All of us here at Bennett Garden & Gift Center would like to thank you for your continued patronage this past year.  Your loyalty through the seasons is truly appreciated.  We look forward to next year, as we will be expanding our line of landscape services and bringing you new and unique products for your home and garden.  

It's difficult for me to believe that we are looking at the end of another year.  Someone once told me that as I got older time would go faster.  I really hate to admit that they may be right!  I guess that's an even better reason to make the most of every day, you know, embrace the old saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you could do today."

With that in mind, I wanted to share with you some of the changes we will be making at the garden center, essentially, taking some of my own advice.   In the November issue of our e- newsletter we included an article suggesting some resolutions for you to consider for 2008.  One of those resolutions involved being good to Mother Nature.  In planning for our future, we have decided to make a commitment to the environment in terms of not just our practices, but in the products we carry.  Beginning in the Spring, in addition to our current traditional lawn and garden products, we will be introducing a new line of organic and environmentally friendly products for the home and garden.  We will also be offering a series of educational sessions that will focus on helping you learn how to not just utilize specific products, but how to adopt new practices that will enhance your lawn and garden while giving back to the environment.  Each newsletter in the future will include an article related to one or more organic practices for you to consider.  We are very excited about this endeavor and can’t wait to start sharing information with you.  

To get you in the "be kinder to the environment mode" I thought I would share an excerpt from a great article by William Moss from his December issue of the Moss In The City e-newsletter.  The article "Greening for the Holidays" includes some great, simple steps to make this and future holidays a bit greener.  He closed with some tips on how to make a positive change in your household that I thought I might share with you. You don't have to go all out--try one or two resolutions and add another when you are ready:

• Lower your thermostat by 2 degrees this winter and put on another layer while in the house to help reduce energy consumption.
• Change some of your incandescent light bulbs to energy-efficient ones.
• Take a 30-minute walk daily. If possible, instead of driving to the store or gym, walk.  This not only reduces emissions, but promotes good health, and gets you out in your local community.
• Consistently recycle and reuse.  A great place to start is with Christmas paper, boxes and gift bags. 

To read the entire article, go to http://www.ngagardenshop.com/campaigns/show/4289.  

The articles I've included this month are designed to get you thinking and planning for Spring!  We will be closing as of December 27th this year and re-opening around the first of April.  We'll keep you informed! Thanks again for being a part of our 2007 and we're looking forward to being there for you in 2008. . . 
 
Bonnie Bennett-Campbell
Bennett Garden & Gift Center

Is your garden just a vast assortment of green mounds and rounded shapes? Does the idea of a garden literally bursting with color and foliage sound appealing to you? A number of plants and grasses put on an incredible display of color each season. What makes plants in a fireworks garden unique from other flowering plants is that they hold their blooms upright on long stems above the plant.

The best thing about a well planned fireworks garden is that you can "choreograph" your garden to bloom in sequence so that explosions of color burst throughout the garden the entire growing season. Done correctly you should be able to see color from all parts of the garden.

Start with the backdrop of your yard. Could you use some taller shrubs that might add some visual interest along the fence line? Some great selections to consider include the butterfly bush, Pee Gee or Tardiva hydrangea, lilac, and taller grasses such as reed and switch grasses.

For bursts of color in the middle of your landscape, look for strategic locations to include plants such as goldenrod, Mexican sage, Russian sage, summersweet, or mid-size grasses such as fountain grass or maiden grass.

Now add some life to your foreground plantings and borders with perennials such as coneflower, daylilies, dwarf lily of the Nile, geum, penstemon, sea thrift, statice, yarrow and wispy Mexican feather grass. Shaded areas can come alive with plants such as astilbe, coral bells, hydrangeas and lilac.

Stop by and talk with one of our designers in the spring and we can get you started!

Getting excited? Just click on this link for a gallery and description of all of these wonderful plant selections we have in stock.

When most people think about drought tolerant landscaping they conjure up images of rock, cactus and succulents. And while they can have a place in some drought tolerant gardens (if you live in the desert) most modern drought tolerant designs don't rely on them and are filled with the beauty and color of many favorite mainstream plants.

Most existing landscapes already have plants that can survive periods of drought. The key is to select plants for your particular growing conditions when planning and designing (or re-designing) your landscape and then placing these plants together according to their water needs.

Your goal should be to create three basic divisions of plant groupings: a very low water zone, a low water zone and a moderate water zone. Each area should be irrigated separately, according to specific water needs. In this way you can have one area that uses more water than the environment naturally provides and another area where you might need no extra water at all.

Consider foliage texture and color, bloom period and the shape of each plant when selecting plants for your garden. Also incorporate some plants with grayish foliage; these have a natural reflective quality that allows them to survive in low-moisture, high-heat situations.

Along with proper plant selection are a couple of other very important principles which should be incorporated into any drought tolerant garden:

• Make sure to use a soil amendment when planting.
• Cover open areas around plants and trees with a two inch layer of mulch to reduce evaporation, keep the soil cool, and help prevent weeds.

Last, a drought tolerant garden needs to be watered correctly in order for you to succeed in your water-saving goals. Each water zone should be on a separate station and timer. Make sure to irrigate in the early morning to help reduce evaporation. Be sure to pull weeds as needed to reduce competition for water, and feed your garden at least quarterly to help your plants stay healthy and strong.

With careful selection, planning and execution, drought-tolerant landscapes can be as pleasing as those needing heavy irrigation. We have a great selection of colorful drought tolerant plants, and our staff of garden experts is available to help you every step of the way.

Check out our gallery of drought tolerant plants.

Not all plants are created equal in the eyes of children. Although they don't differentiate when it comes to flowers and vegetables or annuals and perennials, kids have their hands-down favorites. They prefer huge flowers like marigolds, petunia, and sunflowers and small vegetables like cherry tomatoes, dwarf carrots, and radishes.

They love unique color shades, too, so make sure to include flowers with multi-colorings such as pansy, snapdragon and striped impatiens, and vegetables such as purple carrots, and "Easter Egg" radishes, along with striped beets and tomatoes.

Textured plants are irresistible. If your conditions are right for them, include the fuzzy woolly thyme and lambs' ears, the prickly coneflower and strawflowers (for sunny locations) and donkey tail fern, maidenhair fern and columbine (for shadier spots).

Fragrant plants transport the imagination. If you grow them now, your child will always remember the scents of heliotrope, roses, peonies, and lilacs. If you show them which plants to rub between their fingers, they'll never forget lavender, chocolate and pineapple mint, lemon balm, rosemary, basil, and scented geraniums.

Butterflies fascinate children, and there are many colorful plants that that will attract them. Consider including butterfly bush, lantana, monarda, salvia, sweet peas, and veronica--but don't overlook carrots, dill, fennel, and parsley to round out their diet.

Positively pickable plants also get the thumbs-up from kids. While mom's landscape may be off-limits for bouquet gathering, children should have free rein over certain cutting gardens. Cosmos, snapdragon, salvia, zinnia, coleus, and celosia are just a few that will produce more blooms if frequently picked.

Don't overlook spring- and summer-flowering bulbs that hold the promise and surprise of things to come. Use the same rules as above when selecting colors and varieties.

Gardening can truly be a fun experience for children, and we have just what you need to make every project a success. So stop by with your children and start planning your garden. We'll help you get started on creating memories that will last a lifetime.