a Multimedia Designer for a few years. Missing the chance to dig in the dirt, she came back to the family business to manage the garden care crew for a few years, providing hands on experience in a large array of landscapes.  Now, as a landscape designer she can share her passion for gardening with her clients. 

Anne lives near Diamond Bluff, WI with her husband and two children.  She enjoys gardening at her own home, finding ways to expand and update it each summer. Other hobbies include painting,  graphic design & sewing.